Oregon Women’s Basketball: Ducks Fall To The Cardinal, 65-76

Oregon Ducks women’s basketball stuck to the same script that they held to in their February win slump: despite winning defense against just about any opponent, Ducks that don’t have PaoPao or Rogers as their last name can’t seem to hit the bucket. It was a theme yesterday, and Oregon was able to get past Washington, but you’re not going to get past #5 Stanford with that kind of play.

The Cardinal jumped ahead 0-7 off poor shooting and turnovers by the Ducks early in the 1st quarter. The Cardinal wasn’t exactly shooting lights-out in the 1st either; Stanford shot 3-20 for 15% in the first to Oregon’s 14.8%. Stanford hurt Oregon on the free throw line, shooting 9-11 in the first period alone.

The Ducks let the Cardinal get away from them in the second quarter. They had no answer in the period for Cameron Brink, who lead the way in guiding Stanford to 53% shooting in the 2nd. Oregon’s 25% opened a points gap that the Ducks were not going to be able to close today, and Oregon went into halftime down by 13.

Nearly two minutes into the third quarter, Cameron Brink picked up her third personal foul, and Oregon took advantage of her absence, going on a 16-6 run, capped by a pair of Te-Hina Paopao threes to close to 45-51.

Alas; as the BB gods would have it, Cameron Brink re-entered the game and the Cardinal ended the quarter with a 7-0 run.

In the fourth period, Endyia Rogers and Paopao furiously tried to catch up, with the two of them accounting for 16 of Oregon’s 20 points in the 4th. It wasn’t going to be enough, because Rogers and Paopao had no help from the rest of the team. To whit: in the 2nd half, Paopao scored 20 points, Rogers scored 13, Chance Gray scored a paltry six points, Phillipina Kyei scored two - and that was it. The rest of the team went 0-for.

Te-Hina Paopao lead all scorers with 28 points. Cameron Brink lead the Cardinal with 22 points and added 11 rebounds for yet another double-double from her. Stanford killed Oregon on the glass, pulling in 56 boards to Oregon’s 39.

Oregon ends the season at 17-14 (7-11 Pac-12). So where do they go come Selection Sunday? That’s a question, and no one has a feel on the answer.

The only thing Oregon has going for it in getting an at-large bid is their incredible NET ranking of 19. My personal take is that I don’t think their February record and failure to get past the first round in the Pac-12 tournament is enough to get in the NCAA tourney. That’s not a bad thing, because at the same time I think they could be the team to watch out for int the WNIT.

But...I’m not on the selection committee. Good thing, too, I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility. We’ll see where the Ducks land on Sunday and wish them well.