Thursday, February 23
Eugene, OR
7:00 PM
University of Oregon
15-13,6-11Pac-12
73
vs
59
Arizona
21-7,11-6Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Arizona
19
11
19
10
59
Oregon
18
22
17
16
73
Photo by: Molly McPherson
Complete Performance Tames Wildcats
02/23/23 | Women's Basketball
Oregon played well at both ends and got balanced production to knock off No. 14 Arizona on Thursday.
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon played well at both ends of the floor and got balanced production offensively to beat No. 14 Arizona on Thursday, ending a seven-game losing streak with a 73-59 win before 6,173 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (15-13, 6-11 Pac-12) won at home for the first time in over a month and kept their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes alive by leading most of the night Thursday and weathering a couple late charges by the Wildcats. The UO women will look to cap their regular season Saturday against Arizona State and take positive momentum into next week's conference tournament.
"I'm really proud of the team," UO coach Kelly Graves said in his postgame press conference with local media. "If you were around our team — and some of you have been — they've never given up. They've never hung their heads. Our practices are spirited. They're still a close-knit group. I knew that we had a game like this in us. And now I just hope that this is something that we can use, this momentum, to propel us forward at a really important time. This is the kind of win that the (NCAA Tournament selection) committee looks at."
UO junior Te-Hina Paopao followed up her 22-point performance Sunday at Washington with 21 on Thursday, including five three-pointers. Endyia Rogers added 18 points with six rebounds and four assists, Chance Gray scored 12 points on four three-pointers and Phillipina Kyei added nine points with 14 rebounds.
Paopao has hit 11 threes over the past two games, matching her total from the previous 11 games combined.
"My support circle, my teammates, my coaches, they all kept believing in me when I lost belief in myself," Paopao said. "I had to do some real soul-searching through that, but I knew it was coming and tonight it came. So I'm just really blessed."
How It Happened: One week after recording just six assists in a loss at Washington State, the Ducks had six assists in the first quarter Thursday. Kyei set up Paopao for a layup that gave the Ducks an early 4-0 lead, and Gray hit Taya Hanson for a bucket moments later. Rogers scored in transition for an 11-10 lead after a blocked shot by Kennedy Basham, and Ahlise Hurst kicked to Paopao for a three that tied it 14-14. The Ducks trailed 19-18 after one quarter, having been outrebounded 13-7 but otherwise executing at a high level.
"It was the energy — like, you could just feel it," Rogers said. "You could just feel it. Everybody played together. Everybody played their roles. We did exactly what we practiced."
A three by Gray put Oregon up early in the second quarter, 21-19, as the UO defense forced six empty possessions by Arizona to open the period. With the score tied 23-23, Oregon ripped off an 11-0 run that included five straight points from Hanson. The Wildcats closed within 36-30, but Rogers fed Kyei for a bucket and then Rogers scored herself on the next possession as the Ducks took a 40-30 lead into halftime.
Paopao hit two three-pointers during a 9-3 run to open the second half that gave the Ducks their biggest lead of the game, 49-33. Slow starts out of halftime had been an issue during Oregon's losing streak, but Paopao's threes helped them avoid a similar fate Thursday.
"It just felt great coming off my hand," she said. "I knew they were going in. I didn't even hold my follow through, because I knew it was going in. It just felt really, really good."
A three from Gray provided Oregon's only points during a 13-3 run by Arizona to get within 52-46. A three-point play by Cate Reese cut the Wildcats' deficit to 54-49, but Gray hit a three to beat the buzzer at the end of the quarter, putting Oregon up 57-49.
That didn't kill Arizona's momentum, as the Wildcats scored seven straight to open the fourth quarter. That got them within one at 57-56, but Rogers scored at the other end to spark a 14-2 run, which included back-to-back threes by Paopao. After a month of results in which the Ducks battled hard but saw the opponent make more big plays down the stretch, it was the UO women with the decisive statement in the fourth quarter Thursday.
"We very much stayed poised and patient," said Paopao, who added two free throws to cap that 14-2 run and make it 71-58. "We'd been through it before, and had to change the narrative. Past games we used to get down on ourselves, but we changed the narrative tonight."
Notable: Thursday's results around the Pac-12 ensured that Oregon will be the No. 9 seed in next week's Pac-12 Tournament, facing Washington in a first-round matchup Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. … The Ducks had dropped their previous six matchups this season with ranked teams, since a win over then-No. 17 Arkansas on Dec. 20. … Paopao and Rogers both scored more than 10 points in the same game for the first time since Jan. 27 at California — the Ducks' last win.
Quotable:
UO coach Kelly Graves on what clicked for the Ducks on Thursday
"I want to give a lot of credit to my coaching staff. I thought they did a great job preparing our team. We tweaked some things, because we knew they come hard on those traps, and so we brought cutters from different spots and early on we were getting the shots that we wanted. So I really credit Jackie (Nared Hairston) in particular — this was her scout — but all of our coaches prepared our team the last two days and that's why I'm saying, you know, we really played our scout tonight to the T.
UO coach Kelly Graves on getting big games from both Rogers and Paopao
"They're competitors, they're challengers, they knew what was at stake tonight. I think they both had reasons to want to win this game, perhaps even beyond just doing it for the Ducks. They were both motivated. And I think you also see when Te-Hina is playing well, what a different team we are. She hit some big, big shots tonight. Right from the start (of the season), we talked about those two being among the best guard lines in the country. And tonight they played like it."
Up Next: The Ducks close out their regular season by hosting Arizona State (noon, Pac-12 Network).
