Ducks Show Heart With Comeback Over Iowa

Sunday, January 19

Eugene, OR

2 p.m.

University of Oregon

14-5,5-3Big Ten

Iowa

12-7,2-6Big Ten

Iowa

Oregon

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

01/19/25 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (Oregon 50, Iowa 49)Photo Gallery

After trailing by as much as 15, the UO women buckled down on defense and came from behind to win 50-49 on Sunday.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — His team trailed by 10 at halftime Sunday, after falling behind by as many as 15 in the second quarter. In the halftime locker room, UO women's basketball coach Kelly Graves pulled out a pen and stepped up to the white board.

He didn't draw up any plays. Didn't write down points of emphasis for the final two quarters. Instead, he drew a single shape.

"It's probably still on the board," Graves said postgame Sunday afternoon. "There's a big, red heart. Just thought we had to play with more heart."

That the Ducks did, coming all the way back from that 15-point deficit to beat visiting Iowa at Matthew Knight Arena, 50-49. After allowing the Hawkeyes to make 11-of-16 shots to open the game, the UO women held them without a field goal for a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the second half, and made plays at both ends of the court in the final minute to complete the comeback.

"We showed a lot of character, a lot of heart — and then made the plays," said Graves, whose team improved to 14-5 this season, including 12-1 at home. "You know, we made the plays."

After Iowa scored to go up 41-31 with 3:52 left in the third quarter, the Ducks held them scoreless for the next 9:09 and without a field goal for the next 10:42 — more than a full quarter of game clock — to mount a 17-2 run and take their first lead of the game. Up 48-47 with a minute left, Oregon got a baseline jumper by Nani Falatea on an out-of-bounds play to lead by three, then got a stop when Iowa had a chance to win in the final 10 seconds.

"It just shows that we have a lot of fight, that we're competitive — we don't go down easily," UO senior Deja Kelly said. "I think our biggest adjustment was our defense. Us picking up our intensity, our effort on that end, it allowed us to get on the run and get the shots that we wanted."

Phillipina Kyei scored six straight points early in that 17-2 run to fuel Oregon's comeback, on her way to a team-high 12 points in the game. Kelly added 10, while Elisa Mevius, Alexis Whitfield and Sofia Bell scored six each — that trio combined for all five of Oregon's three-pointers, including one by Mevius that gave the Ducks their first lead, 44-41, with 5:59 left in the fourth quarter.

How It Happened: Iowa's 11-of-16 shooting start got the Hawkeyes out to a 27-12 lead early in the second quarter. They were 8-of-35 the rest of the game, and though Graves did draw the heart in the locker room when Oregon trailed at halftime, 32-22, he said a little more than that.

"He got on our butt a little bit," Kelly said. "We needed it. We got on each other's, too. We were holding each other accountable because we knew that we had to pick it up, or this would have gotten ugly."

The Ducks clawed back early in the second half, after Iowa had worked its lead back to 10 at 41-31 with 3:52 left in the third. Peyton Scott scored to make it an eight-point game, and Oregon then forced five straight turnovers by Iowa to close the period.

The UO women only converted one of those into points, but it was a bucket in the post by Kyei to close the quarter and get Oregon within 41-35. She then opened the fourth in similar fashion, scoring twice more to make it 41-39.

"Coach kind of got on us a little bit, so I had bring a little something more," Kyei said. "Just telling me to get deeper and call for the ball."

Oregon continued to get stops defensively, and Falatea scored to tie the game at 41-41. After another stop on defense, the Ducks finally took their first lead of the night when Mevius took a three in front of the UO bench and it dropped. That capped a 13-0 run between points for the Hawkeyes.

"I just thought that defensive effort in the second half was phenomenal," Graves said, crediting first-year assistant Jerise Freeman for her input on that end. "It's one of the best halves of defense that I've ever coached or been part of."

Two baskets by Amina Muhammad got the Ducks some cushion at 48-43, before Iowa finally hit a field goal for the first time since midway through the third quarter. The Hawkeyes scored again to make it 48-47, which was still the score during a critical replay review with 1:01 left in the game.

The Ducks nearly turned it over on their end, but officials ruled an Iowa player touched the ball on its way out of bounds. There were 61 seconds left in the game, and five on the shot clock — if Oregon was going to retain possession. But officials reviewed the play; a reversed call meant the Ducks would have to go on defense.

In that break, the staff did draw up a play: A baseline jumper for Falatea on a baseline-out-of-bounds situation. The Ducks did end up retaining possession, Falatea got open on the play and her shot fell for a 50-47 lead.

"After timeouts I think our efficiency was really, really good, and that was Jodie," Graves said, acknowledging another assistant coach, Jodie Berry. "Jodie made those calls and drew that up — something we have not practiced — and got it to the right person at the right spot."

Iowa scored at the other end to cut the deficit back down to one, and Kyei couldn't convert with 9.5 seconds left. The Hawkeyes called timeout and set up post Addison O'Grady for a midrange jumper that would have won the game — she made similar shots on three straight possessions during an 11-0 run by Iowa to open the game — but this time she missed and Mevius secured the rebound with 1.3 seconds left.

"These are the dog days, the middle of Big Ten play, so every win is important," Graves said. "Obviously, the home wins become vital. And then against teams that you figure are going to be in the postseason, that's huge. Yeah, this was great all the way around for us tonight."

Up Next: The Ducks host Indiana on Friday (6 p.m., B1G+).