Big Plays Down the Stretch Help UO Women Hold Off PSU

Tuesday, November 25

Matthew Knight Arena

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

2-1

Portland State

0-4

Portland State

Oregon

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Big Plays Down the Stretch Help UO Women Hold Off PSU

11/26/14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: GoDucks.com

by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team fought off a gritty comeback attempt by Portland State on Tuesday in Matthew Knight Arena, scoring the final seven points of the game to win 63-56.

How It Happened: For a few minutes after halftime, the game followed the script of Oregon's loss Sunday to No. 11 North Carolina. In both cases, a feisty underdog kept things interesting for a half, but the favorite pulled away after the break. In this case, that meant the Ducks scoring on their first five possessions after halftime to open up a 40-30 lead. A Lexi Bando three-pointer made it 45-34, but the Viks scored 10 straight to get within one and make it clear Oregon (2-1) wasn't going to coast to victory.

Back-to-back jumpers actually gave PSU (0-4) the lead at 51-50, and a three-pointer tied it 56-56 with 3:10 left. Part of the reason the game remained close was 1-of-4 free-throw shooting by Jillian Alleyne down the stretch, but Oregon's national player of the year candidate made up for it in other ways. She had defensive rebounds on four of PSU's final five possessions, and fed Lexi Petersen for a game-clinching three-pointer that put Oregon up 61-56 with 12.3 seconds left.

Who Stood Out: Alleyne finished with her 12th straight double-double, dating back to last season, with 17 points and 13 rebounds. The freshman guard Bando established an early career high with 18 points, and Petersen added 16 points with five rebounds and five assists. Oregon's three-point specialists, Katelyn Loper and Amanda Delgado, struggled for the second straight game, but Tatum Neubert again played the most minutes off the bench and made both of her field-goal attempts and two free throws.

Quotable: "We definitely started off very slow. But I think in the moments that mattered we stepped up. We pulled through, and made clutch shots, plays and stops. We didn't play our best tonight, but if anything we can take from this that we came through at the end." — Petersen

"Defensively we were pretty good tonight. But offensively, in close games you've got to make free throws; you can't turn the ball over; and when you do get the open look you've got to bury it. And those were things we didn't do. But defensively and on the boards, especially late, we did a nice job." — UO coach Kelly Graves

What It Means: The Ducks nearly learned the hard way that they need to get up for every game. Bando said the team might have lagged a bit after going toe-to-toe with the Tar Heels two nights earlier. "We just need to come out ready to play, because every game we play is going to be a good game," Bando said.

Up Next: The Ducks go on the road for the first time this season, to face Central Michigan on Friday and American on Saturday in the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas.