The Ducks sent their seniors out in style Sunday.
Oregon picked up its biggest win of the year, upsetting No. 19 Stanford 62-55, in the regular season finale.
The Ducks snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Cardinal and their first win over a ranked opponent since taking down No. 20 Arizona State last season on Feb. 28.
“I think closing out with a win, all those fans and our family in the stands — it was an indescribable feeling for all of us,” Amanda Delgado said. “It ranks pretty high up there.”
The Ducks are now 13-16, 6-12 Pac-12. Stanford falls to 21-9, 13-5.
Jillian Alleyne had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Ducks. Lexi Petersen tallied 11 points. Delgado had 10 points, on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point range. Loper added nine points.
“I would call it a signature win for us since we’ve been here,” coach Kelly Graves said. “Coach [Tara] VanDerveer, I have so much respect for her. She’s an amazing lady on top of being an amazing coach.”
Oregon started the game out on a 7-0 run, before Stanford put together an 11-0 run after a Brittany McPhee three-pointer.
Alleyne had 13 points and five rebounds at intermission.
“For this game to happen and to beat them with my teammates now, it’s like a perfect ending,” Loper said. “I couldn’t ask for it any other way.”
The Ducks took a 34-32 lead with 18:35 remaining in the second half, before the Cardinal went on a 6-0 run. The Ducks put together a 15-2 run to make the lead 49-40 with 10:35 to go. The Ducks maintained a steady lead after that.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Jordan Loera and Delgado gave the Ducks a 57-46 lead with 7:01 remaining.
The Ducks wouldn’t let their lead shrink to any less than seven points for the remainder of the game.
Stanford shot 35.8 percent from the field.
“From day one, the focus has been defense,” Delgado said. “We keep growing as a unit and if we keep growing, it’s only going up from here.”
For the seniors — Delgado, Loper, Megan Carpenter and Marie Berthuel — this year has been difficult because of the change of scheme.
“It’s hard on seniors to transition like this,” Graves said. “Hopefully this is a memory that they will have with them forever. This night. When they beat Stanford.”
Oregon had a 16-8 edge in second chance points, while Stanford edged Oregon in points off turnovers (13-6).
“Tonight I think we really put it together,” Graves said. “We didn’t force a lot of turnovers, but we played sound, fundamental defense. We didn’t make too many mistakes. … Now we have some belief that if we put together 40 minutes and stay focused, we can play with anybody.”
Notes: The Ducks shot 42.3 percent in the second half compared to Stanford’s 36.4 percent. … Stanford was 1-of-13 from three-point range in the second half after going 5-0f-12 in the first half. … The Ducks tied a season-low in turnovers with seven. … Freshman Lexi Bando missed her second consecutive game with a left shoulder injury.
Up next, the Ducks will play No. 7 Washington State in the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle as the No. 10 seed, Thursday 11:30 a.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
