In front of their home crowd, the Oregon women’s basketball team surged back from a 17 point third-quarter deficit taking the No. 7 Arizona Wildcats into overtime. The Ducks had a chance to win on the final play.
Tied at 66, Endyia Rogers flew through the lane and kicked a pass out to Sydney Parrish for the game-winning 3. Parrish hit the front rim and the shot fell short. In response, groans from the fans echoed throughout Matthew Knight Arena. The game seemed destined for a second overtime period.
Out of nowhere, Rogers snatched the offensive rebound and knocked down the game-winning fadeaway jump shot. The groans turned to a joyous ovation.
The Ducks’ fans seemed to relish the moment following the magical last-second shot — almost as if they didn’t want to take it for granted. During the 2020-21 season, the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the country and wiped out fan attendance.
The pandemic slowly died down and fans grew comfortable attending games this season. With fans back in their seats, a sense of normality was restored and with it, they experienced memorable moments such as the one on Jan. 15, when the Ducks upset the Wildcats.
Throughout the 2021-22 season, Pit Crew and alumni fans alike felt the nostalgic buzz that made Ducks games memorable before the pandemic took it all away.
“The stadium erupted,” Ducks’ fan Patrick McMahon said. “I remember Parrish missed the 3, and instantly I’m thinking [Arizona] can win it here… and then Rogers pops out of nowhere, grabs the ball, and puts it in.”
McMahon, a junior at the University of Oregon, can be spotted toting his silver “O” chain at every Oregon sporting event. His dedication to fandom earned him the title of “Secretary of Student Defense” for the Pit Crew — a student-led group of passionate Duck sports fans.
“It’s always been my dream to be part of the Pit Crew since I heard about it in eighth grade,” McMahon said. “I sought them out right when I stepped on campus as a freshman.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, McMahon and the Pit Crew were the heartbeat of Oregon’s packed student section. As the pandemic surged and fans weren’t allowed to attend games, interest in the Pit Crew diminished. The group had just four members before the fall term.
“It was tough to maintain members because the whole point of Pit Crew is to go to Ducks games,” McMahon said. “When that opportunity became unavailable, the club stopped growing.”
A few months later, though, the Pit Crew was the epicenter of the fans’ return to MKA, which culminated in a high of 73% occupancy at the Ducks game against No. 2 Stanford on Feb. 20.
Throughout the season, McMahon and his cohorts led the student section in chants and tried to get in opponents’ heads. His chant caught the attention of UConn coach Geno Auriemma at the women’s basketball game against UConn on Jan. 17.
“[Auriemma] looked right at me and I said, ‘Your haircut sucks,’” McMahon said. “He gave me a really confused shrug, and everyone started laughing.”
The student section will also get in opponents’ heads by chanting “left foot, right foot, left foot,” etc. after an opponent fouls out. The whole stadium joins in with them. In fact, it’s Laura Vencill’s favorite chant.
Laura and her husband, Gary Vencill, who graduated from UO in 1970, have attended every women’s game for the past eight years. They saw the Ducks and Matthew Knight at their peak when Sabrina Ionescu led them to victory against the women’s USA national team in front of 11,530 fans.
At first, Laura didn’t feel all too comfortable returning to a packed arena during the pandemic. Now, she’s grown more comfortable but can’t say the same for all of her peers.
“It’s emptier than I’d like it to be,” Laura said. “I’m hoping next year that people will be coming back and seeing the excitement that’s generated in this arena.”
Matthew Knight Arena is at its liveliest when the Pit Crew is leading chants, and the whole stadium is engaged. It’s an act of teamwork between the student and alum fans to create an arena that players will want to play in.
Ducks center Sedona Prince understands the importance fans play in the success of the team. She said, “It’s always fun interacting with the crowd, and they gave us that energy to say ‘We’re at our home court, and we’re not going to get beat here.’”
Fans are just as important to the MKA experience as the players are. They are a driving force behind the team’s results, and it was visible each time the Ducks played in the arena this year compared to last.
With the Ducks’ basketball season coming to a close, fans must wait for next season to attend the games. The progression of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown to us all. But, for now, the Ducks fanbase can bask in their comeback just as its team did against the Wildcats on Jan 15.
