Just 48 hours earlier, the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team’s season was on life support. But after some home cooking and a weekend sweep over the Arizona schools, the Ducks have plenty of life left.
Oregon completed the weekend sweep with a 70-68 win over Arizona to move to 11-7 overall and 2-3 in conference action. The Wildcats suffered a tough weekend in the Willamette Valley as they fell to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in league play. The two-point loss in Eugene came after a double-overtime loss in Corvallis to the Beavers.
Grace VanSlooten led Oregon with 19 points, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line. The Ducks were 19-of-28 from the charity stripe to Arizona’s 5-of-10.
Chance Gray and Phillipina Kyei each scored 13 points for the Ducks. The Wildcats were led by Jada Williams’ career-high 23 points.
It was a back-and-forth final quarter with Oregon leading throughout, but it was two threes from Sammie Wagner that gave the Ducks some breathing room.
Despite that, the Wildcats still had a shot at the buzzer for the win, but Skylar Jones’ desperation 35-footer was off the mark and the Ducks held on.
It wasn’t exactly a picture-perfect game. Both teams turned the ball over at inordinate amounts. Oregon had 27 turnovers, while Arizona was charged with 15 miscues.
Unfortunately, not many were able to watch this close affair as the game was not available for fans to attend due to the icy conditions in the Eugene-Springfield area. Only a few family and friends of the two teams were able to witness the contest in person.
Now the Ducks will go to No. 8 Stanford and California next week, starting with the Cardinal Friday, Jan. 19 on the Pac-12 Network.