By: Jack McArthur

Oregon’s home match-up against Stanford was one of the most highly anticipated games of the year for the Ducks. The Oregon Ducks faced off against the second best team in the nation, the reigning national champions, Stanford women’s basketball. The Ducks started off hot- they were a lot more efficient than Stanford in the first half. Stanford started off the game ice cold from three point range; in the first 12 minutes of the game, the Cardinal went 0 for nine from three. Oregon controlled the tempo in the first half, holding Stanford to only 30.3 percent from the field. The Ducks led by four at the end of the first quarter, 14-10. In the second quarter, Stanford woke up and improved their play. The cardinal shot an abysmal 11.8 percent from the field of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Stanford shot an improved 50% from the field. Sydney Parrish had an impressive first half, totaling 10 points and 5 rebounds in the first half alone. Parrish ended the game with 13 points and six boards. One of the most exciting match-ups coming into the game, Oregon’s Nyara Sabally versus Stanford’s Cameron Brink didn’t end up being the loudest storyline of the game. Nyara Sabally had a quiet game, while Brink was on an extreme cold streak in the first half. Brink was scoreless in the opening half, shooting 0 for three from the field, while only totaling one rebound. Brink had a better second half; she ended the game with 8 points and three rebounds. Both Sabally and Brink had relatively quiet games, with both of them finishing the day with only 8 points each. Sabally ended up shooting three for eight from the field, while Brink shot three for ten. Although Oregon led by five points at the half, 36-31, Stanford climbed their way back into the game in the second half and they ended up winning the game. In the second half alone, The Cardinal outscored the Ducks by nine points, 35 to 26. Stanford was resilient, and they ended up victorious, due to Haley Jones and Kiki Iriafen’s tremendous efforts. Iriafen came up big for the Cardinal, scoring 11 points while also adding five rebounds and an assist. Stanford ended the second quarter red hot, making seven of their last nine field goals. After only scoring 10 first quarter points, Stanford scored 21 in the second quarter, which was more than double what they ended with after the opening quarter. In the third quarter, Stanford outscored Oregon, 15 to 11. The Cardinal fought their way back into the game- Oregon only led by 1, 47-46 at the end of the third. Despite Cameron Brink fouling out with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter, Haley Jones picked up Stanford's slack and quickly improved their previous lethargic play that they continuously showed earlier in the game. 6’1 junior guard Haley Jones led the way for Stanford, scoring an impressive 18 points. Although Jones had a great game overall, she had a pretty quiet first half, only scoring four points, shooting one for five from the field. One of Stanford’s most prominent leaders, Lexie Hull, had an impressive game, adding 9 points, 5 boards, and two assists. Te-Hina Paopao led all scorers, dropping an impressive 23 points, while also dishing out five assists and five boards too. Endyia Rogers had a good game too, scoring 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Oregon’s largest lead was 10 points, which was in the fourth quarter. After the game, head coach Kelley Graves said “I thought that the late turnovers hurt us. I was going to call a timeout and then we threw the ball out of bounds.” Oregon finished the game with twice as many turnovers as Stanford- 16 to the Cardinals’ 8. The play that Graves was referring to was when Oregon committed a crucial turnover late in the fourth quarter, which was definitely a huge momentum shift. With 46.2 seconds left in the game, Stanford tied it up, and the score was 60-60. The late turnovers weren’t the only thing that killed the Ducks in this game. The Ducks crumbled in the second half of the fourth quarter- they didn’t have an answer for Haley Jones. Oregon’s offense went silent in the second half of the fourth- the Ducks went scoreless in the last five minutes of the game. The Ducks ended up losing by 4 points, with a final score of 66-62. Oregon will look to bounce back from this tough loss, as they will travel to Boulder to face off against Colorado, this upcoming Wednesday, February 23rd.

Audio Story by Ethan Hartley

Postgame Audio

Kelly Graves