SYRACUSE, NEW YORK

DUCKS 81 - ORANGE 64

The #1 Oregon Ducks (4-0, 0-0) gave the #17 Syracuse Orange (3-1, 0-0) their first loss of the season. After a slow start from both teams, the Ducks caught fire in the second half and left New York with an 81-64 victory.

Ruthy Hebard won the opening tip off and Erin Boley drained a corner three to start the scoring, then Satou Sabally connected with her first points of the season - a triple - that put the Ducks up 6-0. Kiara Lewis missed her first couple of free throws, but Syracuse got on the board moments later when Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi made a layup.

Sabally missed a triple but was fortunate enough to have the ball bounce to Minyon Moore who immediately fed her for another shot from the same spot, which she nailed. However, the Orange responded with an 8-0 run as the Ducks made some surprising mistakes, including a turnover and travel from Sabrina Ionescu. The shots were off for both teams in the first, but Sabally was able to outscore the Orange 6 to 2 in the final minutes to make it a 15-15 game going into the second.

Lewis took a quick second-quarter lead with a three-pointer, then after a foul and turnover from Lydia Giomi, Lewis drained another, then a third. Freshman Jaz Shelley scored the first Duck bucket of the quarter after she rebounded her own jumper, making the score 24-17. Minyon Moore was fouled and hit both of her free throws, then after a Syracuse layup Ionescu scored her first point.

Ionescu hit one of her two shots from the charity stripe at the 5:27 mark in the second quarter and Erin Boley and Emily Engstler traded threes before the commercial timeout. Sabally passed to Boley on the inside for an easy jumper to tie at 29 apiece, then Sabally hit her free throws to reclaim the lead.

Syracuse made their first free throw near the end of the half when Lewis hit her second attempt to make the halftime score 31-30, Oregon. The Ducks finished the half 9 of 34 on field goals and 4 of 17 from three while the Orange were 11 of 36 from the floor and 7 of 24 from long range.

OREGON ROSTER

*Satou Sabally (33 min): 23 PTS - 9 REB - 3 AST - 3 STL - 3 TO - 7/15 FG - 4/10 3PT - 5/7 FT

*Sabrina Ionscu (36 min): 19 PTS - 7 REB - 6 AST - 1 BLK - 5 TO - 6/11 FG - 2/5 3PT - 5/7 FT

*Erin Boley (30 min): 19 PTS - 2 REB - 1 AST - 7/13 FG - 5/9 3PT

*Ruthy Hebard (31 min): 11 PTS - 13 REB - 1 AST - 1 BLK - 1 TO - 5/10 FG - 1/1 FT

*Minyon Moore (37 min): 5 PTS - 5 REB - 10 AST - 1 STL - 2 TO - 1/5 FG - 0/1 3PT

Lydia Giomi (5 min): 2 PTS - 3 REB - 2 TO - 1/2 FG

Jaz Shelley (7 min): 2 PTS - 1 REB - 1 STL - 1/4 FG - 0/2 3PT - 0/1 FG

Holly Winterburn (5 min): 1 TO - 0/1 FG - 0/1 3PT

Taylor Chavez (16 min): 2 REB - 0/4 FG - 0/2 3PT

SYRACUSE STARTERS

*Kiara Lewis: 23 PTS - 2 REB - 5 AST - 1 STL 4 TO - 6/18 FG - 4/11 3PT - 7/10 FT

*Emily Engstler: 10 PTS - 9 REB - 1 AST - 2 STL - 2 TO - 4/9 FG - 2/5 3PT

*Digna Strautmane: 9 PTS - 6 REB - 3 AST - 1 STL - 4/9 FG - 1/5 3PT

*Gabrielle Cooper: 6 PTS - 1 REB - 1 AST - 1 STL - 1 TO - 2/9 FG - 1/6 3PT- 1/2 FT

*Amaya Finklea-Guity: 4 REB - 1 TO - *0/2 FG*

The Ducks started with the ball in the second half and Boley drained a three to expand the lead to four. Moore then forced a turnover on the inbound and Ionescu added to the momentum with a layup. After an early timeout to regain some Orange composure, Syracuse earned a couple of free throws to cut the lead to four.

Moore found Boley at the baseline for an impressive assist, but Lewis hit a triple shortly after to make it a three-point game, then hit another to tie it once again. Hebard made her first shot of the game with 5:42 left in the third, then responded to a Gabrielle Cooper jumper with a layup thanks to another impressive assist by Moore. A Boley triple was also aided by the hustle play of Moore who was a big part of Oregon’s success as their two superstar players struggled to find their game.

The Ducks went on a 22 to 6 run to end the third which included four three pointers. Sabally drained a triple she was fouled on with under 20 seconds left, then rebounded her own missed free throw and passed to Ionescu who hit a deep three as time expired to give the Ducks a 62-46 lead entering the final quarter.

The Orange was never able to recover from Oregon’s big third quarter run and the Ducks ran away with it in the fourth. After scoring just five points in the first half, Ionescu finished with 17 points, and despite playing through early foul trouble Hebard was able to record her fourth double-double in four games. Sabally scored a team high 23 points in her first game of the season after playing abroad, Boley helped to keep the struggling Oregon offense afloat by hitting five triples and Moore injected some much needed energy with her full-court play and 10 assists.

Lewis led her team with 23 points and the Ducks’ recently productive bench was outscored 16 to 2 by Djaldi-Tabdi. Syracuse kept up with Oregon’s high-scoring offense by disrupting their flow in the passing game and forcing them into some tough shots, but after scoring 31 in the first half Oregon scored 31 in the third quarter and never looked back.

GO DUCKS AND SCREW CANCER!

NEXT UP: OKLAHOMA STATE

11/28, Thursday, 12:15 PM, FLOHOOPS, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands