CORVALLIS, OREGON

BEAVERS 67 - DUCKS 62

The #2 Oregon Ducks (24-2, 13-1) lost to the #12 Oregon State Beavers (21-5, 11-3) in Corvallis. The Ducks had their worst offensive performance of the season which resulted in their first PAC-12 loss of 2019.

The Ducks came into this game having just earned their highest ranking in program history, but hadn’t won in Corvallis since 2010. The Beavers were determined to take away two of Oregon’s greatest strengths, their three-point accuracy and strong play in the paint from Ruthy Hebard, and they very much succeeded.

Erin Boley’s triple with 7:31 left in the first gave Oregon a 7-3 lead, their largest lead of the game. The Ducks had a disastrous opening half: shooting 33.3% from the floor and 25.0% from three-point land. Their 27 points at half and 62 point final score were the lowest of the season.

Oregon looked uncharacteristically sloppy on both sides of the ball, but undoubtedly the worst moment took place in the second quarter when Ruthy Hebard left the game with a knee injury after diving for a rebound.

Joanna Grymek of Oregon State shut down the Ducks’ post play, especially once Hebard left, and Aleah Goodman was excellent off the bench, scoring 15 of her 22 points in the first half.

Down by 11 with 2:31 left in the half, an Oti Gildon steal sparked the Ducks’ offense. Maite Cazorla nailed a triple and Erin Boley hit a jumper to cut the lead to six before the buzzer.

OREGON DUCKS

*Sabrina Ionescu (40 min) 21 PTS - 7 REB - 4 AST - 2 STL - 9/25 FG - 0/6 3PT - 3/3 FT

*Erin Boley (38 min) 12 PTS - 4 REB - 5/11 FG - 2/6 3PT

*Satou Sabally (37 min) 12 PTS - 6 REB - 1 AST - 1 STL - 4/10 FG - 1/3 3PT - 3/4 FT

*Ruthy Hebard (13 min) 8 PTS - 4 REB - 3/7 FG - 2/2 FT

*Maite Cazorla (36 min) 5 PTS - 3 AST - 1 BLK - 2/6 FG - 1/3 3PT

Taylor Chavez (22 min) 3 PTS - 1 STL - 1/5 FG - 1/4 3PT

Oti Gildon (12 min) 1 PT - 2 REB - 1 STL - 0/3 FG - 1/2 FT

Lydia Giomi (2 min)

Morgan Yaeger (1 min)

OREGON STATE STARTERS

Destiny Slocum (32 min) 20 PTS - 3 REB - 4 AST - 8/14 FG - 2/6 3PT - 2/2 FT

Mikayla Pivec (37 min) 11 PTS - 11 REB - 5 AST - 5/6 FG - 1/2 3PT

Katie McWilliams (40 min) 4 PTS - 4 REB - 1/4 FG - 0/1 3PT - 2/2 FT

Taya Corosdale (25 min) 4 PTS - 4 REB - 1 AST - 1/6 FG - 0/3 3PT - 2/2 FT

Joanna Grymek (22 min) 4 PTS - 6 REB - 2 BLK - 2/3 FG

Hebard remained on the bench for the remainder of the game (her status is still unknown), and Oregon was forced to go with a smaller squad. Satou Sabally frequently attacked the rim and the Ducks began to fight their way back.

With 5:24 left in the third, the Ducks went on a 12-4 run to tie the game. Goodman hit another three, followed by a couple of free throws, but Boley was able to bring it to a two-point game going into the final quarter.

Back to back scores from Sabrina Ionescu gave Oregon the lead for the first time since the opening quarter. But Ionescu’s play during part two of the Civil War was perfectly encapsulated by the next couple of plays: after making an impressive steal and running down the court, she missed the layup that would have put the Ducks up by two scores.

Destiny Slocum became deadly accurate in the final minutes, but Taylor Chavez’s triple gave the Ducks some short-lived hope, making the score 55-57 with :55 seconds left. The comeback was there for the taking, but the Beavers perfect free throw shooting snuffed it out.

With four games left in conference play, Oregon has a two-game lead over Oregon State and a three-game lead over Stanford.

GO DUCKS!

NEXT UP: UCLA

2/22, Friday, 8 PM, PAC-12 NETWORK, Eugene