SEATTLE — Down 33-19 at halftime to Washington, Lexi Petersen and the Oregon Ducks were unhappy.
They didn’t like the heart or fight they showed against the No. 24-ranked Huskies. So they left their locker room at Alaska Airlines Arena and attacked.
“We thought we could fight a lot more and they were getting every loose ball and hustle play,” Petersen said.
Four straight 3-pointers out of halftime put the Ducks back into the ballgame and Oregon erased a 17-point UW lead en route to a 75-63 win at Alaska Airlines Arena.
“This means a lot for us,” Petersen said. “Any road win in the Pac-12 is a good win, let alone a road sweep. We’re all really excited. We showed guts and fought back—very happy about it.”
The Ducks (17-6, 6-6 Pac-12) were 10-of-15 from 3-point range after halftime and shot a combined 58.3 percent from the field while holding Washington to 39.4 percent. Collectively, they outscored UW 56-30 after halftime.
Kat Cooper and Maite Cazorla both had 16 points for the Ducks. Petersen finished with 14 and Jacinta Vandenberg had a team-high 13 rebounds.
“It’s like a homecoming for a couple of our seniors,” coach Kelly Graves said. “I was really glad for Lexi and Kat. They played well and we won. Lexi’s never won here in Seattle. That’s pretty sweet for her.”
UW scored the first nine points of the game and led 16-3 early on. Oregon trailed 18-10 after the first quarter.
With the score at 23-17, UW scored six straight points in the second before a layup from Cazorla put the Ducks down by 10 lead with 1:30 to go before intermission. UW scored the final four points before halftime to extend its lead to 33-19.
Jillian Alleyne picked up her fourth foul in the first two minutes of the second half. Alleyne — a normal double-double threat — had nine points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes.
“It just goes to show that we’re more than just Jill,” Graves said. “When we play with passion and heart like we did in the second half, we can be a really good basketball team.”
Oregon was down 51-45 before Cazorla hit a 3-pointer to spark a 14-0 run for the Ducks. Cooper recorded a layup and hit a free-throw to tie it at 51 with 6:47 left. Alleyne recorded her first points of the game on a jumper to make it a 59-51 Oregon lead with 4:49 left. The Ducks pushed their lead to double-digits at 65-55 with 2:32 left to play.
UW began to foul with 42 seconds left down 67-62, but the Ducks made the ensuing free throws to finish the upset win.
“It was so much fun in the locker room,” Graves said. “I like this team, I really do. I like their heart and their spirit and execution. We executed and defended down the stretch.”
Washington’s Kelsey Plum had 26 points, but Graves said he was proud of Oregon’s pressure against the NCAA’s No. 2-ranked scorer. Much of the responsibly fell on Cazorla, who said she was up to the challenge.
“I think it was a good matchup,” Cazorla said. “I tried to stop her and tried to make her take bad shots, but it was hard. I have to say that.”
Oregon’s win on Sunday will certainly boost the team’s RPI. Coming into the game, the Ducks were No. 69 and the Huskies were No. 27.
“All my career here, I’ve never been in this position—actually fighting for something at this point of the year,” Petersen said. “I think now that it’s apparent that we can fight to get an NCAA Tournament berth, we’re just playing so hard and together. We’re playing for each other.”
Up next: The Ducks return to Eugene to begin a four-game homestand, starting with Utah on Friday.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
