In their last regular season game, the Oregon Ducks (11-20, 2-16 Pac-12) were dominated by the Pac-12 regular season champions, the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal (26-4, 15-3 Pac-12). The Ducks fought hard until the end, but they did not match up to one of the nation’s best teams in Stanford.
Oregon ended the regular season on a 13-game losing streak, which is a tremendous negative going into the offseason, but head coach Kelly Graves sees no reason for such a young team to hang its head.
“Outside of a tough shooting night for us, I thought we did a lot of really good things and things we can build on,” Graves said. “I want to re-recognize the fans, we haven’t given them, at times, a lot to cheer about this year, but they’ve been there the whole time.”
The Ducks started the game by missing their first six shots, so they were struggling from the jump to match the Cardinal’s intensity.
Stanford had trouble getting shots inside with its star frontcourt duo of Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen due to very tough defense from Phillipina Kyei. That only lasted half the quarter until the Cardinal were able to figure out the Ducks’ weaknesses.
After five minutes, Stanford led 4-2, which was low-scoring given its electric offense through the season that averaged 78.7 points a game going into Saturday.
The first quarter continued as a back-and-forth one, with a strong Grace VanSlooten drive and a Chance Gray 3-pointer that lit up Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon trailed 13-8 after the first quarter, which is positive considering where this season has taken each team. Stanford is used to dominating, while Oregon is used to playing from behind.
Stanford almost doubled Oregon’s rebounds in the first half, 32-18, with Brink collecting 10 of her 17 total boards. Brink also put up 10 of her 18 points in the opening two quarters.
“Cameron Brink is a phenomenal player,” Graves said. “I voted for her for Pac-12 player of the year. She’s been the best player on the best team.”
The second quarter was much more of what was to be expected from this game: complete Stanford domination. What started to become effective for the Cardinal was using Brink in a drive-and-kick scenario because Oregon’s entire defense crashed on her.
Once Stanford started making 3s, Oregon could not keep up, as the once-5-point lead ballooned to 17 toward the end of the half.
The first half ended 37-22 after the Cardinal’s potent second quarter and Oregon’s lack of offense, which is crucial when playing a top-10 team.
Oregon opened the third quarter with two quick 3s to bring the deficit to nine, one from Gray and one from Ula Chamberlin. Early in the third, it looked like the Ducks might be able to chip into Stanford’s lead and get themselves back in the game.
However, even on possessions where Oregon played good enough defense, Stanford was often able to easily rake in an offensive rebound and score second chance points.
The Cardinal grabbed 13 offensive rebounds on Saturday, compared to the Ducks’ 6, while also boasting an advantage over second-chance points, 14-9.
Oregon also improved considerably on offense in the second half, but it failed to shoot efficiently, shooting 31% for the game.
Throughout the third, the Ducks chipped away at the Cardinal’s lead, but every time they had momentum, Stanford would revert back to running through Brink. If Brink wasn’t dominating the low block, she was finding open teammates for easy buckets.
“I thought we did a pretty good job at doubling [Brink] at times, and we created a few turnovers,” Graves said. “But they’re so quick, so good, they made that mid-range shot, it’s so hard to guard one-on-one.”
The third quarter ended 57-43 after improved offense from both teams, but the Ducks had a lot of trouble figuring out how to stop Brink in all facets of the game.
Stanford safely put Oregon’s comeback hopes to bed, opening the fourth by hitting three of its first four shots and taking the largest lead until that point at 21 points.
The Ducks never stopped fighting, no matter how big their deficit grew. Against a top-five opponent, Oregon refused to count itself out and was determined to end its season with intensity and positivity.
It was just never meant to be for Oregon on Saturday, and the season as a whole, with the Ducks finishing last in the Pac-12 regular season standings. Stanford took Saturday’s game in a resounding 76-56 blowout.
The Ducks are aiming to keep their season alive this Wednesday in Las Vegas, where they will take on the No. 13 Colorado Buffaloes in the first round.
“We’ve got nothing to lose at this point, so we can go down and play free and easy, and give it our best shot,” Graves said.
Graves and his Ducks look to build off the foundations set by a mostly younger team this season. It is crucial that Oregon keeps its most important pieces if it wants to avoid being a doormat in a new conference.
