Ducks Drop Double OT Battle
BOULDER Colo. – Oregon erased an 11-point deficit with just 1:27 left in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but ultimately came up short in double OT in an 86-83 loss at Colorado Wednesday.
"I can't be more proud of the way we fought and came back in that game," said head coach Kelly Graves. "I thought the kids did a great job of managing the last few minutes of regulation, but then maybe we ran out of gas at the end."
Endyia Rogers tied the game up for the Ducks at the end of regulation and the first overtime, finishing with a team-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Nyara Sabally also turned in a 20-point game, scoring 22 points, 18 of which came after halftime.
How it Happened: Down by as much as 14 in the fourth quarter, Oregon came roaring back to force overtime. The Ducks (18-10, 10-6 Pac-12) trailed 70-59 with 1:34 left before Sabally scored seven straight points for the Ducks to cut it to a four-point game with 57 seconds left. Three missed free throw by Colorado opened the door even further for the Ducks, as Rogers made it a one-point game with 19 seconds to go.
CU (19-9, 8-7 Pac-12) made one of two at the line the following possession to give Oregon a chance to tie or win the game, down 72-70 with 15 seconds left. Rogers drew a foul and made two clutch free throws to tie things up, and the Ducks prevented Colorado from getting a shot off to send it to overtime.
After the Buffaloes opened OT with a three, back-to-back three-pointers by Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao gave the Ducks a 78-75 lead with 3:09 to go. A few empty trips would follow though, and Colorado scored the next four points to make it 80-78. Rogers again tied it up, this time with a driving layup to make 80-80 with 28 seconds left and the Ducks again got a stop to send it to a second overtime.
Colorado got the first two buckets of double overtime, making it 84-80 as the Ducks went scoreless until the 44 seconds left as Rogers made a layup to cut the deficit to two. UO got a stop, and Sabally drew a foul to get to the line with a chance to tie it with four seconds left, but made just one of her two free throws to ice the game for Colorado.
Both teams got off to slow starts offensively, with the score sitting at 4-4 over the first half of the opening quarter. After back-to-back buckets by the Buffaloes, Oregon scored the next six to go up 10-8, but a Colorado three-pointer made it 11-10, CU at the end of one. Colorado widened the lead in the second and led 31-24 at the break.
Oregon started the second half in a rhythm offensively, opening the quarter with a 10-4 run to take the lead after Ahlise Hurst hit a corner three to make it 36-35, Ducks with 5:16 left in the third quarter. UO went cold offensively the rest of the quarter though, as Colorado went on a 10-2 run to finish the third to make it 47-38.
Who Stood Out: Rogers reached the 1,000-point mark for her career with her second bucket of the game near the end of the first quarter, and now has 1,024 points across her two seasons at USC and one at Oregon. Sabally started to dominate down the stretch, putting up 13 in the fourth quarter to turn in her sixth 20-point game of the season.
Hurst hit a number of big shots from outside in the second half to keep the Ducks in the game, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
What It Means: The loss drops Oregon into fourth place in the Pac-12 standings at 10-6, just ahead of Utah. If Utah wins its game tomorrow against Oregon State, the Ducks will need a win over the Utes on Saturday to secure a first-round bye in next week's Pac-12 Tournament.
Up Next: The Ducks close out the regular season on Saturday at Utah (12 p.m., Pac-12 Network).