Oregon WBB recap: Ducks’ fourth quarter rally sends OSU home with a loss
With 5:25 left, the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team was in trouble. They were down 60-53 and the arch-rival Beavers were in complete control.
Then Endyia Rogers got hot.
The Oregon guard poured in a career-high 34 points as the Ducks rallied to defeat Oregon State 75-67 inside a raucous Matthew Knight Arena crowd.
Coach Kelly Graves also changed tactics for the last half of the fourth quarter as he went to a 2-3 zone and doubled OSU center Jelena Mitrovic when she received the ball inside. That led to a few turnovers and missed shots.
On the other end, Oregon forward Grace VanSlooten went right at the 6-foot-8 Mitrovic and got her in some foul trouble. But when the Duck freshman wasn’t making a shot or getting fouled, she managed to find an open Rogers for three and she knocked them down.
Rogers was 10-of-18 from the field and 6-of-10 from long range. She also had nine rebounds and six assists.
With the win, the No. 17 Ducks move to 7-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference action.
Final Score: Ducks 75, Beavers 67
Ethan Landa – DucksWire.com
Keys to the game
Oregon State started the game on fire and took an early 9-0 lead. But then the Ducks began to find the range and eventually went on a 25-9 run to take a 25-18 lead in the middle of the second quarter.
Guard Endyia Rogers was the one Duck that was scoring on a consistent basis. She poured in 16 of her — points in the first half.
Oregon did a good job defensively and held Beavers point guard Talia Van Oelhoffen in check.
The contest became physical in the third quarter although not very many fouls were called. Oregon State was able to erase a seven-point deficit and take a 51-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
With 5:45 left and Oregon down 57-53, Te-Hina Paopao missed an open three and on the very next possession, Van Oelhoffen knocked down a trey to increase their lead to seven.
The Ducks then adjusted on both sides of the ball. Oregon went on a 17-5 run thanks to a two-player game with Rogers and Grace VanSlooten. The freshman forward went right at the 6-foot-8 Jelena Mitrovic. When Van Slooten didn’t shoot, she was finding an open Rogers for three, and thankfully for the Ducks, the guard was sinking nearly every shot.
Oregon came into the game shooting just 67 percent from the free-throw line, but against the Beavers, the Ducks knocked down 18-of-22 from the charity stripe.
VanSlooten wasn’t the only freshman coming up big in that fourth quarter rally. Chance Gray played tough defense on Van Oelhoffen and knocked down a huge three from the corner to give Oregon a 68-62 lead with 1:18 left.
It's on the stat sheet
Endyia Rogers: 34 points, 10-18 FG, 6-10 3-pt FG, 9 rebounds, 6 assists
Te-Hina Paopao: 12 points, 5 rebounds
Grace VanSlooten: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4-5 FT
Chance Gray: 9 points, 3-6 3-pt FG
Jelena Mitrovic (OSU): 12 points, 11 rebounds
What's next?
The Ducks host Eastern Washington Dec. 15 scheduled for a 6 pm tip. The Eagles are 5-2 so far this season.