The Ducks (15-13, 6-11 Pac-12) won at home for the first time in over a month and kept their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes alive by leading most of the night Thursday and weathering a couple late charges by the Wildcats. The UO women will look to cap their regular season Saturday against Arizona State and take positive momentum into next week's conference tournament.
"I'm really proud of the team," UO coach Kelly Graves said in his postgame press conference with local media. "If you were around our team — and some of you have been — they've never given up. They've never hung their heads. Our practices are spirited. They're still a close-knit group. I knew that we had a game like this in us. And now I just hope that this is something that we can use, this momentum, to propel us forward at a really important time. This is the kind of win that the (NCAA Tournament selection) committee looks at."
UO junior Te-Hina Paopao followed up her 22-point performance Sunday at Washington with 21 on Thursday, including five three-pointers. Endyia Rogers added 18 points with six rebounds and four assists, Chance Gray scored 12 points on four three-pointers and Phillipina Kyei added nine points with 14 rebounds.
Statement win for the Ducks ??
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 24, 2023
Behind Te-Hina Paopao's 21 points, @OregonWBB upset No. 14 Arizona, 73-59.#Pac12WBB | @Vegas pic.twitter.com/pLJz2Vfjjt
Paopao has hit 11 threes over the past two games, matching her total from the previous 11 games combined.
"My support circle, my teammates, my coaches, they all kept believing in me when I lost belief in myself," Paopao said. "I had to do some real soul-searching through that, but I knew it was coming and tonight it came. So I'm just really blessed."
How It Happened: One week after recording just six assists in a loss at Washington State, the Ducks had six assists in the first quarter Thursday. Kyei set up Paopao for a layup that gave the Ducks an early 4-0 lead, and Gray hit Taya Hanson for a bucket moments later. Rogers scored in transition for an 11-10 lead after a blocked shot by Kennedy Basham, and Ahlise Hurst kicked to Paopao for a three that tied it 14-14. The Ducks trailed 19-18 after one quarter, having been outrebounded 13-7 but otherwise executing at a high level.
"It was the energy — like, you could just feel it," Rogers said. "You could just feel it. Everybody played together. Everybody played their roles. We did exactly what we practiced."
A three by Gray put Oregon up early in the second quarter, 21-19, as the UO defense forced six empty possessions by Arizona to open the period. With the score tied 23-23, Oregon ripped off an 11-0 run that included five straight points from Hanson. The Wildcats closed within 36-30, but Rogers fed Kyei for a bucket and then Rogers scored herself on the next possession as the Ducks took a 40-30 lead into halftime.
Paopao hit two three-pointers during a 9-3 run to open the second half that gave the Ducks their biggest lead of the game, 49-33. Slow starts out of halftime had been an issue during Oregon's losing streak, but Paopao's threes helped them avoid a similar fate Thursday.
"It just felt great coming off my hand," she said. "I knew they were going in. I didn't even hold my follow through, because I knew it was going in. It just felt really, really good."
A three from Gray provided Oregon's only points during a 13-3 run by Arizona to get within 52-46. A three-point play by Cate Reese cut the Wildcats' deficit to 54-49, but Gray hit a three to beat the buzzer at the end of the quarter, putting Oregon up 57-49.
That didn't kill Arizona's momentum, as the Wildcats scored seven straight to open the fourth quarter. That got them within one at 57-56, but Rogers scored at the other end to spark a 14-2 run, which included back-to-back threes by Paopao. After a month of results in which the Ducks battled hard but saw the opponent make more big plays down the stretch, it was the UO women with the decisive statement in the fourth quarter Thursday.
"We very much stayed poised and patient," said Paopao, who added two free throws to cap that 14-2 run and make it 71-58. "We'd been through it before, and had to change the narrative. Past games we used to get down on ourselves, but we changed the narrative tonight."
Notable: Thursday's results around the Pac-12 ensured that Oregon will be the No. 9 seed in next week's Pac-12 Tournament, facing Washington in a first-round matchup Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. … The Ducks had dropped their previous six matchups this season with ranked teams, since a win over then-No. 17 Arkansas on Dec. 20. … Paopao and Rogers both scored more than 10 points in the same game for the first time since Jan. 27 at California — the Ducks' last win.
Quotable:
UO coach Kelly Graves on what clicked for the Ducks on Thursday
"I want to give a lot of credit to my coaching staff. I thought they did a great job preparing our team. We tweaked some things, because we knew they come hard on those traps, and so we brought cutters from different spots and early on we were getting the shots that we wanted. So I really credit Jackie (Nared Hairston) in particular — this was her scout — but all of our coaches prepared our team the last two days and that's why I'm saying, you know, we really played our scout tonight to the T.
UO coach Kelly Graves on getting big games from both Rogers and Paopao
"They're competitors, they're challengers, they knew what was at stake tonight. I think they both had reasons to want to win this game, perhaps even beyond just doing it for the Ducks. They were both motivated. And I think you also see when Te-Hina is playing well, what a different team we are. She hit some big, big shots tonight. Right from the start (of the season), we talked about those two being among the best guard lines in the country. And tonight they played like it."
Up Next: The Ducks close out their regular season by hosting Arizona State (noon, Pac-12 Network).
Team Stats
UA
Oregon
FG%
.304
.472
3FG%
.217
.417
FT%
.667
.722
RB
38
40
TO
7
12
STL
7
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballKelly Graves | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Deja Kelly, Peyton Scott & Phillipina Kyei | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Peyton Scott & Ari Long: "A good, competitive basketball game."
Thursday, February 27
Kelly Graves: "We've played really well."
Thursday, February 27
