Kelly Graves sat on the sidelines with his head balanced on his fist looking displeased. 
Between turnovers and a cold shooting performance by the entire team, the Oregon women’s basketball head coach struggled to point out the positives. 

After failing to find a consistent shooting rhythm in the Ducks’ loss to Stanford last week, their cold streak carried into Friday’s game against Colorado. The 63-53 loss was Oregon’s lowest scoring game all season.

Te’Hina Paopao and Chance Gray, two of Oregon’s scoring leaders, had less than 10 points combined tonight. In order for the team to find their groove again, more people will need to score. 

Endyia Rogers started off the game with an and-one after sprinting through a slim opening in the lane on the right side of the basket, but Colorado responded with a 6-0 run immediately afterwards. The Buffaloes forced turnovers with tight and aggressive defense. With inbound passes, they were able to read the pass and steal it, and Colorado’s guards were able to pick the pockets of the Ducks’ ball handlers. 

Colorado was able to score 28 of their points off turnovers and fast breaks. When the buzzer went off for halftime, Oregon had 10 turnovers and only 25 points.

“Turnovers are absolutely killing us,” Graves said at halftime. 

The Buffaloes started the second half with 1-of-12 shooting, and the Ducks took full advantage of it. 
Grace VanSlooten, Taylor Hosendove, and Rogers finished the night in double digits and the majority of their points came in the third quarter. Colorado reciprocated Oregon’s playstyle with the consistent turnovers which gave the Ducks plenty of scoring opportunities. 
Even though they didn’t make a single three-point shot tonight, they got the majority of their points from the free-throw line and in the paint. Oregon’s defense held Colorado to seven points in the third quarter, and were able to bring the score within two. 

Two of Colorado’s best shooters and aggressive defenders, center Quay Miller and guard Jaylyn Sherrod got into foul trouble early, which meant they were unable to contribute to the Buffaloes attack. But, center Aaronette Vonleh, a West Linn native, took the responsibility and had a career-high 22 points.

“I was locked in and ready,” Vonleh said. “I knew I could handle it, and we needed someone to step up.”

After tonight’s loss, Oregon is ranked eighth in the Pac-12, after falling under .500 in conference games. The last time that happened was during the 2016-17 season. No. 7 ranked Utah will face the Ducks on Sunday, and if Oregon wants its tournament hopes to stay alive, it’ll need to snap out of the cold shooting streak. In order for the team to find their groove again, more people will need to score.