Oregon likely won’t want to play anyone from the Magnolia State anytime soon.
The No. 25-ranked Ducks fell to 8-2 on Wednesday after losing 83-67 to Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. Oregon’s other loss of the season came to Mississippi State in Honolulu.
“We played young,” head coach Kelly Graves said in a phone interview with the Emerald. “We played our age. Give them credit. They played well. They played hard. They pressured us and we didn’t handle it very well.”
Mallory McGwire tallied her first career double-double in scoring 11 points and 12 rebounds. Ruthy Hebard, who was one point off her career high, paced the Ducks with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting.
Ole Miss forced 17 Oregon turnovers, which the Rebels converted into 23 points. The Ducks outrebounded the home team 41-37.
“It was the time of the turnovers,” Graves said. “Too many of them and they buried us.”
The Ducks also didn’t have freshman standout Sabrina Ionescu at full strength. She tallied two points in seven minutes after sustaining an injury during Tuesday’s practice in Mississippi.
“I shouldn’t have played her,” Graves said. “She couldn’t do anything. Her thumb — you know — is basically broken. She couldn’t do anything. I felt like the manager who goes out to the pitchers mound and the pitcher talks the manager into giving him one more inning. I sided with her. She said, ‘Coach. I can do it. Let me try.’ She just couldn’t do it.”
Asked to clarify if it’s broken, Graves said: “I don’t think so.”
He said she’ll get x-rays when she returns to Eugene.
“We’ll see,” Graves said. “It’s not good. She can’t do anything with her right hand. If you’re a right hander, that’s a problem.”
Oregon fell behind early, 24-15, after the first quarter. The Ducks pulled to within four points at 28-24 with 6:18 left before halftime. Ole Miss stretched its lead to 49-35 by halftime. The Rebels had forced 14 Oregon turnovers at that point.
After Hebard drained a bucket, the Rebels went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. Ole Miss led 67-50 after three quarters and maintained a double-digit lead until the game ended. Jayde Woods went down with a wrist injury during the fourth quarter. Graves didn’t have an update on Woods’ condition.
“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll see. That was a pretty gnarly injury. We’ll see.”
Justine Hall tallied 10 points in her second game in an Oregon uniform.
“I thought Justine came in and gave us a big lift and played well,” Graves said. “I think she’s really going to help us.”
Chrishae Rowe, who was dismissed from Oregon and Kentucky, made her Ole Miss debut and tallied six points against her former team.
The Ducks shot 45.3 percent from the field while Ole Miss shot 44.4 percent.
“It was one of those games where a little bit of everything happened,” Graves said. “It just kind of snowballed. Hopefully we’ll learn from it and get better.”
The Ducks play next against Portland State on Saturday in Portland at the Moda Center.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne