Big Second Quarter Pushes No. 3 Ohio State by Oregon

Wednesday, December 21

San Diego, CA

3:30 PM

University of Oregon

10-2,1-0Pac-12

Ohio State

13-0,2-0Big Ten

Oregon

Ohio St.

Photo by: Brielle Moseley/GoDucks.com

Big Second Quarter Pushes No. 3 Ohio State by Oregon

12/21/22 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Photo Gallery

SAN DIEGO — Grace VanSlooten put up a career-high 29 points, but No. 3 Ohio State out-scored No. 16 Oregon by 15 points in the second quarter on its way to an 84-67 victory in the title game of the San Diego Invitational Wednesday at Pechanga Arena.

Oregon (10-2) trailed by two after the opening quarter, only to see Ohio State (13-0) score 29 points to the Ducks' 14 in the second quarter and open a 54-37 halftime lead. OSU began the second with a 17-4 run, which created a 15-point edge.

Taylor Mikesell scored 17 in the first half while Rebeka Mikulasikova and Taylor Thierry each posted a dozen for the Buckeyes. OSU shot 60.5 percent from the field (23-for-38), including 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line in the half. Ohio State committed just three turnovers while collecting 17 assists over the first 20 minutes.

Down 22 early in the third quarter, a 12-0 Oregon run to close the third quarter put the score at 59-49. Endyia Rogers drained a 3-pointer to start the fourth, trimming the deficit to seven points and extending the run to 15 unanswered.

Ohio State responded with a 16-9 spurt, pushing its lead to 78-61 with just over three minutes to play. After scoring just five points in the third, OSU won the fourth quarter 25-18.

Mikesell ended the day with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting, playing all 40 minutes. Mikulasikova posted 27 points to lead the Buckeyes, including 5-for-10 from beyond the arc.

Te-Hina Paopao scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half and VanSlooten had 11, as the duo accounted for 24 of the Ducks' 37 points in the half. UO went 16-of-32 (50.0 percent) from the field but just 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) from 3-point range.

The Buckeyes finished the game shooting 51.5 percent from the field (34-for-66) and 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from 3-point range.

The Ducks shot just 5-for-25 from deep, for a season-low 20.0 percent. Rogers, who finished with nine points, led UO with two made 3-pointers.

Notable: Oregon's season-best six-game winning streak was snapped … VanSlooten has scored at least 26 points in three of the last four games … Her 29 points are tied for ninth-most in a game by a freshman in program history … Both of the Ducks' losses this season have come against teams ranked in the nation's top 10.

Quotable:
Head coach Kelly Graves on his team contending with the No. 3 team in the country …
"We had to have played a lot better (to beat Ohio State). We just didn't give them any resistance, especially in the first half. I was really proud of our fight in the second half, though. If we would've fought like that in the first, then maybe it would've been a different outcome. That was on me. We tried to do a few things to maybe slow them down as best we could. We thought we had some disadvantages at some spots and it kind of backfired on us a little bit. We didn't shoot the ball well, 5-of-25 (from 3-point range). If you want to beat the No. 3 team in the country, you can't go 5-for-25 from the 3-point line. Give them credit, they were better than us tonight."

Graves on the second quarter…
"That's when they (separated), and they separated a little bit more early in the third. That's when we really started to fight and come back. How about Grace VanSlooten in this tournament. She was incredible, 26 last night, she had 29 tonight against two top-ranked teams. That's incredible, that's an outstanding performance."

Graves on going 10-2 before the bulk of conference play…
"I would've been happy with 10-2 coming in (to the season). We finished 2-1 against the Big Ten, we finished 1-0 against the SEC. We played Oregon State, so 1-0 against the Pac-12. I think we are 4-2 against teams from power conferences, and several of those can make the NCAAs. We've got to get better and got to get organized defensively. I thought we broke down a little bit down here on this trip."

Up Next: The Ducks will take nine days off before they hit the court again Friday, Dec. 30, against UCLA at Matthew Knight Arena (6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).