Oregon Ducks Win Intense Home Battle Against Utah, Take Home 70-66 Victory
Oregon entered Wednesday's game against Utah looking to stay hot after defeating Washington on the road in Seattle.
The Ducks went with their usual starters of Te-Hina Paopao, Endyia Rogers, Maddie Scherr, Sydney Parrish and Nyara Sabally to battle the Utes, who were coming off a win over Arizona State on the road.
First quarter
Utah scored the first points after more than two minutes without scoring from either team. The Ducks had some beautiful ball movement on the perimeter, which led to a 3-pointer from Sydney Parrish in the corner.
The Oregon women very active on the defensive end, but Utah still knocked down some shots despite strong close outs from defenders. Nyara Sabally came up with a huge block on a layup, promptly returning it to sender in the low post. Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers were both doing a great job picking their shots, hitting early jumpers to help the Ducks get out to an early 11-5 lead.
Utah knocked down a three and looked intent on getting into the paint. Sedona Prince came off the bench for the Ducks, which, as odd as it seems, really feels like a luxury for Head Coach Kelly Graves to have a player of her caliber coming off the bench. Rogers had some great give and go off-ball movement with Prince after a few minutes of no scoring.
Paopao threaded a great pass to Pinto for a bucket inside and after some back-and-forth the Ducks lead 18-13 after one.
Second quarter
The two teams traded buckets inside to start the quarter. Utah's Gianna Kneepkens converted a wide-open layup after knifing through the defense. The Utes went on a 7-0 run while the Ducks had a few possessions come up empty, drawing the game back even at 22 apiece around the 5:00 mark.
Paopao was all over the floor playing intense defense, but that didn't stop Brynna Maxwell from draining a corner three to give Utah a slim 27-24 lead in the final minutes of the first half. Both teams had some pretty mediocre numbers at the half, and the Ducks made just two of their last 11 shots heading into the half.
Utah led Oregon 29-28 at the midway mark, and Maxwell led the scoring effort for the Utes, pouring in eight points of her own.
Oregon vs. Utah Jan. 26, 2022
Third quarter
Nyara Sabally was a main force in Oregon's offensive attack to star the second half, doing a little bit of everything getting buckets inside and slinging passes to open teammates like Maddie Scherr, who connected for an early three-pointer. Parrish followed it up with a three of her own to continue a hot start for the team in the second half.
Utah wasn't slowing down and got a couple shots of their own to drop, with Oregon leading just 40-35 midway through the third quarter. The rest of the quarter was more of the same with both teams battling and trading buckets from three-point land.
Oregon led Utah 49-44 at the end of the quarter with Paopao and Utah's Kennady McQueen leading the scoring force for their respective squads.
Fourth Quarter
Sabally hit a jumper from the free throw line to start off the quarter and Utah answered with a layup. Kneepkens was on the entire game and conitnued to be effective with a corner three.
With just under five minutes to go, Sabally picked up her fourth foul as the game picked up intensity and continued to be close. Utah's Dru Gylten was shaken up around the 3:00 mark, and she was one of their leading scorers with 11 points at the time of her injury.
Oregon led a close game 60-58 as each possession got more critical.
Sabally got to the line and split her free throws to keep Oregon ahead 61-60 with 2:11 to go, and Maddie Scherr snagged a huge steal to give the Ducks the ball back.
On the ensuing possession some artistic ball movement got the ball to Parrish for a wide-oepn three, that she drained. Utah answered with a layup on the other end to keep it a one-score game.
Parrish got to the line and converted two free throws to extend Oregon's lead to four at 66-62. Sabally came up with another crucial block on the following trip down the court, and Rogers was fouled to go to the charity strike, where she made both to make it 68-64 Ducks.
Utah was able to force a turnover and a questionable foul called on Scherr sent Matthew Knight into a frenzy, with the Utes converting the following free throws, cutting Oregon's lead to just two points with under 30 ticks left.
Rogers hit two more free throws to put the game away, and Oregon went on to win 70-66.
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