It All Comes Down To This
02/18/18 | Women's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon hosts UCLA on Monday (7 p.m., ESPN) in a nationally televised top-10 matchup that will have huge Pac-12 title implications, and on Senior Day for Eugene native and four-year starter Lexi Bando, along with Justine Hall.
In the spring of 2013, while Lexi Bando was helping Willamette High of Eugene win a state title in her junior year, the Oregon women's basketball team endured a 4-27 season.
A year later, Bando helped Willamette High win a second straight state championship, then enrolled for her freshman season at the University of Oregon. Four years later, in her final regular-season game in Matthew Knight Arena with the Ducks on Monday, Bando and the program she helped rebuild have the chance to take a significant step toward their first conference title in nearly 20 years.
The No. 9 UO women host No. 7 UCLA on Monday, a 7 p.m. tip to be televised by ESPN2. It will be Senior Day for Bando and Justine Hall, the Ducks will be in pink uniforms to benefit cancer research, and Oregon will begin the game alone atop the Pac-12 standings, one game ahead of UCLA and Stanford with three games left in the regular season.
In the last few years, Bando has put her stamp on the UO women's basketball program, putting her in line to finish as the program's all-time leader in games played and three-pointers made. In the last few weeks, she gained a new perspective on the sport, sitting out seven games with a lower leg injury before returning a week ago.
Bando returned at WSU, then made a dramatic, game-clinching three-pointer that caromed off the top of the backboard and in against USC in overtime on Friday. On Monday, she and the Ducks return to action in a game that has more storylines than even a Hollywood script-writer could concoct.
"I'm just excited to get to play in my senior game," Bando said. "And even better, it's the pink game. We're playing for something bigger than ourselves, and that's pretty amazing."
Bando gained a new appreciation for basketball while sidelined from mid-January to mid-February. A gym rat whose shooting prowess owes to countless hours of repetition, Bando spent about two weeks without being able to practice at all, before easing back in with some shots put up essentially on one leg while she wore a protective boot.
"It makes you really realize, don't take any single practice and workout or game for granted," Bando said. "I've really realized that. … It's really hard being a senior and having to watch the team. But I had to take on a new role, and that was just being positive and cheering from the bench."
For as well as Bando handled being sidelined, the Ducks were ecstatic to see her return Feb. 11 at Washington State. Limited to less than 15 minutes by doctor's orders, Bando played 12 against the Cougars, and made three three-pointers.
Her first, of course, was made along the baseline in the corner, on a pass from Sabrina Ionescu — exactly how that Hollywood script-writer would have written it. Then, Bando provided a blockbuster ending Friday against the Trojans, with her game-clinching three that hit the rim, bounced up and onto the top of the backboard, then rolled back down and in.
"To be honest, I thought that was out of bounds," Bando said after the game. "I don't know; I just threw it up there and got lucky, I guess. It just felt really good to be back on the court with the team, and be able to contribute and make some three down the stretch."
Bando has been doing that consistently for four years now. Entering Monday, she has 255 made three-pointers in her career, 15 shy of Taylor Lilley's UO career record. Bando will make her 121st career appearance Monday, five away from Lexi Petersen's school record.
Her career highlights have been many, but perhaps none matches the back-to-back three-pointers that sparked a critical fourth-quarter comeback to beat then-No. 11 Washington in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals in Seattle last spring.
That season ended in the Elite Eight for the Ducks, a result few could have foreseen for Bando when she signed at Oregon. But with her help, the Ducks have returned to title contention under head coach Kelly Graves. The UO women's basketball team hasn't won a conference title since 1999-2000, but the Ducks can take a huge step toward changing that Monday against UCLA, before honoring Bando and her fellow senior Hall in a postgame ceremony.
The Ducks are there thanks to avoiding a misstep Friday against USC — and thanks, in turn, to the dramatics of their hometown hero, Bando.
Come out to Matthew Knight Arena on Monday night to cheer on Bando and the Ducks! Click here to purchase tickets.
A year later, Bando helped Willamette High win a second straight state championship, then enrolled for her freshman season at the University of Oregon. Four years later, in her final regular-season game in Matthew Knight Arena with the Ducks on Monday, Bando and the program she helped rebuild have the chance to take a significant step toward their first conference title in nearly 20 years.
The No. 9 UO women host No. 7 UCLA on Monday, a 7 p.m. tip to be televised by ESPN2. It will be Senior Day for Bando and Justine Hall, the Ducks will be in pink uniforms to benefit cancer research, and Oregon will begin the game alone atop the Pac-12 standings, one game ahead of UCLA and Stanford with three games left in the regular season.
In the last few years, Bando has put her stamp on the UO women's basketball program, putting her in line to finish as the program's all-time leader in games played and three-pointers made. In the last few weeks, she gained a new perspective on the sport, sitting out seven games with a lower leg injury before returning a week ago.
Bando returned at WSU, then made a dramatic, game-clinching three-pointer that caromed off the top of the backboard and in against USC in overtime on Friday. On Monday, she and the Ducks return to action in a game that has more storylines than even a Hollywood script-writer could concoct.
"I'm just excited to get to play in my senior game," Bando said. "And even better, it's the pink game. We're playing for something bigger than ourselves, and that's pretty amazing."
Bando gained a new appreciation for basketball while sidelined from mid-January to mid-February. A gym rat whose shooting prowess owes to countless hours of repetition, Bando spent about two weeks without being able to practice at all, before easing back in with some shots put up essentially on one leg while she wore a protective boot.
"It makes you really realize, don't take any single practice and workout or game for granted," Bando said. "I've really realized that. … It's really hard being a senior and having to watch the team. But I had to take on a new role, and that was just being positive and cheering from the bench."
For as well as Bando handled being sidelined, the Ducks were ecstatic to see her return Feb. 11 at Washington State. Limited to less than 15 minutes by doctor's orders, Bando played 12 against the Cougars, and made three three-pointers.
Her first, of course, was made along the baseline in the corner, on a pass from Sabrina Ionescu — exactly how that Hollywood script-writer would have written it. Then, Bando provided a blockbuster ending Friday against the Trojans, with her game-clinching three that hit the rim, bounced up and onto the top of the backboard, then rolled back down and in.
"To be honest, I thought that was out of bounds," Bando said after the game. "I don't know; I just threw it up there and got lucky, I guess. It just felt really good to be back on the court with the team, and be able to contribute and make some three down the stretch."
Bando has been doing that consistently for four years now. Entering Monday, she has 255 made three-pointers in her career, 15 shy of Taylor Lilley's UO career record. Bando will make her 121st career appearance Monday, five away from Lexi Petersen's school record.
Her career highlights have been many, but perhaps none matches the back-to-back three-pointers that sparked a critical fourth-quarter comeback to beat then-No. 11 Washington in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals in Seattle last spring.
That season ended in the Elite Eight for the Ducks, a result few could have foreseen for Bando when she signed at Oregon. But with her help, the Ducks have returned to title contention under head coach Kelly Graves. The UO women's basketball team hasn't won a conference title since 1999-2000, but the Ducks can take a huge step toward changing that Monday against UCLA, before honoring Bando and her fellow senior Hall in a postgame ceremony.
The Ducks are there thanks to avoiding a misstep Friday against USC — and thanks, in turn, to the dramatics of their hometown hero, Bando.
Come out to Matthew Knight Arena on Monday night to cheer on Bando and the Ducks! Click here to purchase tickets.
Players Mentioned
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