Wilson Gave Herself a Birthday Gift, Her Ducks a Berth in the Playoffs

For Sara Wilson, two days from 21, an early birthday present. For Wilson’s Oregon Ducks, a 76-68 victory over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and an NCAA tournament invitation.

But it wasn’t easy. UCLA, with an aggressive half-court, man-to-man defense, caused numerous Duck turnovers Saturday and led at the half of the final regular-season game, 33-30.

Oregon answered with an 8-0 run to take a 38-35 lead, but the Bruins weren’t through. Debbie Sporcich, the Ducks’ All-Pac-10 forward, went to the bench with a knee injury, and UCLA reclaimed a lead that grew to six points.

Down, 58-54, with five minutes remaining, Oregon went on an unlikely 7-0 run, taking a lead it held to the finish.

“We were determined. We definitely weren’t going to lose again,” said Wilson, whose team had dropped previous games to Stanford and USC. “We wanted to go out on a winning note.”

Wilson, who scored 18, called on the past for further motivation.

“Even if the playoffs weren’t involved, this game was definitely special,” Wilson said in the aftermath, surrounded by well-wishers including Pam Walker, a UCLA assistant who coached her at Hart High and Nicole Anthony, Nikki Brodowy and Kim Posey, Indian starters from a 1989 Southern Section championship team. The fifth starter, Anjanette Dionne, was at USC playing for Oregon State.

“Every year I’ve been at Oregon, our team has come to Southern California and lost to USC and UCLA,” she said. “We were 0-7. How would that look if we lost again and I never won a college game in my home town?”