Friday, March 20
Austin, TX
10:30 a.m.
University of Oregon
23-12,8-10Big Ten
70
vs
60
Virginia Tech
23-10,12-6ACC
1st quarter1
2nd quarter2
3rd quarter3
4th quarter4
FinalF
Virginia Tech
11
18
11
20
60
Oregon
22
13
20
15
70
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Lockdown Defense Advances Ducks In Big Dance
03/20/26 | Women's Basketball
Oregon reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament after defense fueled a 70-60 win Friday over Virginia Tech.
AUSTIN, Texas — Due to their defense and their depth, the Ducks are still dancing.
The eighth-seeded UO women advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 70-60 victory Friday over Virginia Tech. Oregon is playing the first weekend of the tournament at Texas, and will play Sunday against the winner of Friday's later game between the Longhorns and Missouri State.
Oregon's sensational sophomores, Katie Fiso and Ehis Etute, led the way Friday, as they have throughout this postseason. But the Ducks got big contributions throughout their rotation, and they held the Hokies to 31.8 percent shooting that included 11 straight misses during the third quarter.
"That won the day, our defense," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "Offensively, we were okay. But defensively, I thought we were pretty darn good."
The Ducks (23-12) led by double digits in the first half, then saw their lead cut to just four at 35-31 when Virginia Tech scored first out of halftime. But the Hokies would then go nearly seven minutes without scoring again, with Oregon putting together an 18-0 run thanks to its lockdown defense.
"We keyed in a lot to the scout," Fiso said. "We focused in on the scout before the game — knowing personnel, knowing who shooters are, knowing who to close out on and knowing who to stop short on. And then when we did get beat, our rotations were key today, and I think that was what helped a lot to transition to offense. So our defense was great."
Fiso scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead the Ducks, and Etute had 11 points with 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double in four games this postseason. Oregon also got 13 points from senior Mia Jacobs, eight from Sarah Rambus and seven each by Ari Long and Amina Muhammad.
The UO women shot 48.2 percent as a team, leaning on their size for a 34-16 advantage on points in the paint.
"I was really pleased," Graves said. "It was a good effort. … I thought our coaches did a great job. My staff is amazing, and they had our team prepared. They really locked in for the last few days on this; we probably watched more film on Virginia Tech than we've watched on anybody. We spent a lot of time really focusing on this game."
Jacobs' 13 points were her second-most in five games since returning from a leg injury. She played 31 minutes despite missing time Friday after cutting her chin while diving for a loose ball in the third quarter.
Jacobs transferred to Oregon for her senior season in hopes of making her first career appearance in March Madness. Now, she has a win under her belt.
"It's great to be not just an NCAA tournament team, but a team that got to get a win," Jacobs said. "A lot of people can say they've been here, but not many can say they got a win. So that's really special. And yeah, it was something that I was working towards. I'm so glad that I'm here, and I'm being in the moment with it."
How It Happened: Jacobs made her motivation clear early, hitting a three-pointer to open the game. The teams went back and forth, with Virginia Tech taking a 9-7 lead before Oregon went on a 12-0 run fueled by four points each from Fiso and Rambus.
The quarter ended with a three-point play by Muhammad, giving the Ducks a 22-11 lead.
"We really felt we had an advantage inside," Graves said. "A lot of the things we did after timeouts were geared toward getting it inside. And I thought our kids executed so well tonight."
The Ducks were leading 28-17 early in the second quarter when Virginia Tech pushed back, scoring nine straight. That got the Hokies within two, but the Ducks stabilized themselves and Jacobs hit another three to close the half with Oregon up 35-29.
Virginia Tech scored first after halftime. But the Hokies then missed their next 11 shots, and Oregon mounted an 18-0 run with seven points by Etute, five from Fiso and four from Jacobs.
Jacobs scored with 4:12 left in the third quarter to push Oregon's lead to 51-31. Moments later she dove for a loose ball and had another player fall on her, smashing her chin into the floor and opening up a cut. She returned after missing only 4 minutes of game time.
"Obviously not knowing if it was going to be my last game, I kind of wanted to push through a little harder," Jacobs said. "But I'm a tough cookie, so it was good."
The Hokies closed within 15 early in the fourth, but back-to-back threes by Jacobs and Long put Oregon up 67-46 with 4:18 to play. Those were the final UO field goals of the afternoon, as Virginia Tech fought to the end and rallied to shrink its deficit prior to the final buzzer.
