Fresh off a loss at the hands of Stanford, Oregon women’s basketball (12-3) came home to Matthew Knight Arena to begin Big Ten play, but were met by a pack of snarling Wolverines. No. 6 Michigan (11-1), one of the most complete teams in the country, looked to extend its win streak to seven games.
Michigan started the game strong, jumping out to a 7-1 early lead, while playing lockdown defense to stymie the Oregon offense.
Katie Fiso struggled offensively, something the Ducks haven’t experienced a lot this year from their star point guard. She committed five of Oregon’s eight turnovers while ending the quarter without a point. Oregon would finish the first period trailing 21-10.
The second quarter started with more of the same, but three consecutive Michigan turnovers resulted in five consecutive Oregon points, cutting the lead to nine.
However, the Ducks’ run would be cut short, with Michigan’s scorching-hot shooting proving too much for Oregon’s defense. Michigan would end the half shooting 67 percent from 3 and 61percent from the field.
Questionable calls from the officials shrouded the second quarter for Oregon, as Michigan’s lead grew to sixteen by halftime.
Mia Jacobs shone for the Ducks before the break, hitting two 3s, while tacking on a rebound as well.
The Ducks struggled on the boards in the first half, getting out-rebounded 19-7. Michigan also had 11 more shots, which was mostly the reason behind their 44-28 lead.
The third quarter started well for the Ducks, as they rebounded better almost instantly and drew two early fouls.
Fiso took the game into her own hands, scoring nine points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field, cutting the lead to just seven during an 11-2 run for the Ducks.
“Pushing the tempo, pushing the ball,” Fiso said when asked about what changed during halftime. “[We didn’t really do a good job] playing good defense in that first half.”
During the run, the Matthew Knight Arena crowd, which had been waiting to erupt all day, nearly blew the top off the stadium as back-to-back steals turned into four points for Oregon.
The lead was cut to just one as Fiso earned an and-one layup, but she missed the free throw to keep the lead with Michigan and the crowd on edge.
Meanwhile, Olivia Olson, Michigan’s leading scorer, racked up three personal fouls, bringing her total to four.
Michigan would pull away just a bit before the clock ran out, but a productive quarter for the Ducks meant the Wolverines’ lead stood at just six entering the fourth.
Both teams came out swinging in what essentially amounted to a winner-take-all final period. They were playing hard basketball, unafraid to commit a foul and draining 3s like their lives depended on it.
The deficit for Oregon began to slip a little when the Ducks allowed Michigan to reach the bonus after their fifth foul of the quarter came at just the 6:30 mark.
Fiso continued her stellar second-half play, tacking on five more points and two rebounds in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Wolverines guard Mila Holloway fouled out in the last two minutes, becoming the first player to do so in the game as multiple players for both teams were operating on four fouls.
With 1:30 left in the game, Ehis Etute corralled a heavily contested defensive rebound and pulled together a stellar coast-to-coast layup to tie the game at 69.
Two costly turnovers for Michigan proved inconsequential for the outcome, as Oregon ran out the shot clock with just 23 seconds left.
Some unnecessary suspense was added to what would have been the last play of the ballgame when the game clock stopped unexpectedly with 5.2 seconds remaining. Upon review of the clock stoppage, the 5.2 seconds had expired, and fans had themselves an overtime contest at Matthew Knight Arena.
The beginning of overtime proved unkind to the Ducks, as they’d fall into a three-point hole, but closed it quickly, taking the lead for the first time since it was 1-0. Matthew Knight Arena erupted, as it had been for over an hour, but Etute’s fifth foul of the game cost the Ducks a reliable option for size.
Both Michigan free throws were missed, meaning the Oregon lead held.
Etute was replaced by Sarah Rambus, who was subsequently fouled and drained both free throws.
Jacobs fouled out immediately after, however, meaning the Ducks were without their second option for the final minute of overtime with a lead that stood at just two.
Immediately after a timeout, the Wolverines earned an and-one layup, tying the game at 76. The free throw was missed, and the Ducks wasted a possession, letting the time run out to send the contest into a second overtime.
“We had our chances down the stretch,” head coach Kelly Graves said after the game. “We tried to do something that we hadn’t practiced, and we didn’t execute it very well.”
The Ducks were met in the second overtime by an in-your-face 3 from Michigan’s Syla Swords. It appeared the Ducks of the first half had returned, falling behind by six by the three-minute mark.
Fiso wouldn’t go down without a fight, spinning into a 3-point play to make it a one-possession game.
The Wolverines got two free throws, however, extending the Ducks’ deficit to five.
Two turnovers in a row meant the Michigan lead kept stretching, getting as large as seven before Ari Long’s second three made it 86-82.
The game appeared over with 14 seconds left and a Michigan lead of seven, but Astera Tuhina made a pull-up three to make it 91-87.
One last made free throw would finally sink the Ducks, however, and the game would end a thrilling 92-87.
The free throws lacked for both teams, with Oregon shooting just 59 percent from the charity stripe, while Michigan shot just 42 percent.
“You think of how many what-ifs we could have done here and could have done there,” Graves said. “I think we learned that every possession matters. To get beat by 26 on the boards, you’re not gonna beat teams with that kind of offensive production.”
To echo Graves, it was the rebounds that sank Oregon, getting out-rebounded 60-34, a deficit that could’ve been shrunk if it weren’t for the offensive rebounds.
The Ducks take the court again on New Year’s Day at 2 PM as they host Northwestern.