Kelly Graves walked onto the podium and wrung his quarter-zip dry.

There were moments where it felt like it was going to get away from the Ducks against Baylor on Sunday night. They led by 16 with nine minutes left, trailed by two with 90 seconds to play, and won without scoring in the last 22 ticks.

This team can play.

More importantly, this team can recover. It went on multiple runs, held the nation’s 12th-ranked team scoreless for minutes at a time, and battled back from the brink to earn a 76-74 signature victory. Its stars shone, but not so bright that the constellation was invisible. You don’t need a telescope to see it: There’s something alight in the woods in Eugene.

“Late in the game,” Graves said afterwards, “we just talked about, ‘We just need one stop,’ and there for about six or seven possessions we couldn’t get any. We got a little bit casual with the ball a couple times, and those guys really get after you…I think that shows great character when you give up a lead like that, and then [that] we made a couple stops when we really needed to.”

When the No. 12 Bears (1-1) came out firing and opened the second half with an 8-2 run, the Ducks (3-0) responded with two sets of eight of their own to extend their lead to 10 and then 14 points. Nani Falatea splashed from the corner and got Sabrina Ionescu, sitting courtside, on her feet with three fingers held up.

It didn’t last.

In 2:30 in the final quarter, the Bears whittled down the lead from 16 to four. Kelly responded with a jumper and two from the stripe, but 12 otherwise unanswered points handed the visitors a lead with 1:28 left.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Alexis Whitfield said. “Everyone’s gonna go on their runs…our biggest thing is stopping that run.”

They stopped the run. After 24 points in seven minutes, the Bears scored none in the final one.

“That’s what I’m saying,” Whitfield continued. “This game showed that you can either lay down and just let them go…or you can put a stop to it. Winning a basketball game is hard. Today taught us how to win a basketball game that is hard.”

This team is adamant that it isn’t the one that ended last year on a 14-game skid. Whitfield and Kelly, the two graduate transfers on the podium, perhaps showed that best. Yes, there’s stars — but they aren’t reliant on them. Kelly drew praise from Graves:

“[The final play] was kind of ad-libbed,” the coach said. “I think in that moment we were trying to get it in Deja’s hand. She’s kind of made for these kinds of moments. They did a nice job with it, and she was unselfish enough to give it up to Elisa [Mevius].”

Kelly saw it differently.

“The goal was just to get a good look,” the guard said. “Whether that was myself, whether it was me and Alexis making a play…I knew that we had two guards on the opposite side, and Elisa made a great play. Once I got it to her, it was her world.”

The 2024 Oregon Ducks are stacked with battlers. Hand any of them that shot, and they’re confident enough to take it. Kelly shared what she said in a postgame huddle. The CliffsNotes: She’s proud of the fight. Everyone was influential. Enjoy this, but come tomorrow ready to work. 

Usually these non-conference games don’t really matter in March. Despite every word from those who climbed the stairs to the podium afterwards, it will. This was a strong game, against a legitimate team. It’s a real win. Are the Ducks back?

“We won tonight,” Graves said. “We’ve got a long way to go before we can say that [we’re back], but to get there you have to have big wins like that.”

His quarter-zip was still dripping on the way out the door.

The post A game that matters: Oregon women’s basketball battles back in win over No. 12 Baylor appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Non-conference games are overlooked.

They usually should be, like when Oregon (2-0) eased past Montana (1-1) 79-48 at Matthew Knight Arena on Friday night. Those games aren’t about the double-digit difference on the scoreboard; They’re about the 40 minutes of time given to try to glean an understanding of the team’s identity. Any early-season momentum a team is able to assemble is an added bonus.

Oregon showed its effort in a comprehensive win that helped to define a team searching for identity. It didn’t matter who was on the other end: Dana Altman and his group produced efficient offense, secure defense and displayed depth in a win that won’t mean anything in March — but means everything now.

Altman went with the same initial five that earned his squad victory on Monday night: Jackson Shelstad, TJ Bamba, Kwame Evans Jr., Brandon Angel and Nate Bittle. Bittle earned his second start of the year, despite questions surrounding the situation at center following the departure of N’Faly Dante.

