Oregon Places Fourth in Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament

The Oregon Ducks flew to Paradise Island in the Bahamas with a 2-0 record and a test lying in front of them to see how they could contend with some of the nation's best teams. Missing a couple of key pieces including Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers, the Ducks would be short-handed on their quest to win three games in three days.

Saturday: 98-93 Win vs. Oklahoma

In the tournament opener for the Ducks, they went back-and-forth with the Oklahoma Sooners early and often. Any time the Sooners would open up a two- or three-possession lead, the Ducks would make some plays on both sides to take the lead. But the Sooners' hot shooting from deep (7-of-17) in the first half gave them a 44-35 lead at halftime.

The third quarter saw Nyara Sabally and Sydney Parrish take over. The duo scored 21 of Oregon's 25 third-quarter points, knocking down eight of their 12 field goal attempts. Parrish hit three three-pointers in the period to keep the Ducks afloat, but the Sooners went on a 13-2 run to pull back ahead by 11 and led by seven entering the fourth.

Oklahoma kept its foot on the gas early in the fourth with three triples in the first three minutes of the quarter, forcing Oregon to call timeout trailing by 10 with 7:10 remaining.

The Ducks responded after the timeout with a 10-0 run of their own to tie the game. Oregon and Oklahoma responded with some clutch buckets down the stretch, including Chanaya Pinto, who broke out in the fourth quarter with and and-one jumper and three pointer.

In the final minutes, Sabally and Ahlise Hurst hit shots to give the Ducks a two-point lead, and it was a free throw battle the rest of the way with the Ducks nailing 17 of their 19 free throw attempts in the quarter, including 10 of 12 in the final minute to seal the comeback victory.

Sabally finished with a career-high 30 points, including 20 in the second half, to go along with 11 boards, four assists and three blocks. Parrish chipped in 18 points, Hurst put up a dozen, and Sedona Prince had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Sunday: 80-63 Loss vs. No. 1 South Carolina

The Ducks moved on to face the top-ranked Gamecocks as they took care of Buffalo on Saturday to advance. Dawn Staley's team had been rolling through its competition, knocking off No. 5 NC State on the road to begin the season and blowing out its next three opponents by an average margin of 30 points.

Oregon was even more short-handed entering this game as Sabally was unavailable due to injury. Kylee Watson started in her place.

South Carolina looked like the top-ranked team early on, shooting 56% from the field en route to a 27-14 lead after the first quarter. Ducks shot 50% as well, but their seven turnovers prevented them from keeping the efficient shooting going.

The Gamecocks used an 8-0 run late in the second quarter to take a 44-26 lead at halftime, with Oregon making 12 field goals and committing 11 turnovers in the first half. Unfortunately for Oregon, the halftime break didn't yield a furious comeback like Saturday's game, as the Gamecocks used another 11-2 run to blow the game open.

The Ducks did outscore South Carolina 32-21 over the final quarter and a half, but it was too little too late as the Gamecocks prevailed 80-63. South Carolina was led by the big three of Zia Cooke (20 points, 6-9 FG), Aliyah Boston (16 points, 7-12 FG), and Laeticia Amihere (18 points, 6-10 FG) while Oregon had four double-digit scorers, including Phillipina Kyei and Chanaya Pinto with a dozen each.

Monday: 71-62 Loss vs. No. 23 South Florida

Playing for the third straight day, the Ducks were still without Sabally as they prepared for a South Florida team that had played No. 2 UConn tough on Sunday.

The Ducks took an early lead thanks to hot shooting from the outside, splashing all four of their three-point attempts in the opening period, including three from Hurst. But once again, turnovers were a killer for Oregon. 20 turnovers plagued the Ducks on Sunday and it continued on Monday with 14 first-half turnovers.

The Bulls took control early in the second quarter with an 11-1 run and held a 29-27 lead at halftime. Another offensive spurt gave USF a 10-point lead in the third, and the Ducks' six third-quarter giveaways kept them trailing throughout the third.

South Florida took its biggest lead in the fourth quarter when the Bulls scored 10 straight to make it a 17-point lead with 5:10 left in the game.

But the Ducks wouldn't give up. They roared back with a 14-1 run, capped off by a Sedona Prince and-one putback layup. Once again, the Ducks found themselves playing the fouling game to try to stop the clock and force USF to beat them from the free-throw line. Unfortunately for them, the Bulls hit all 12 of their shots at the charity stripe in the final minute, and two turnovers in the last minute proved to be fatal.

Oregon turned the ball over 25 times against South Florida, and averaged 20.3 turnovers per game during the three-game tournament. But going up against three very good teams, including the best team in the country in South Carolina, will prove to be beneficial experience for Kelly Graves' squad as they head into Pac-12 play.

The Ducks return home to Matthew Knight Arena on Dec. 1 to face UC Davis at 3:30 p.m.

You May Also Like:

Oregon Opens as Touchdown Favorite vs. Oregon State

Join the Community

Follow Dylan on Twitter: @drksportsnews

Subscribe to our free newsletter to get the latest Oregon Ducks news sent to your inbox

Check out our Forums HERE

Listen to the latest episode of the Ducks Dish Podcast HERE