SAN ANTONIO — The Ducks waited over a year for their chance at redemption against Louisville, just for their rematch to leave yet another bad taste in their mouth. 

Oregon fell short of its fourth consecutive trip to the Elite Eight after falling to No. 2 Louisville, 60-42, in San Antonio in the Alamo Region semifinal on Sunday. 

In the games preceding the Sweet 16, Oregon’s defense was growing stronger and stronger with every round. The team found its identity and head coach Kelly Graves finally put all the pieces together, rolling out a new starting lineup. Shots were falling and the post players seemed unstoppable. 

But in March Madness, momentum can change in an instant. 

Midway through the opening quarter, Sedona Prince picked up a costly second foul that sidelined her for the rest of the quarter. Without one of their twin towers protecting the paint, the Ducks gave up six offensive rebounds to the Cardinals. 

Louisville’s stifling ball pressure forced Oregon into early turnovers, which plagued them in the long run.

“Our guards did a great job of pressuring the basketball, which we had talked about for the past two days,” Louisville head coach Jeff Walz said. “Our ball pressure had to be elite, and it was. To force Oregon to try to start their offense further out, not let them get simple high-lows or side entries into the post. Our guards did a great job of that.”

To add to Oregon’s woes, freshman guard Maddie Scherr was slow to rise after rolling her left ankle on a Louisville possession. She limped across the court before a timeout was called and never returned to the floor.  

With Scherr and Prince sitting out, the Cardinals took advantage and hit the offensive boards. Louisville spurred an 8-0 run to open the quarter as their lead ballooned 18-8.

The Ducks were without their three leading ball — Te-Hina Paopao, Jaz Shelley and Maddie Scherr — handlers and main defensive stopper on the perimeter. 

In the second quarter, Prince stepped back in the game and immediately stopped Louisville’s 10-0 run with a layup on the right side of the basket. The Cardinals immediately responded. Louisville whipped the ball around Oregon’s zone defense and the ball ended up in the hands of a wide-open Dana Evans for a three.   

An All-American, Evans outscored the entire Oregon team in the second quarter, firing on all cylinders from 18-foot jumpers to behind the three-point line. Louisville’s leading scorer entered the half with a team-high 13 points. 

“We came out with a sense of urgency,” Evans said. “We didn’t want to get down 18 points, like we did last game. We just couldn’t let that happen to a good Oregon team. We just made sure that we kept our foot on the gas.”

Facing its biggest deficit of the game, 29-14, going into the locker room,, Oregon came out firing in the third with a high-low pass from Prince to Nyara Sabally for an and-one layup. 

Three minutes into the third, Erin Boley ended Oregon’s dry spell by sinking its first three of the game, bringing the Ducks within 13. Oregon’s shooting woes continued through the rest of the game, shooting an abysmal 11% from the perimeter. 

Sabally scored Oregon’s last four baskets of the third and the momentum was heading its way going into the final quarter. 

With 28 seconds left, the Ducks’ leading scorer cried out in pain, grabbing her ankle and grimacing after falling to the floor. Sabally was helped off the court, her arms slinging around two of the coaching staff, and she walked straight to the trainers table. 

Against all odds,Oregon, down its best defender Scherr and leading scorer Sabally, managed to cut the deficit to six points, 43-37, with a pair of Prince free throws early in the fourth quarter. 

The Cardinals halted any sign of an Oregon run when Elizabeth Dixon scored a layup at the buzzer, extending their lead back up to double-digits, 43-33. 

Evans, preventing Oregon to creep back in the game, went on a scoring run of her own. She scored seven consecutive points for the Cardinals and boosted their lead to its largest at 19 points, 56-37. 

The game, and the season, were slowly slipping away from Oregon’s grasp. 

“They went on a run that we couldn’t recover from,” Graves said. “We didn’t play our best, we didn’t have all the pieces that we needed.”

Time dwindled down on Oregon’s run in the tournament, but its young core has built a foundation that is sure to be a “springboard” upon in the next few years, as Graves said.  

“I’m really excited about the future of Duck basketball,” Graves said. “In the last five seasons, here’s what we’ve done: Elite Eight, Elite Eight, Final Four, 2020 who knows [….], then this year the Sweet 16. If that’s not an elite basketball program, I’m not sure what is.”

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