Rivalry games can be weird. A longstanding hatred for the opponent can leave players with a boost of motivation spurring the unpredictable, unbelievable and unlikely.
Just not in this particular rendition, as a commendable effort fell just short in Oregon women’s basketball’s (11-12, 2-8 Pac-12) loss to No.18 Oregon State (17-3, 7-3 Pac-12).
Oregon started slow, but fought back to trail by just one with 5:41 remaining. Chance Gray (15 points), Phillipinia Kyei ( 16 points) and Grace VanSlooten (14 points) combined for the majority of the Ducks scoring in their most consistent offensive effort in conference play.
“This is as good of an offensive game as we’ve had in conference play,” head coach Kelly Graves said.
A late push fell just short, but frequent Oregon rallies kept the Ducks in the game.
Long before losing its fifth-straight game, Oregon jumped out to an early 7-2 lead before hitting a wall offensively. The Beavers quickly surged ahead and, led by forward Timea Gardner, went on a 13-2 run to take an eight-point lead at the end of the first frame.
The new quarter brought more of the same, with Oregon finding most of its success on the interior while OSU continued its steady shooting to lead by as many as 13.
Trailing by eight with two minutes left in the half, Kyei fought for and came up with a rebound before kicking it out to Gray who buried a triple.
It was a turning-point in the game as Oregon rallied to trail by just five at the half.
Both teams started the second half in rhythm offensively with Gray the primary catalyst for the Ducks, who were able to get mid-range shots to fall the remainder of the game.
With the Ducks trailing by four with a minute left in the third quarter, VanSlooten got her hands on an errant pass, which resulted in a layup cutting OSU’s lead to just two at the end of the quarter.
Leading by just one, OSU’s Lily Hansford hit a 3-pointer while drawing a foul. Two more Hansford 3’s would prove to be the difference. The game came down to 3-point shooting, and once again the Ducks didn’t have any.
“We just had to make adjustments, we let a couple people get loose,” Gray said. “Those are the plays that contributed to them winning the game.”
Following another Hansford 3-ball, Kyei (18 rebounds) fought for a second-chance bucket cutting OSU’s lead to just two.
“Sometimes the boards just come to me.” Kyei said.
Then it was Hansford and the Beavs again, going up as many as seven before Graves called a timeout.
Lacking a killer-instinct all year, the Ducks quickly surged and had a chance to tie down three with 21 seconds remaining.
Oregon’s ensuing possession was unsuccessful, resulting in Graves calling his last time-out.
Following the meeting, Kyei was fouled but went just 1-2 at the line. The Beavers made their ensuing free-throws, running the clock out on a valiant Ducks effort.
In yet another loss in a rare Graves-led unsuccessful season, Oregon had perhaps its best performance of Pac-12 play. It just wasn’t enough. The Ducks made just three 3-pointers on the night.
Oregon will head on the road to take on No. 6 Colorado this Friday at 6 p.m.
