Oregon WBB Upsets #21 USC, 71-66

Oregon women’s basketball was on the road against the USC Trojans last night, and while the game started well, it soon went south in the first quarter. The Ducks bumbled about while the Trojans ended the quarter on a 17-0 tear, and Oregon found themselves in a familiar hole.

The way the Ducks were playing, it looked like game over. While the play was a bit more even in the second quarter, the numbers were not pretty at the half – Oregon shot only 30%. They had not a single free throw shot. They had twice the turnovers. They were losing the battle on the boards. The reasons why they were down by 16 at halftime were manifold.

It just so happened that a certain Sabrina Ionescu was sitting courtside at the Galen Center, and talked to the team at halftime.

“We were a little intimidated; she talked about that, talked about just playing stronger,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “The message was right on point. And they listened. Maybe I gotta hire her.”

The turnaround was not immediate. The Trojans led by 15 for half of the third period. They were winning on the boards. There was just one problem, according to USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “We came out like we’d arrived, like we had it in the bag,” Gottlieb said. “We were too casual.”

Just like that, Oregon began to chip away at the Trojan lead. 

The fourth quarter could not have gone worse for USC. Overwhelmed by Oregon’s more intense defensive effort, the Trojans only made three of the 19 shots they got off. Meanwhile, Katie Fiso – who only scored two points in the first half – was on her game and scored eight in the fourth quarter. 

“I thought Katie was more like herself in that second half,” Graves said after the game. “But she didn’t get down on herself at halftime – she came back out with a new commitment to just do better.

Ehis Etute threw down seven points and pulled five from the boards on the way to another big double-double on the night.

But the player who held the dagger for Oregon was a certain Ari Long. Long hit three straight three-pointers to give the Ducks the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

With dagger in back, the Trojans could muster nothing in return, and Oregon scored the last 14 points of the game to go home with a 71-66 win.

And defensively? Well, USC star Jazzy Davidson lit up Oregon for 10 points in the first half, but Sofia Bell put the defensive lock on her in the second half, holding Davidson to just a single bucket.

Katie Fiso finished with 14 points. Ari Long and Mia Jacobs dropped 11 each, while Ehis Etude had another monster game with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

The Oregon ladies now turn their attention to this coming Sunday, when they host #15 Michigan State at MKA. Tipoff is at 2:00 pm PT and can be seen on B1G+.