For the second time this season, the Ducks have lost back-to-back games.
After falling easily to No. 4 Stanford on Friday night, Oregon showed a lot of resiliency by battling No. 23 Cal until the very end in a 101-98 overtime loss in Berkeley, Calif.
The loss completes Oregon’s two-game road trip to the Bay Area and make the Ducks’ record 9-4 overall and 0-2 in Pac-12 play. With only four Pac-12 teams being nationally ranked, the Ducks faced two of them on this road trip but will face a lower level of competition over the next few weeks.
Just like the previous game against Stanford, the Ducks were decimated by a post player. First it was Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike. Then Reshanda Gray of Cal proved to be the difference as Oregon had no answer for the junior forward as she put up game-highs of 33 points and 13 rebounds, the second game in a row Oregon has given up a 33-point scorer.
Gray wasn’t the only one doing the damage for the Golden Bears. Brittany Boyd played a good all-around game with 17 points, nine rebounds, five rebounds and four assists, not to mention Cal’s final five points over the last 19 seconds of the game.
Oregon’s Chrishae Rowe battled back from an off game against Stanford to lead the Ducks in scoring with 24 points and 10 rebounds while post Jillian Alleyne did her best to keep up with Gray by adding 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Ariel Thomas was the catalyst for Oregon as she notched 21 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists. Thomas fouled out with eight seconds left in overtime and the Ducks trailing 99-96.
Things were going Oregon’s way when it went into halftime leading 42-38 but it was short-lived as Cal used an 11-2 run to take a 56-50 lead with 13:50 left in the game. The Golden Bears continued to extend the lead, reaching 11 points once, and seemed to be in control as they led the Ducks 87-78 with two minutes left in the game.
That’s when things got interesting.
Lexi Peterson stole the ball at the two-minute mark, drove the length of the court and made the layup to cut the deficit to seven. After a Boyd turnover, Alleyne made a layup and the comeback was officially on. After Alleyne and Gennifer Brandon of Cal each traded free throws to make the score 88-83 with a minute left, Thomas took over.
Thomas made a layup and was fouled with 55 seconds left to complete the three-point play and with Oregon still trailing by two, she found an open Rowe for another layup with just seven seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Overtime began with Cal taking the lead and the Ducks fighting back. After a three-point play by Alleyne tied the game at 96 with 1:05 remaining, Boyd took over and sealed the win for the Golden Bears.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka