SAN FRANCISCO — Oregon women’s basketball (12-2) traveled to Chase Center in San Francisco, California, where they were defeated by the Stanford Cardinal (11-2) 64-53 in the Bay Area Women’s Classic.

The Ducks kept it close most of the way through, but Stanford took over on both sides of the ball late in the fourth quarter to put Oregon away. The Ducks shot 4-for-12 from 3-point range and committed 16 turnovers.

“We didn’t play with a whole lot of poise,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “I also blame myself. We haven’t had a lot of close games. We’ve only been in two, and hopefully we learn from it. We left a lot of points out on the court, missed layups, some free throws late, some crazy turnovers, and that’s what happens when you get tested in a tight game.”

Oregon won the tip and got on the board immediately with a driving layup from Katie Fiso (14 points, three assists). Stanford had an answer and scored back-to-back buckets before standing tall against Oregon’s offense for the next few possessions.

With the Cardinal leading by four, they stripped the ball away and took a deep pass down the court, where Oregon was waiting for the steal. The Ducks got back on the board with a layup from Sarah Rambus on the other side, but once again, Stanford took it right back.

Stanford led 13-4 and was looking for more when it came up with another strip. The Cardinal appeared to have a clear path to the basket before Sofia Bell stepped up for the block to send it the other way. The Ducks came up empty again and Stanford was able to extend its lead.

Fiso was a leading scorer for Oregon, which has been a common theme this year, but she shot 4-15 from the field and had three turnovers.

“I thought (Fiso) wasn’t on point tonight,” Graves said. “That wasn’t the best Katie effort tonight. Credit the defense, they did a nice job putting pressure on her and being physical with her, and she missed a few shots that she normally makes, and I think at times she tried to do a little too much. I think we all did tonight.”

Oregon showed signs of life with Ehis Etute (14 points, six rebounds) stepping up in the paint for back-to-back layups to cut into the lead. After a perfect trip to the free throw line for Mia Jacobs, it was a 19-12 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

The Ducks struck first in the second quarter. Etute drew a foul and went one-for-two from the line. After an empty Stanford possession, a turnaround jumper from Ari Long (eight points, six rebounds, two assists) cut the lead to four.

Oregon got the ball right back after forcing a jump ball and cut the lead to two on another Etute layup. Stanford got back on the board on its next possession, but the Ducks stayed in it with a jumper from Amina Muhammad.

The Cardinal were able to extend their lead with a pair of jumpers from short. The Ducks had a scoring drought of about three minutes before a driving layup from Ari Long put a chip in Stanford’s run.

In the final minute of the half, Stanford bullied Oregon’s defense with some fast paced ball movement that had the Ducks on their heels as the Cardinal pushed the lead back to six. In the final second, a block from Fiso kept it a 31-25 Stanford lead going into halftime.

Stanford got on the board first in the second half, but Etute remained a force to be reckoned with inside as she found her way back to the free throw line, and this time, hit them both.

The Ducks forced a couple of empty possessions on defense while Mia Jacobs (11 points, 11 rebounds, one assist) came alive on offense. A mid-range floater inside, followed by Oregon’s first 3-pointer of the game cut the lead to one and forced a Stanford timeout.

The Cardinal regrouped well during the break and answered with an and-one basket, but Jacobs had found her groove from deep and hit another three to give the Ducks their first lead since it was 2-0.

Oregon led by as many as three points before Stanford tied it up from downtown and then took the lead right back. It was an 8-0 Cardinal run before Fiso got to the line and went 2-2.

In the final minute of the quarter, a driving score from Muhammad followed by a strong defensive stance cut Stanford’s lead back to three entering the fourth.

Some sloppy ball handling by Stanford to open the final quarter led to Oregon going the other way. A deep two from Long cut the lead back to one. The Ducks had a chance for more, but a careless pass out of bounds gave the ball right back to the Cardinal, who got back on the board with an and-one.

“We got a couple of rebounds that they just took from us,” Graves said. “Unforced turnovers, we were just kind of in the wrong position, or we rushed it, or we forgot what we were trying to do. I thought defensively, we played pretty well, but that’s a good team. It’s hard to keep them down for 40 minutes.”

After committing the foul, Long wasted no time redeeming herself with an and-one of her own, but she was unable to convert the free throw.

A stretch of almost four minutes saw Oregon go scoreless and commit three turnovers. This allowed Stanford to push the lead out to five points, but the Ducks did their job on defense to keep the deficit manageable entering crunch time.

After an empty trip to the line from Fiso, back-to-back driving layups by the Cardinal extended the lead to nine, which essentially put the game away for Stanford with a minute remaining.

“We showed that we can play good basketball,” Graves said. “And we showed that we can struggle at times. Unfortunately, we struggled late. We played much better than we did against UCLA, but I’m not in for moral victories at any point. We’ve got to win some of these games.”

The Ducks return to Matthew Knight Arena Dec. 29, when they take on No. 6 Michigan. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.