Frantic Finish Comes Up Just Short

Friday, December 30

Eugene, OR

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

10-3,1-1Pac-12

UCLA

13-1,2-0Pac-12

UCLA

Oregon

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

12/30/22 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The UO women cut their deficit to No. 10 UCLA from 18 to six in the fourth quarter but couldn't quite come all the way back.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon fell behind early and trailed most of the night Friday as the No. 17 Ducks lost to No. 10 UCLA in Matthew Knight Arena, 82-74.

The UO women (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) suffered their third loss of the season to a top-10 team. After a back-and-forth opening few minutes, the Ducks led only once in the later stages of the game, for 23 seconds of the third quarter. They trailed by as much as 18 in the fourth quarter before threatening to make it a one-possession game a few times, closing within as few as six before suffering their first conference loss of the season.

"They deserved that win — they played really, really hard," UO coach Kelly Graves said of the Bruins (13-1, 2-0). "They were the aggressors for the most part the entire game, until maybe the last five or six minutes. But I'm really proud of our team. What I'm going to take away is the fight that we had right to the finish. Unfortunately, we didn't play with that same kind of fight early."

Reigning Pac-12 player of the week Grace VanSlooten embodied Oregon's performance as a team Friday, going without a field goal in the first half but finishing the game with 17 points after leading the Ducks' late-game charge. Like VanSlooten, Te-Hina Paopao also had two points at halftime but finished the game with 17. Endyia Rogers led the Ducks with 18, including 12 in the first half while her teammates fought to get going.

"They knew exactly what I wanted to do; they scouted me really well," said VanSlooten, who added eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals. "That kind of threw me off a little bit in the first half. I just think I had to get more aggressive and more confident in what I could do. And I think I did a good job of that in the second half; just kind of took too long."

Chance Gray added nine points for the Ducks, Taylor Hosendove provided a spark off the bench with seven points and 10 rebounds, and Phillipina Kyei also had 10 rebounds plus two blocks.

How It Happened: The Ducks had early leads at 4-2 and 6-4, but those would be Oregon's only leads the rest of the way but for a few seconds in the third quarter. The Ducks' cold three-pointing shooting in the loss last week to Ohio State carried over early Friday, as the UO women were 0-of-5 in the first quarter. UCLA, meanwhile, was 3-of-5 in the period.

"They had a heck of a night shooting the three," Graves said. "We didn't expect that. A lot of those unfortunately were open and pretty good looks, but they shot it better than they normally do."

Oregon's first three of the game was by Rogers early in the second to get the Ducks within 22-19. She made another a few possessions later that cut UCLA's lead to one, at 26-25. But with the deficit back to one later in the period at 31-30, UCLA's star freshman Kiki Rice scored seven points down the stretch and the Bruins led 38-32 at halftime.

Rice and UCLA guard Charisma Osborne had 26 points at halftime, despite being the focus of Oregon's defensive game plan.

"We really started off slow," Paopao said. "I think we didn't do a good enough job stopping Charisma and Kiki, first half. So we came out with a different mentality the second half."

That paid off early in the third quarter. VanSlooten made her first basket of the night on Oregon's second possession of the period, Paopao hit a three that cut UCLA's lead to 42-39, and then VanSlooten and Kyei scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Ducks a 43-42 lead. But the Bruins responded with an 8-0 run, and they led 54-48 entering the fourth.

The Bruins stayed hot to start the fourth, opening the period with a 9-0 run and eventually leading 68-50 early in the period. The UO defense then held UCLA scoreless for more than three minutes, and the Ducks closed within 68-61, an 11-0 run that included seven points from VanSlooten.

A three-point play by Gray and a bucket from Paopao got Oregon within 78-72. Out of a timeout with 1:02 left, the Ducks forced a turnover, VanSlooten drove the floor and she kicked to Gray in the corner for a three-pointer. That would have cut UCLA's lead to three, but the basket didn't count because Gray had stepped out of bounds, and the Bruins hung on.

Notable: Play was stopped late in the third quarter as Ahlise Hurst came up limping, and she headed straight for the locker room before returning to the UO bench in the fourth. Hurst "said she feels fine," Graves said postgame, while also acknowledging, "we're one team that can't afford things like that." … UO football coach Dan Lanning and his family sat courtside for the game. … UCLA forward Angela Dugalic, a transfer from Oregon, was not in uniform due to injury.

Quotable:
UO freshman Grace VanSlooten on playing a top-25 matchup before a home crowd of 6,726
"It was a lot of fun. I mean, we have the best fans, I think. When that place gets loud, it's really loud, You can't even hear yourself think. So it was a lot of fun, and I'm excited to keep playing here all four years and see how our team grows."

UO junior Te-Hina Paopao on how the Ducks can break through against top-10 opponents
"I think we've got to start games how ended the game tonight. And if we're able to do that, we can beat a lot of teams. We've just got to keep competing and keep fighting with who we have."

Up Next: The Ducks host USC on Sunday (2 p.m., Pac-12 Network).