Oregon Ducks women’s basketball bounces back, stuns Oklahoma State in Utah
Just two days removed from an embarrassing loss to Utah Tech, the Oregon women’s basketball team closed its nonconference schedule with an upset over Oklahoma State Thursday in St. George Utah, 70-63.
It’s quite the bounce back for the Ducks (9-4), who suffered its worst defeat in the Kelly Graves era Tuesday in terms of NET ranking, dropping an 92-86 decision to the Trailblazer Classic host Utah Tech. The Trailblazers were ranked 205th in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings heading into the weekend.
The Cowgirls (7-4) were ranked 55th and are one of the better teams in the Big 12.
“This was a good bounce back for us from a really low point the other day,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “I’m really happy for the team and proud of them.”
The Ducks reinserted Kennedy Basham into the starting lineup and got off to a hot start, leading by 15 midway through the second quarter and holding on to a 37-29 lead heading into the halftime break. Oregon shot 5-for-7 from the 3-point line in the first half and, more importantly, held the Cowgirls to 9-for-30 shooting from the field and just three made shots from distance.
Oregon extended its lead back to 15 with 1:53 left to go in the third quarter before OSU slowly crept its way back into the game. The Cowgirls ended the third quarter on a 9-0 run, and eventually tied the game at 62-62 with 3:22 left in the game.
The Ducks, however, didn’t allow OSU to make another shot from the field in the game’s final moments and shocked the Cowgirls after one of its lowest points of the season.
OSU was shooting 48% from the field heading into the game and ended up shooting 15 percentage points lower against the Ducks at 33.3%. Oregon shot 49.1% from the field.
“Defensively is where it started,” Graves said. “When they tightened it up at the end, we showed some composure. We made the plays and made the stops when we needed to.”
Four Ducks scored in double figures, led by Chance Gray’s team-high 21 points. Sofia Bell had her best game as a Duck, scoring 15 points with three blocks, and Grace VanSlooten and Phillipina Kyei each had 13 points. Kennedi Williams had eight assists and just one turnover off the bench in a well-rounded effort.
The Ducks now get 10 days off before opening Pac-12 play against rival Oregon State in Corvallis on New Year’s Eve.
“It’s huge,” Graves said of the win. “Going into break off a win and especially a win against a Power Five team is really important … over an 18-game schedule its going to be a challenge for us to compete each and every night, but there’s not a single opponent we can’t beat. Tonight, made them hopefully believe that.”
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women’s basketball bounces back, stuns Oklahoma State in Utah
