Big Fourth Quarter Keeps Ducks Unbeaten

Tuesday, November 25

Frisco, TX

11:30 a.m.

University of Oregon

7-0,0-0Big Ten

Saint Mary's

5-2,0-0WCC

Saint Mary's (CA)

Oregon

Photo by: GoDucks.com

11/25/25 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (Oregon 71, Saint Mary's 53)Photo Gallery

Ducks outscore SMC 25-7 in the fourth quarter.

FRISCO, Texas – Oregon had to like how it started and finished Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's in the opener of the Hoopfest Women's Challenge. In between, however, the Gaels gave the Ducks all they could handle for much of the afternoon.

The UO women, who are in the midst of four games in eight days across three cities, jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first quarter but later trailed by as many as nine in the second half. It was a fourth-quarter clinic that helped the Ducks to a 71-53 victory at Comerica Center to remain undefeated.

"It was kind of a tale of two games," said head coach Kelly Graves. "The first half and the first part of the second half, we just running around with no purpose it seemed like, and just running in quicksand."

Oregon (7-0) traveled to the Dallas area on Monday following its Sunday afternoon home win over Utah State, and touched the floor at Comerica Center for the first time approximately 30 minutes prior to tipoff.

Despite that, the Ducks jumped out to an 11-0 lead over the game's first four minutes, only to see Saint Mary's (5-2) respond with its own 11-point burst to tie the game. Oregon trailed by two at the half and the teams were level, 46-46, through three quarters, but UO put it all together in the fourth quarter and outscored SMC 25-7 over the final 10 minutes for an 18-point victory.

"There's absolutely no juice in the building, none, for either team," Graves said. "For the first time this year, we had some adversity. We were down nine and didn't look like we were showing any signs of life to actually come back, but we did. We switched to that zone; I thought the zone was really good to us.

"We created some turnovers and got out in transition and finally got a couple of easy baskets and got it going again."

The Oregon women's basketball team takes on Saint Mary's at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas on Nov. 25, 2025.

Guards Katie Fiso and Ari Long paced the offense with 15 points each, while Fiso dished out 10 assists for her fourth double-double on the young season. Mia Jacobs added eight points and four rebounds, while Ehis Etute and Janiyah Williams provided a lift off the bench with eight points apiece.

Oregon's defense was once again tenacious, as it forced 26 turnovers behind 14 steals – its fourth outing this season forcing 20 or more turnovers with double-digit steals. Jacobs' five steals led seven different Ducks that registered at least one theft.

How It Happened: Oregon connected on its first three shots of the game, including a Long 3-pointer, to open up a 9-0 lead and force a Saint Mary's timeout. UO's run continued out of the timeout, as the Ducks spotted themselves an 11-point lead, with Jacobs accounting for six points.

The Gaels responded by scoring the next 11 to tie the score and ended up taking a one-point lead, 14-13, after hitting a go-ahead three at the first-quarter horn. The Ducks missed their last eight shots from the floor and went scoreless for a six-minute stretch before a pair of Etute free throws in the closing seconds.

Amina Muhammad reclaimed the lead for the Ducks with a layup on the first possession of the second quarter, but then saw Saint Mary's Edie Clarke score the next eight points as the Gaels opened up a 22-15 lead.

UO would tie the game at 26, going on a 11-4 spurt with Fiso scoring seven points in that stretch, before taking a 29-26 lead on a Williams 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the half. SMC scored the last five points of the half to take a 31-29 lead into the locker room.

The Gaels connected on 4-of-9 shots from the 3-point line, while the Ducks made just 2-of-10 attempts. SMC shot 52 percent in the half to UO's 36 percent, while Saint Mary's bench outscored Oregon 17-9. Oregon's defense forced 16 turnovers, but only converted those into 11 points.

The Oregon women's basketball team takes on Saint Mary's at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas on Nov. 25, 2025.

The Gaels' momentum continued into the third quarter, as they knocked down three of their first four shots to open the half on a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 38-29, marking the Ducks' largest deficit of the season.

After an Oregon timeout, the Ducks began to chip away with an 8-2 run that included another Williams triple that trimmed the deficit to three, 42-39, as the quarter hit the halfway mark. The Ducks closed the quarter by scoring nine of the final 10 points to tie the game at 46 after 30 minutes.

The fourth quarter was where the script flipped, as the Ducks scored the first five points of the frame and went on an 18-4 opening run to open a 64-50 lead. The stretch featured a pair of Sofia Bell 3-pointers and six points from Fiso. UO would lead by as many as 20 in the quarter and outscored SMC 25-7 in total.

Long scored seven of her season-high 15 in the fourth, going 2-for-2 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Oregon shot 64 percent and hit on 4-of-10 3-pointers while holding the Gaels to 35 percent overall and 1-for-9 from downtown.

Notable: Oregon went 19-for-20 (95.0 percent) from the free throw line, its most made free throws on the season … UO alums Deja Kelly and Endyia Rogers, both Texas natives, were in attendance, as was former assistant coach Jackie Nared Hairston … The 7-0 start marks the Ducks' best start since going 8-0 to being the 2020-21 season.

The Oregon women's basketball team takes on Saint Mary's at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas on Nov. 25, 2025.