Saturday, December 7
Eugene, OR
1 p.m.
University of Oregon
7-3,0-1Big Ten
53
vs
66
USC
8-1,1-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Southern California
12
28
15
11
66
Oregon
13
6
22
12
53
Photo by: Molly McPherson
UO Suffers First Home Loss in Big Ten Opener
12/07/24 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. — Despite a strong defensive effort and outscoring No. 6 USC in three of four quarters, the Oregon women's basketball team suffered a 66-53 loss in its Big Ten opener before 7,246 fans at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Oregon (7-3, 0-1) recorded a season-high 14 steals, five coming from Ari Long off the bench, in forcing 22 USC turnovers. But an 18-0 Trojan run to begin the second quarter handed USC a 21-point halftime lead that proved too much for the Ducks to overcome.
"Disappointed in the loss, but I was encouraged by our fight," said UO head coach Kelly Graves. "We played a lot more desperate in that second half. We started the game desperate. Kinda odd looking at the stats, we outscored them in three of the four quarters."
UO clawed back to trim the deficit to 12 points in the final minute of the third quarter, and to 11 midway through the fourth, but the Trojans (8-1, 1-0) responded each time to extend the lead and not let the Ducks within single digits.
"I love the fight," Graves added. "We showed some fight. It's not easy when you get down 20, 21, it's like you're running uphill, but we just kept at it."
Oregon went 0-for-7 from the 3-point line in the second quarter and 0-for-6 in the fourth, finishing the game just 3-for-20. Conversely, USC hit on 5-of-8 attempts from range in outscoring the Ducks 26-8 in the second.
"When I look at the stats, where the big difference was it came down to 3-point shooting. They made nine, we made three," Graves said.
Deja Kelly led the Ducks with 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, her sixth game recording double-digit points this season. Long logged a season-high 16 minutes, registering a season-high 10 points and a career high in steals.
"Just being ready whenever my number is called," Long said, "Being ready to come in and go as hard as I can for however long I get."
How It Happened: The Oregon defense showed its teeth early in the contest, as the Ducks limited USC to 3-for-13 shooting from the floor in the first quarter. Five of the Trojans' 12 points came from the free throw line, all coming via JuJu Watkins.
Sofia Bell knocked down a corner triple and Peyton Scott came up with an ensuing steal and layup for a five-point burst in under 15 seconds, giving the Ducks a 9-3 lead and forcing a USC timeout. USC then answered by scoring the next five before a Kelly jumper gave Oregon a 13-12 edge after a quarter. Kelly scored six points while going 3-for-6 from the field while Scott added four points.
USC proceeded to go on a 18-0 run to start the second quarter and finished the quarter outscoring the Ducks 28-6. The Trojans shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and finished the half 6-for-12, while the Ducks were 0-for-7 from the 3-point line in the second and 1-for-9 in the first half.
The Ducks were held without a point until Long's steal and fastbreak layin with just under 4:30 left to go in the half. Watkins scored 10 of her game-high 21 points in the second, hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
Oregon responded out of the locker room by winning the third, 22-15. Scott dropped nine points in the frame while Long added six to go with a pair of steals. The Ducks got within 12 points with less than a minute to play in the third before a Watkins layup in the closing seconds.
The fourth quarter saw the Ducks get as close as 11 points at the 6:40 mark, but were never able to put together a scoring run longer than four unanswered points. UO won the period, 12-11, behind six points from Kelly and four from Elisa Mevius.
Notable: The game marked UO's first conference game as a member of the Big Ten Conference … USC has won four straight in the series and now leads the all-time series 49-30, dating back to 1981 … Freshman Ehis Etute made her home Oregon debut … The Ducks did not have senior Salimatou Kourouma or sophomore Sammie Wagner available for Saturday's game.
Up Next: Oregon continues its homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 17 against Air Force (6 p.m., B1G+).
Oregon (7-3, 0-1) recorded a season-high 14 steals, five coming from Ari Long off the bench, in forcing 22 USC turnovers. But an 18-0 Trojan run to begin the second quarter handed USC a 21-point halftime lead that proved too much for the Ducks to overcome.
"Disappointed in the loss, but I was encouraged by our fight," said UO head coach Kelly Graves. "We played a lot more desperate in that second half. We started the game desperate. Kinda odd looking at the stats, we outscored them in three of the four quarters."
UO clawed back to trim the deficit to 12 points in the final minute of the third quarter, and to 11 midway through the fourth, but the Trojans (8-1, 1-0) responded each time to extend the lead and not let the Ducks within single digits.
"I love the fight," Graves added. "We showed some fight. It's not easy when you get down 20, 21, it's like you're running uphill, but we just kept at it."
Oregon went 0-for-7 from the 3-point line in the second quarter and 0-for-6 in the fourth, finishing the game just 3-for-20. Conversely, USC hit on 5-of-8 attempts from range in outscoring the Ducks 26-8 in the second.
"When I look at the stats, where the big difference was it came down to 3-point shooting. They made nine, we made three," Graves said.
Deja Kelly led the Ducks with 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, her sixth game recording double-digit points this season. Long logged a season-high 16 minutes, registering a season-high 10 points and a career high in steals.
"Just being ready whenever my number is called," Long said, "Being ready to come in and go as hard as I can for however long I get."
How It Happened: The Oregon defense showed its teeth early in the contest, as the Ducks limited USC to 3-for-13 shooting from the floor in the first quarter. Five of the Trojans' 12 points came from the free throw line, all coming via JuJu Watkins.
Sofia Bell knocked down a corner triple and Peyton Scott came up with an ensuing steal and layup for a five-point burst in under 15 seconds, giving the Ducks a 9-3 lead and forcing a USC timeout. USC then answered by scoring the next five before a Kelly jumper gave Oregon a 13-12 edge after a quarter. Kelly scored six points while going 3-for-6 from the field while Scott added four points.
USC proceeded to go on a 18-0 run to start the second quarter and finished the quarter outscoring the Ducks 28-6. The Trojans shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and finished the half 6-for-12, while the Ducks were 0-for-7 from the 3-point line in the second and 1-for-9 in the first half.
The Ducks were held without a point until Long's steal and fastbreak layin with just under 4:30 left to go in the half. Watkins scored 10 of her game-high 21 points in the second, hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
Oregon responded out of the locker room by winning the third, 22-15. Scott dropped nine points in the frame while Long added six to go with a pair of steals. The Ducks got within 12 points with less than a minute to play in the third before a Watkins layup in the closing seconds.
The fourth quarter saw the Ducks get as close as 11 points at the 6:40 mark, but were never able to put together a scoring run longer than four unanswered points. UO won the period, 12-11, behind six points from Kelly and four from Elisa Mevius.
Notable: The game marked UO's first conference game as a member of the Big Ten Conference … USC has won four straight in the series and now leads the all-time series 49-30, dating back to 1981 … Freshman Ehis Etute made her home Oregon debut … The Ducks did not have senior Salimatou Kourouma or sophomore Sammie Wagner available for Saturday's game.
Up Next: Oregon continues its homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 17 against Air Force (6 p.m., B1G+).
Team Stats
USC
Oregon
FG%
.404
.355
3FG%
.360
.150
FT%
.688
.750
RB
45
31
TO
22
16
STL
7
14
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ 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
