Oregon Women’s Basketball: Ducks Stumble In Corvallis, 65-68

Jan 21, 2023 - 7:19 AM

The Oregon Ducks nearly erased a 4th quarter deficit of 12 points with three minutes to go in the game, and still managed to be in the game with seconds remaining, but ultimately fell in Corvallis against rival Oregon State, 65-68.

The Ducks started with the lead going into the first minute-and-a-half of the game, but had no presence in the paint against OSU’s bigs. At the same time, the perimeter shots were not falling for Oregon, and the cold start would prove to be difficult to overcome. The Beavers took it to the Ducks from the start in the paint, and did not let up all game.

Down 10-17 at the end of the first quarter, Oregon shot a dismal 18.8% off 3-16 shooting.

Early in the 2nd, OSU increased their lead, but the Ducks found shots from downtown to avoid letting the Beavers completely run away with it.

With OSU up by seven with 2:21 to go before the break, the Ducks went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 27-27. Unfortunately, with three seconds left in the period, Oregon faltered defensively and gave the Beavers a wide-open three with three seconds left in the half.

Oregon could consider themselves fortunate to only be down by three. Their two leading scorers - Endyia Rogers and Grace VanSlooten - combined for just one point in the first half (GVS picked up a free throw).

What Oregon needed to do was come out of halftime with a lot of defensive energy and find their perimeter shots. To an extent, that’s what they did, and tied the match at 34.

But OSU took complete control of the paint and ended the 3rd quarter with a 6-0 run - all coming from points in the paint - and was up by nine, 40-49.

In the 4th quarter, OSU extended that to a 9-0 run and shortly thereafter extended their lead to 13.

OSU built up a 12-point lead with 3:00 left to go in the game, and it looked like the Ducks were doomed. But then two 3-point shots by Chance Gray and one 3-pointer by Taya Hanson made for a 9-0 Oregon run that put the Ducks down by only three points with 1:30 left in the game. It looked like Oregon might have a shot at pulling off an incredible comeback. Another three-pointer from Gray brought the Ducks to within two.

Try as they might - and the opportunities were there - Oregon could not bridge the gap, bringing us to our final score and a win at home by Oregon State.

The Ducks had four players scoring double digits, lead by Chance Gray with 18 and Taya Hanson with 14. Endyia Rogers finished with 12 points (all in the 2nd half), and Te-Hina Paopao rounded the top scorers with 11.

All of Oregon State’s players scored at least three or four points, with Talia von Oelhoffen leading the way with 16 points. The Beavers shot well over the course of the game, ending 47% shooting to Oregon’s 34%.

Although it may not have seemed like it during the game, the Ducks were closer in the battle of the glass than you may have suspected, down only 38-41 on rebounds. Where Oregon lost this game was in the paint. The Ducks scored only 16 points in the paint to 46 for OSU. Oregon could not penetrate the lane; and yet, they were in it into the final seconds.

The Ducks have a week to work out whatever is ailing them, and travel next to the Bay Area, where they take on Cal on Friday, 1/27, and Stanford on Sunday, 1/29. Both matches are on the Pac-12 Network.