Oregon Women Suffer First Home Loss in Big Ten Opener
UGENE, Ore. — Despite a strong defensive effort and outscoring No. 6 USC in three of four quarters, the Oregon women's basketball team suffered a 66-53 loss in its Big Ten opener before 7,246 fans at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Oregon (7-3, 0-1) recorded a season-high 14 steals, five coming from Ari Long off the bench, in forcing 22 USC turnovers. But an 18-0 Trojan run to begin the second quarter handed USC a 21-point halftime lead that proved too much for the Ducks to overcome.
"Disappointed in the loss, but I was encouraged by our fight," said UO head coach Kelly Graves. "We played a lot more desperate in that second half. We started the game desperate. Kinda odd looking at the stats, we outscored them in three of the four quarters."
UO clawed back to trim the deficit to 12 points in the final minute of the third quarter, and to 11 midway through the fourth, but the Trojans (8-1, 1-0) responded each time to extend the lead and not let the Ducks within single digits.
https://goducks.com/news/2024/12/8/womens-basketball-uo-suffers-first-home-loss-in-big-ten-opener