Oregon still struggles to find their offensive identity after Monday night’s loss.
A disjointed offensive game from the Ducks put them in a hole early, as they eventually fell to No. 6 Stanford, 63-61, in Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon needed to hit and capitalize on the easy ones against a top-10 team. Instead, they shot an abysmal 35% from the field in the first half, a percentage that won’t cut it against the No. 6 team in the nation.
Freshman Sydney Parrish received the nod to start her first start of the season. The Ducks were without Taylor Chavez’s leadership and experience, who was dressed in sweatpants on the bench. Oregon also welcomed back Maddie Scherr, who was out the previous two games due to COVID-19 protocols.
Freshman Te-Hina Paopao gave Oregon their only offensive spark in the first half, hitting 4-for-5 from the floor for 11 points to lead the Ducks.
Oregon’s play on the defensive end this season has kept the team consistently in the top-15. They hold second in 3-point percentage defense, rebounding defense and field goal percentage defense in the Pac-12. Despite Oregon’s solid defense, the Cardinal had no fear charging against Oregon in the paint on Monday. Stanford’s 18 of 33 points in the first half came in the key, compared to just ten from Oregon.
Their offensive woes were exposed at the free throw line. The Duck’s first time at the charity stripe on Monday was six minutes left in the game by Nyara Sabally.
Oregon’s head coach Kelly Graves called two timeouts in the second quarter to put a halt to Stanford’s offensive run, which extended to 12 midway in the second quarter.
Oregon struggled to pick up Haley Jones in transition, scrambled to keep freshman Cameron Brink from solidifying paint position and had to contain Lexie Hull’s lethal perimeter shooting.
The Ducks missed wide open jumpers, layups and uncontested threes that they failed to capitalize on in the first half. What they lacked on the offensive end turned into intensifying the defense on the other end.
A perfect half court trap forced a Cardinal turnover. Players dove on the floor for loose balls to disrupt any Cardinal offensive flow.
With their defense intensifying in the third quarter, the Ducks had chances to tie or take the lead, 43-41, after a Taylor Mikesell three.
“Get a stop! Get a stop!” the team yelled from the sidelines. Even Graves joined in.
Oregon’s bench was energized through the entire game after they jumped out of their seats when Mikesell hit that outside shot and cheered words of encouragement. They found a way to keep the energy up on the sidelines when Oregon needed a boost.
Another Mikesell three, followed by a Boley bucket, tied the game at 47 apiece with eight minutes left in the fourth.
The Oregon bench tried to emulate an arena full of 9,000 plus fans and increase their home-court advantage by standing up and clapping every single possession for their team.
The Ducks took their first lead of the night, 51-49, with a pair of free throws by Sabally.
After a shot-for-shot battle in the last five minutes, Oregon was down by two and had a chance to once again tie or take the lead with 27.4 seconds left. Mikesell came off a Sedona Prince screen and missed an uncontested three that skidded off the rim. A Paopao turnover erased Oregon’s late second chance with 11.3 seconds left. That turnover cost Oregon another chance and Stanford sealed the victory, 63-61.
The Ducks are now 0-5 against teams currently ranked in the top-25, falling on the short end of a season sweep against Stanford.
Up next is another daunting matchup against No. 8 UCLA as they travel to Los Angeles this weekend.
Follow Carly on Twitter @carlyebisuya.
