Too close for comfort? Maybe.
But nothing is more comfortable than a flight after a hardfought road conference victory like the Ducks earned on Thursday afternoon.
Deja Kelly silenced all doubt with a go-ahead shot with four seconds left to earn her Ducks a 63-61 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions (9-7, 0-5 Big Ten).
Oregon was unable to put Penn State away while leading for the bulk of the game and almost gave away a contest that was the Ducks’ game to lose.
But leaders find a way. Kelly found a way.
The Ducks (12-4, 3-2 Big Ten) found their second road conference win on the back of a complete team-effort performance. Nine different Ducks got on the board with Kelly leading the scoring with only 15 points.
Defensive dominance and taking an early lead were the keys to shutting down a subpar Penn State team. The Ducks demonstrated this theme early limiting Penn State to 14 first-quarter points to take a 20-14 advantage 10 minutes in. Amina Muhammad and Sarah Rambus both tallied a quick six points in the opening frame
In the second quarter, Penn State started to close the gap. Gabby Elliot recorded seven of her game-leading 26 points while limiting the Ducks to 14 points of their own. Still, Oregon led by seven at the break.
One concerning part of Oregon’s win was its inability to sink 3-point baskets. The Ducks shot 18% (3/17) from range while Penn State had a commendable 40% on 15 attempts.
On the flip side, Penn State did everything it could to hand the game to the Ducks. The Nittany Lions committed a whopping 24 turnovers to Oregon’s 15 and the Ducks netted 21 of their points off turnovers.
Oregon outscored Penn State 20-18 in the third quarter to secure a nine-point lead entering the final frame. Nani Falatea had nine of her 10 points in the frame on 4/4 shooting, but the Ducks just couldn’t pull away from pesky Penn State.
The Nittany Lions stormed back to take its first lead early in the fourth quarter with a pair of 3-pointers from Elliot and Grace Hall and a slew of fouls from the Ducks. Penn State started the frame on a 10-0 run before Phillipina Kyei finally ended an Oregon scoring drought that lasted for over five minutes.
From there, it was a race to the finish line, both teams trading fouls, buckets and turnovers. The fourth quarter featured several lead changes, and both squads have more than five sloppy turnovers. With just four seconds to play, a tied game was still far from settled.
Insert Deja Kelly. She hit a jumper in the waning seconds to put the Ducks ahead one final time. Penn State’s last shot fell away and Oregon held on for its third conference win of the year.
Oregon went ice cold in the fourth quarter and it nearly cost Kelly Graves’ team a much-needed victory. Blowing a fourth-quarter lead as quickly as the Ducks did could’ve severely messed with the team’s psyche.
Instead, this could be remembered as one of Oregon’s premier wins of the season. The Ducks were without Peyton Scott for a second-straight game and were able to find victory despite being outscored 16-9 in the game’s final quarter.
Oregon demonstrated incredible grit and will hope to keep the good mojo moving forward as a difficult road test against No. 9 Ohio State awaits the Ducks on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 10 a.m. PST.