Up Next: The Ducks moved on to play in the second round Sunday.
The eighth-seeded UO women advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 70-60 victory Friday over Virginia Tech. Oregon is playing the first weekend of the tournament at Texas, and will play Sunday against the winner of Friday's later game between the Longhorns and Missouri State.
Oregon's sensational sophomores, Katie Fiso and Ehis Etute, led the way Friday, as they have throughout this postseason. But the Ducks got big contributions throughout their rotation, and they held the Hokies to 31.8 percent shooting that included 11 straight misses during the third quarter.
"That won the day, our defense," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "Offensively, we were okay. But defensively, I thought we were pretty darn good."
The Ducks (23-12) led by double digits in the first half, then saw their lead cut to just four at 35-31 when Virginia Tech scored first out of halftime. But the Hokies would then go nearly seven minutes without scoring again, with Oregon putting together an 18-0 run thanks to its lockdown defense.
"We keyed in a lot to the scout," Fiso said. "We focused in on the scout before the game — knowing personnel, knowing who shooters are, knowing who to close out on and knowing who to stop short on. And then when we did get beat, our rotations were key today, and I think that was what helped a lot to transition to offense. So our defense was great."
Fiso scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead the Ducks, and Etute had 11 points with 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double in four games this postseason. Oregon also got 13 points from senior Mia Jacobs, eight from Sarah Rambus and seven each by Ari Long and Amina Muhammad.
The UO women shot 48.2 percent as a team, leaning on their size for a 34-16 advantage on points in the paint.
"I was really pleased," Graves said. "It was a good effort. … I thought our coaches did a great job. My staff is amazing, and they had our team prepared. They really locked in for the last few days on this; we probably watched more film on Virginia Tech than we've watched on anybody. We spent a lot of time really focusing on this game."
Jacobs' 13 points were her second-most in five games since returning from a leg injury. She played 31 minutes despite missing time Friday after cutting her chin while diving for a loose ball in the third quarter.
Jacobs transferred to Oregon for her senior season in hopes of making her first career appearance in March Madness. Now, she has a win under her belt.
"It's great to be not just an NCAA tournament team, but a team that got to get a win," Jacobs said. "A lot of people can say they've been here, but not many can say they got a win. So that's really special. And yeah, it was something that I was working towards. I'm so glad that I'm here, and I'm being in the moment with it."
How It Happened: Jacobs made her motivation clear early, hitting a three-pointer to open the game. The teams went back and forth, with Virginia Tech taking a 9-7 lead before Oregon went on a 12-0 run fueled by four points each from Fiso and Rambus.
The quarter ended with a three-point play by Muhammad, giving the Ducks a 22-11 lead.
"We really felt we had an advantage inside," Graves said. "A lot of the things we did after timeouts were geared toward getting it inside. And I thought our kids executed so well tonight."
The Ducks were leading 28-17 early in the second quarter when Virginia Tech pushed back, scoring nine straight. That got the Hokies within two, but the Ducks stabilized themselves and Jacobs hit another three to close the half with Oregon up 35-29.
Virginia Tech scored first after halftime. But the Hokies then missed their next 11 shots, and Oregon mounted an 18-0 run with seven points by Etute, five from Fiso and four from Jacobs.
Jacobs scored with 4:12 left in the third quarter to push Oregon's lead to 51-31. Moments later she dove for a loose ball and had another player fall on her, smashing her chin into the floor and opening up a cut. She returned after missing only 4 minutes of game time.
"Obviously not knowing if it was going to be my last game, I kind of wanted to push through a little harder," Jacobs said. "But I'm a tough cookie, so it was good."
The Hokies closed within 15 early in the fourth, but back-to-back threes by Jacobs and Long put Oregon up 67-46 with 4:18 to play. Those were the final UO field goals of the afternoon, as Virginia Tech fought to the end and rallied to shrink its deficit prior to the final buzzer.
Up Next: The Ducks moved on to play in the second round Sunday.
Team Stats
VT
Oregon
FG%
.318
.482
3FG%
.375
.385
FT%
.600
.524
RB
38
44
TO
9
13
STL
5
2
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballF
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Kelly Graves | Postgame vs. Washington
Monday, March 02
