At moments in the Ducks 59-45 loss to the No. 11 Oregon State Beavers, Oregon looked like it truly had a shot at winning the game, or at least keeping it close enough to make a run at the end. The Ducks found themselves leading 25-24 at half, but they could not sustain the energy or efficiency they had used to gain that lead, getting outscored in the second half 35-20.
“I’m really proud of our group today,” head coach Kelly Graves said after the game. “I thought we came back on less than 48 hours, after getting worked up at their (Oregon State) place, and showed some character today.”
It was a tale of two halves for the Ducks. The first half was a roller coaster, as the Beavers took a quick lead minutes into the game. Oregon clawed its way back and took its first lead of the night, 20-19, off of a Maite Cazorla field goal late in the second quarter. In that moment, Oregon had all the momentum. It was in the midst of an 8-0 run and its defense was equally as impressive. It held Oregon State to only seven points on 25 percent shooting in that big second quarter.
It was one of the best quarters Oregon has played all season.
Senior forward Jillian Alleyne said this was probably the best the team has played against elite Oregon State in her time at Oregon, but also noted the drop-off in play in the second half.
“We came out hard in the first half,” Alleyne said. “That first twenty minutes we gave everything we had; we just need to put it together for the next twenty minutes.”
Alleyne finished the game with only 6 points on 2-of-10 shooting, but grabbed her usual 10 rebounds. She fouled out late in the fourth when the game was already decided.
A positive takeaway was the play of senior reserve Liz Brenner, who scored a game high 13 points in just 20 minutes. On a night in which Oregon did not shoot the three well — just 1-of-4 for the game — it relied heavily on the inside presence of Alleyne and Jacinta Vandenburg. When neither was shooting the ball well — they finished a combined 3-15 from the field — the Ducks turned to Brenner.
The redshirt senior finished with not only a game-high, but also a season-high 13 points — four off of her career-high of 17, which she scored against Oregon State during the 2012-13 season. Brenner, a Portland native, is all too familiar with the in state rivalry.
“I’m from Oregon, so I’ve grown up knowing about the Civil War,” Brenner said. “I try to play well every single night but against Oregon State you’ve always got that little extra fight in you.”
Cazorla continued to impress in her freshman campaign, finishing with 12 points and three steals. She and Brenner were the only Oregon players to shoot over 50 percent from the field.
Oregon has now dropped its fourth straight game — all in Pac-12 play — after starting the year 11-0. The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here as it takes on visiting No. 9 Stanford and No. 21 California at Matt Knight Arena next week.