The Oregon Ducks (11-7, 2-3 Pac-12) were holding onto a lead that was seeming less and less secure by the minute. After leading by as much as 11 points, the Ducks had allowed the Arizona Wildcats (10-7, 2-3 Pac-12) to cut the lead to just three with just under four minutes to play. However, Sammie Walker, an unlikely hero, hit her second 3-pointer of the quarter to put Oregon back up by six points, and the game out of reach from the Wildcats.

The Ducks began the game with hot shooting, but with a plethora of turnovers allowing the Wildcats to stay in the game. Five turnovers in the first five minutes of the game for Oregon allowed Arizona to have plenty of opportunities to stay close early.

Once the Ducks began cleaning up the turnover problem slightly, the poor shooting from the Wildcats became more apparent. Oregon finished the first quarter with eight turnovers, but a 12-6 lead thanks to 3-11 shooting from Arizona and seven turnovers of its own.

Chance Gray started firing from deep, hitting her second and third 3-pointers of the game on back-to-back shots to give the Ducks a 24-14 lead with just over six minutes to play in the second quarter. The hot shooting from Oregon was enough to maintain the lead, but the turnovers continued to plague the Ducks.

A couple of late baskets by Oregon helped survive a push from the Wildcats in the final minutes of the half. Despite having 13 turnovers in the first half, the Ducks led 34-26. Arizona shot 13-28 in the first half, but Oregon was able to shoot a scorching hot 59.1% from the field to make up for the offensive mishaps.

Gray had 11 points in the first half while making all three of her attempts from behind the arc to lead all scorers in the game. The Ducks’ big three was rounded out by seven points by Phillipina Kyei and four from Grace VanSlooten in the first half to give the three 22 points between them.

Oregon also held an advantage in bench scoring, giving the trio of Gray, VanSlooten and Kyei some help in the scoring column. The Ducks defense was able to hold Arizona’s bench scoreless in the first half to hold an 8-0 advantage in that category.

The second half opened in the same way as the first half ended, more Oregon turnovers. Four turnovers in the first four minutes allowed the Wildcats to cut the lead to two points at 39-37 on an 8-1 run. Made free throws allowed the Ducks to stay ahead, despite falling cold from the field.

VanSlooten and Kyei both had strong quarters to help make up for Gray missing all three of her shots in the third quarter. All three members of the Ducks’ big three entered the fourth quarter with 11 points for the game. Oregon’s defense continued to hold strong as the Ducks entered the fourth quarter with a 50-41 advantage.

The Wildcats went on a 8-0 run in the first two minutes of the final quarter, which was fueled by three more Oregon turnovers during that span. The Ducks were able to maintain a slight lead throughout the fourth quarter, despite Arizona making five of its seven attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in the quarter. Wagner hit a pair of well-timed 3-pointers to prevent the Wildcats from gaining too much momentum late in the game.

Arizona gave Oregon one last scare, stealing an inbound and hitting a 3-pointer with just two seconds remaining in the game. The Wildcats then followed it up with another steal before having to force up a shot as time expired, which fell short. The Ducks escaped with a 70-68 win.