It was a comeback for the ages.
After being largely outplayed for the first 34 minutes of the game, the Ducks found themselves down 69-55 with 5:48 to go in the game. At that point, true freshman Lexi Bando was the only Ducks player giving Oregon any offense, but Jillian Alleyne and Lexi Petersen decided it was time to help out their teammate.
The three of them combined to score all of Oregon’s points in a 15-1 run to end regulation, the final two points coming on Petersen’s driving layup with 6.4 seconds left that tied the game and sent it to overtime.
The drama was only just getting started as Petersen, Alleyne and Bando were the only Oregon players to score the rest of the game, spanning two overtimes, before a Tatum Neubert layup with 3:01 left in the second overtime gave the Ducks an 83-81 lead, something they wouldn’t relinquish.
In the end, Oregon came out on top and defeated Santa Clara 92-88 in double overtime.
Oregon was down two with 28 seconds left in the first overtime before Amanda Delgado sunk a left handed layup that tied the game. After Santa Clara missed a shot on the other end, a battle for the rebound ensued and after lengthy replay by the officials, it was determined that Oregon had the ball with four seconds left. Petersen had the chance to be the hero but she missed a layup at the buzzer to send the game into a second overtime.
Nici Gilday of Santa Clara hit a three-pointer to give the Broncos a 79-77 lead but an Alleyne layup tied the game and two Petersen free throws clinched it.
Bando set a career-high in points with 28 on 11-for-16 shooting, including 6-for-8 from three-point territory, as Petersen added 24 points and Alleyne had a double-double with 16 points and 20 rebounds.
Bando was the only thing that gave the Ducks a fighting chance for most of the game as she had 12 points in the first half and added 14 in the second. Unfortunately for the Ducks, their offense stalled for much of the night when Bando didn’t have the ball in her hand, which was very often in the second half.
The second half comeback started when Alleyne made a free throw and from there, it was Drea Toler’s defense doing a good job of shutting down Santa Clara guards Raquel Avila and Gilday. With Avila being hounded by Toler, the Broncos cutting and clashing offense stalled and as a result, the ducks were able to get out and run a little bit.
With the win, Oregon improves to 6-3 on the year while the Broncos fall to 5-4. Oregon returns to action Sunday when the play host to Fresno State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Follow Ryan Kostecka @Ryan_Kostecka