An inauspicious start — three game stoppages in the first six seconds came due to a game clock issue — gave way to a strong half. Bittle grabbed four rebounds and made a 3-point shot before the first media timeout, and the Ducks put up nine points from four different scorers. When Bittle exited with 14 minutes to play in the half, the Ducks held their momentum with a eight-minute, 15-2 uninterrupted run. 

“You can look at the plus-minus (seven Oregon players finished over +10), and that’s not a tell-all,” Altman said of the Ducks’ performance with Bittle off the floor postgame, “(and) we’ve got to have some guys looking over their shoulder. They all want to play 40 minutes.”

Montana didn’t bring its best to Eugene. The Grizzlies were troubled from three on Monday against the University of Hawai’i-Hilo — they shot 18.2% on 22 efforts — but that frustration leaked inside the 3-point line on Friday night. Four days removed from putting up 92 points on the Vulcans, the Grizzlies were held scoreless for over nine minutes in the first half. During that time, they also turned the ball over to the Ducks six times. 

“I’m a competitor,” Bamba said postgame. “If you put me on their best player, which was supposed to be number one (Kai Johnson), he’s gonna have a long night.”

Johnson, who put up 27 against Hawai’i-Hilo, had zero points.

“But it’s a team effort,” Bamba (14 points, 2 assists in 18:25) continued. “It wasn’t just me guarding him — it’s gonna be everybody. Without them, I can’t do it.”

The double-digit lead built by Oregon’s complete game allowed Altman to showcase the depth he’s praised in preseason early on. The Ducks ended the first half with all nine players who appeared over eight minutes played. 

“I can go harder (now),” Evans Jr. said. “Last year was way different than this year. We’ve got a deeper bench and we can use more players, so you don’t really have to conserve energy.”

Bittle (17 points, nine rebounds in 25:50) punctuated the half’s end as he started it: With a 3-point swish.

The second half wasn’t really about the score. Sure, the Ducks dominated the Hoodoo hustle boards. Sure, they put up 35 points. But, what the second half was about was focus.

Barely four minutes into the frame, Evans Jr. (six points, seven rebounds in 23:40) turned the ball over — a misplaced ball across the top of the arc. Altman turned around and slammed his hand down on the ad board. With five minutes gone, the coach who has spent the last 15 seasons in Eugene was so far up the sideline that his sneakers were sticky from the traction mat at half-court. After nine, the Ducks spent half the media timeout in their stance, waiting for the Grizzlies to return to the floor.

It’s effort — rooted in Altman’s desire to push into his players as he adapts to a smaller, faster group. It’s Evans, who Altman said on Monday, “Sometimes has a tendency to coast,” diving for a loose ball up double-digits.

After 15, Altman in his glasses stood on the court with his arm around Shelstad (seven points, four assists in 24:11), offering something beyond the game. A minute later, he screamed “CUT!” as Mookie Cook stood still at the top of the arc. It didn’t stop. With 20 seconds left, Jamari Phillips drove down the court and turned a 28-point lead into 31. Altman leaned back ever-so-slightly on the advertising board.

Oregon hosts the University of Portland (1-0) on Tuesday night. Tip is set for 8:00 P.M.

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Oregon Football grabbed yet another No. 1 slot on Tuesday evening. The College Football Playoff, which administrates the sport’s postseason, released its first set of rankings. The Ducks (9-0, 6-0 B1G) were widely expected to claim the first spot ahead of the Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 2) and Georgia Bulldogs (No. 3).

The Playoff historically releases six total top-25 polls, on Tuesdays weekly until the final set of rankings are released after conference championship games are complete. While the Ducks will likely hold onto their No. 1 ranking barring a loss in their remaining regular season matchups with Maryland, Wisconsin and Washington, a victory in a potential Big Ten Championship Game would be necessary to secure the first-overall ranking and the first-round bye that comes with it.

It’s the highest ranking for Ducks football since the team finished the 2014 season ranked second overall. Oregon also remained No. 1 in the AP Poll, released each Sunday, following its victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor last weekend. The Ducks face Maryland this Saturday at Autzen Stadium, with kickoff set for 4:00 PM.