One team was used to playing some close games down the stretch and one team wasn’t.
Unfortunately, that team that wasn’t used to a close game was the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team as the Ducks went down to No. 9 USC 68-54.
The final score doesn’t indicate how close this game actually was. Oregon was within one at 50-49 with just nine minutes remaining. But then the Trojans locked down on defense and outscored the Ducks 18-5 the rest of the way.
Hopefully, the Ducks (9-7, 0-3) can build upon this effort, which was significantly better than the 75-49 loss they suffered at the hands of UCLA two nights earlier.
Oregon’s defense is good enough to win in this conference, but it’s the lack of consistent offense that is killing this team right now. Having Chance Gray back in the lineup was a huge plus against USC. She missed the game with the Bruins due to being in the concussion protocol. But Gray was able to 11 points and just having her as a threat to score from the outside helps.
Grace VanSlooten led all scorers with 18 points and Sofia Bell also added 11.
Defensively, the Ducks did a nice job on Trojans’ sensational freshman JuJu Watkins. She was held to 17 points, but that’s 10 points below her average.
The Ducks will now attempt for their first Pac-12 victory when they host Arizona State Friday, Jan. 12 at Matthew Knight Arena.