If Oregon was looking for a walkthrough in its last matchup before Pac-12 play, it certainly didn’t get it.
Oregon squandered a large second half lead Tuesday afternoon before finding its composure late to hold onto a 73-70 win over the Idaho Vandals at Matthew Knight Arena.
“I always give credit to the other team; those guys fight, man, they play hard,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said of the Vandals. “I’ve seen every game that they play. … They’ve been to three of the last four NCAA Tournaments. Those kids know how to play. They know how to win.
“I thought we had really good looks — we just didn’t make them and we had a couple dumb turnovers.”
The Ducks led by as many as 17 points at 67-50 during the second half, but the Vandals tore off a 10-2 scoring run and pulled within six points with 3:42 left in regulation. Oregon answered back with two straight baskets to extended its lead to 10,. However, the Vandals answered back by drilling two consecutive jumpers and then stole a pass from Oti Gildon with just under a minute left that led to a layup to make it a one possession game at 73-70.
The Vandals then forced another stop, and had a chance to tie the game out of a timeout at halfcourt with two seconds left, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.
“I thought we did a good job,” Graves said of Oregon’s defense on the last possession of the game. “We told our kids ‘If (the Vandals) bounce it one time, then foul.’
“We had the right personnel out there, and that was obviously desperation there at the end, but that was our intention. … It was kind of a broken play.”
In a game that turned into a 3-point shooting contest at times, Oregon outshot the Vandals from behind the arc as the Ducks went 12-of-23 from downtown. After going just 1-of-11 in the first half, Idaho shot 6-of-15 in the second half form distance to claw its way back into the game.
Oregon starting point guard Sabrina Ionescu missed her second straight game with a broken thumb, but Justine Hall stepped up to help the Ducks.
Hall shot 4-of-5 from 3-point range and finished with 12 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.
“She has length, athleticism, she can put pressure defensively on people. … She’s just another weapon that we can use and its good to see her getting really comfortable out there and playing well,” Graves said.
Oregon guard Lexi Bando finished with a team-high 17 points and shot 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Bando is now shooting 51.5 percent from three this year — good for sixth best in the country. Maite Cazorla finished with a double-double for the Ducks and scored 14 points to go with 10 assists. It was a layup from Cazorla with 3:20 left in the game that stopped the Idaho’s scoring run and helped Oregon take control of the game.
“I think that we have some improving to do like always,” Hall said. “I think we can always get better and I think we get better every single day in practice. I think that we’re at a good place, but we just ned to continue to get better.”
Idaho sophomore Mikayla Ferenz and junior forward Geraldine McCorkell each finished with 23 of Idaho’s 70 points. They shot a combined 17-of-35 from the field.
Graves said the Ducks will now have six days off for the holidays, before returning to squeeze in four practices in preparation for No. 9 Washington Huskies at Matthew Knight Arena on Dec. 30.
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney