KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 73-70 double overtime loss to 12 seed Belmont gave fans one of the best individual performances in Oregon women’s basketball history.
The Ducks came out flat and improved their play throughout the game on Saturday in Knoxville, Tennessee. A seven turnover fourth quarter forced Oregon to claw back into the game which they did, thanks to a corner 3-pointer from Te-Hina Paopao which tied the game at 53-53 and forced overtime with 7 seconds to play.
Despite jumping out to leads in both overtime periods, the Ducks failed to put the Belmont Bruins away, spoiling Nyara Sabally’s career night with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks.
“We just didn’t tighten it up defensively,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “I thought there were some 50-50 lose balls on rebounds that they seemed to get…we just went too fast and had a couple of turnovers.”
In the first quarter, passes to favorable positions were not made, layups grazed off the rim and defensive rotations were blundered, giving the Belmont offense wide open 3-point looks which they cashed.
Despite the lackluster start to the game, the Ducks showed signs in the second quarter of the team that beat top 10 opponents UConn and Arizona this season. Sabally scored 10 of her career-high 31 points and had two of her seven blocks in the quarter alone. The Ducks outscored Belmont 20-13 in the quarter and took a 28-13 lead into the half.
In the third quarter the Ducks continued playing their brand of basketball. Working the ball inside Sabally tacked on 5 more points in the quarter as the Oregon lead grew to four going into the fourth.
To open the final period of regulation Sabally scored inside again on a physical move to beat the double team she now commanded.
“I could have put up 60 points for all I care about, ” Sabally said. “In a loss, it just doesn’t sit that well, it just hurts right now.”
Belmont’s 1st team All-Ohio Valley Conference guard Tuti Jones responded with back-to-back 3s before hitting another jumper to cap an 8-0 run of her own. Both teams traded baskets all quarter with Belmont holding the lead until Paopao’s three forced overtime.
“I thought we got the ball inside when we needed to,” Graves said. “It’s been a microcosm of our season, we’ve never been able to put everything together.”
After going down 6, Belmont made two 3s in the first overtime, including a game tying desperation bank from Conley Chinn to tie the game at 63 with under a minute to play.
In the second overtime, Oregon got the first two baskets punishing the smaller Bruins inside with Sedona Prince and Sabally, before giving up two Belmont baskets and a pair of free throws to push the Belmont lead to three with four seconds to go.
“Bottom line is I think we were just so inconsistent,” Graves said. “Our shooting has not been great and when you have a night with Nyara had one of her best games…we just needed one more. [basket or stop]”
On the final play of the game the Ducks inbounded to Sabally who looked off a well guarded Te-Hina Paopao before passing to a non-shooter Prince who missed from the top of the arc as time expired.
With the loss, Oregon for the first time in five years fails to advance out of the first round of the tournament. The Ducks now await Sabally’s decision to enter the WNBA draft or return to Eugene as she retains an extra year of eligibility due to Covid-19 and will begin to reload for the 2022-23 campaign.
