After losing three of their last four games, the Oregon women’s basketball team needed a pick-me-up. With Sedona Prince and Taylor Chavez back in the starting lineup, the Ducks took on the Washington State Cougars at Matthew Knight Arena with the hope of getting back on track.

Despite some sloppy shooting, the Ducks were able to get back in the win column, squeezing out a 58-50 victory over the Cougars.

“It wasn’t pretty early, but I thought late we did a pretty good job,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “These are important wins.”

Prince, back in the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 4, opened the scoring. The Cougars, led by sisters Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker, responded with 10 unanswered points as the Ducks lacked intensity from the offset.

After Graves took a timeout, the Cougars’ defense continued to overpower them. The Ducks struggled to put plays together and put forth a generally sloppy performance.

Washington State extended their lead to 12-2 with two free throws, but the teams continued to shoot inefficiently.

Taylor Mikesell came into the game and hit a three to end the Cougars’ 12-0 run, but the Ducks finished the first quarter down 14-5.

Mikesell opened the scoring in the second quarter, and the Ducks slowly found their rhythm. Layups from Prince and Paopao closed the gap to 14-11, and a jumper from Angela Dugalic got the Ducks within three, 18-15.

Back-to-back field goals from Erin Boley and Paopao got the Ducks within one, 20-19, but missed threes held the Ducks back from capitalizing on their comeback, as they went into halftime down 24-21.

The two teams went back and forth to open the second half. Prince led the way, scoring six of the first eight Oregon points. Nyara Sabally then made a layup that got the Ducks back within two, 33-31. 

With just seconds to go in the third quarter, Sydney Parrish swished a three that tied it up, 38-38. Until that point, Washington State had been up ever since their first basket of the game that made it 3-2.

The Ducks continued their momentum to start the fourth quarter. Dugalic made a layup to give them a 40-38 lead, their first lead since they were up 2-0.

A brief interruption occurred as Sabally got hurt and had to limp off in pain. The Ducks quickly got back into it though with another basket from Dugalic that gave them a four-point lead.

The Cougars didn’t let Oregon run away with it, as a three-pointer got them within a point. Jaz Shelley followed with a layup, making it 44-41 with 6:10 to play.

Both teams continued to play sloppy offense, as the score held at 44-41 until another timeout at the 4:35 mark. Washington State came out of the timeout with a three-pointer that tied it at 44.

The Ducks immediately responded, with Sabally back in the game and passing to Paopao to make it 46-44. Two free throws extended the lead to four.

A layup from Shelley made it 52-46 with 1:02 to go. Some questionable calls against Washington State had their head coach Kamie Etheridge screaming from the sidelines.

The Ducks ended up pulling it out, coming away with a 58-50 win.

Both teams largely struggled shooting throughout the game. Oregon shot for 39%, while Washington State shot for only 25%. The Ducks’ 14% three-point shooting was their worst in five years.

Prince led the Ducks with 14 points, followed by Mikesell with 11.

“[Prince] felt good, she was healthy,” Graves said. “And that makes a big difference.”

Next up for the Ducks, they will take on Washington at Matthew Knight Arena, at 2:00 on Sunday.

“Right now it’s not clicking, but it will,” Graves said.