Wednesday, February 4
Eugene, OR
6 p.m.
University of Oregon
18-7,6-6Big Ten
76
vs
73
Illinois
16-7,6-6Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Illinois
14
10
27
22
73
Oregon
23
22
6
25
76
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
Fourth-quarter Dramatics Give Ducks Fourth Straight
02/04/26 | Women's Basketball
Oregon completed a fourth-quarter comeback for the second time in five days Wednesday, overcoming a third-quarter cold spell.
EUGENE, Ore. — Wednesday night's Oregon women's basketball game had a bit of everything: A dominant first half, a demoralizing third-quarter collapse, then a dramatic comeback by the Ducks, who've come to be known by their coach as the "cardiac kids."
Up 21 points at halftime, the UO women gave up all of that lead and more to Illinois at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks trailed by eight midway through the fourth quarter, but rallied back to take the lead on a Katie Fiso drive with eight seconds left before hanging on to win, 76-73.
The Ducks won their fourth game in a row, and completed their second fourth-quarter comeback in five days after Saturday's win at then-No. 16 Maryland.
"In the end, we got the win, and that's what's most important," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "We showed some poise when we fell behind by eight. I know it wasn't looking good, but that's kind of when we start to make things happen. It's crazy."
Mia Jacobs had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Ducks, Ehis Etute added 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting with nine boards, and Fiso finished with 16 points plus nine assists. The newest "Big Three" for the UO women not only combined for 59 of the team's 76 points in the game, they scored 22 of 25 in the fourth quarter.
"It's a good, tough win," Jacobs said. "It's gonna help us in the long run. So it's good to have that under our belt."
How It Happened: After making two-thirds of their shots in the first half, 18-of-27, the Ducks opened the second half by going 2-of-16. The Ducks led 45-24 at half, and Fiso got the lead back to 21 at 49-28 with a layup early in the third quarter. But the UO women would miss their next 13 shots — the last eight of the third as Illinois rallied to tie it at 51-51 entering the fourth, and then five more to open the fourth.
Jacobs finally ended that cold streak with a couple of layups early in the fourth quarter, but Illinois matched them and more to lead 66-58 with 4:25 left. That's when the "cardiac kids" found their footing.
First, Etute made a bucket. Illinois missed at the other end, and Fiso hit a turnaround jumper. Then, after another Illinois miss, Sofia Bell — whose trio of threes Saturday at Maryland gave Oregon the lead for good — was fouled on a three-pointer that dropped; she missed the and-one, but the Ducks were back within 66-65.
"It felt like we were back in the game at that point," Etute said. "It was our game again."
Etute answered an Illinois basket with a layup for the Ducks, and it was 68-67 with 2:04 to go. Jacobs then hit from three to put Oregon up, but the Illini answered in kind. It remained a one-point lead for Illinois at 73-72 in the final seconds when Fiso missed a jumper, but Etute collected the rebound. The Ducks called time out with 12 seconds left.
On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball found its way to Fiso again. This time, she drove across the lane; Etute was camped out in the post, and Jacobs was set up on the arc for an outlet pass. But Fiso saw a path to the basket, lofted a high-arcing bank shot with her left hand, and it fell to put Oregon up 74-73 with eight seconds left.
"When I'm driving downhill, I see, like, a straight line," said Fiso, who followed that bucket with two game-clinching free throws after an Illinois turnover. "If I see that straight line, I'm committed, and I'm going. If I didn't see that, Ehis was right there to get the clean-up. But I trusted my work. I put a lot of work in, and I ended up making a shot."
The dramatic finish took the sting out of an equally dramatic collapse by the Ducks coming out of halftime. There was little indication at the time it was looming — Oregon led 23-14 after the first quarter and 45-24 at the half, having shot 66.7 percent in the first half while holding Illinois to 34.6 percent.
"We had (a few) goals coming in, and one was to limit transition points; that's how they won the other night at Washington," Graves said. "They had zero transition points at the half. The other was blocking out; no second chances. They had zero second-chance points for the first half. So we had done what we wanted to do, and that's why we had the lead we did. And then we suddenly kind of forgot about that."
Illinois shot 9-of-19 while outscoring the Ducks 27-6 in the third quarter. The UO women made two of their first three field goals in the half but then went ice cold, as Illinois put together a 21-0 run to tie the game.
"They just came out, they were more physical, they wanted it more, and they executed better," Graves said.
After an Etute free throw to open the fourth, Illinois scored to take its first lead of the entire night, 53-52. Etute followed with two more free throws to put Oregon back in front, but the Illini countered with an 11-2 run to go up by eight.
That run was capped by a bucket for a 64-56 lead with exactly 5 minutes left in the game. Graves took a 30-second timeout to stop the momentum, and huddled his team to deliver a message.
"We've been there before," Graves recounted later. "We've been there, done that. You know, there's no quit in them."
They proved that over the final five minutes of Wednesday's game. The "cardiac kids" may have caused a few palpitations in the process, but in the end the Ducks got it done.
Up Next: The Ducks host Ohio State on Sunday (noon, B1G+).
Up 21 points at halftime, the UO women gave up all of that lead and more to Illinois at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks trailed by eight midway through the fourth quarter, but rallied back to take the lead on a Katie Fiso drive with eight seconds left before hanging on to win, 76-73.
The Ducks won their fourth game in a row, and completed their second fourth-quarter comeback in five days after Saturday's win at then-No. 16 Maryland.
"In the end, we got the win, and that's what's most important," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "We showed some poise when we fell behind by eight. I know it wasn't looking good, but that's kind of when we start to make things happen. It's crazy."
Mia Jacobs had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Ducks, Ehis Etute added 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting with nine boards, and Fiso finished with 16 points plus nine assists. The newest "Big Three" for the UO women not only combined for 59 of the team's 76 points in the game, they scored 22 of 25 in the fourth quarter.
"It's a good, tough win," Jacobs said. "It's gonna help us in the long run. So it's good to have that under our belt."
How It Happened: After making two-thirds of their shots in the first half, 18-of-27, the Ducks opened the second half by going 2-of-16. The Ducks led 45-24 at half, and Fiso got the lead back to 21 at 49-28 with a layup early in the third quarter. But the UO women would miss their next 13 shots — the last eight of the third as Illinois rallied to tie it at 51-51 entering the fourth, and then five more to open the fourth.
Jacobs finally ended that cold streak with a couple of layups early in the fourth quarter, but Illinois matched them and more to lead 66-58 with 4:25 left. That's when the "cardiac kids" found their footing.
First, Etute made a bucket. Illinois missed at the other end, and Fiso hit a turnaround jumper. Then, after another Illinois miss, Sofia Bell — whose trio of threes Saturday at Maryland gave Oregon the lead for good — was fouled on a three-pointer that dropped; she missed the and-one, but the Ducks were back within 66-65.
"It felt like we were back in the game at that point," Etute said. "It was our game again."
Etute answered an Illinois basket with a layup for the Ducks, and it was 68-67 with 2:04 to go. Jacobs then hit from three to put Oregon up, but the Illini answered in kind. It remained a one-point lead for Illinois at 73-72 in the final seconds when Fiso missed a jumper, but Etute collected the rebound. The Ducks called time out with 12 seconds left.
On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball found its way to Fiso again. This time, she drove across the lane; Etute was camped out in the post, and Jacobs was set up on the arc for an outlet pass. But Fiso saw a path to the basket, lofted a high-arcing bank shot with her left hand, and it fell to put Oregon up 74-73 with eight seconds left.
"When I'm driving downhill, I see, like, a straight line," said Fiso, who followed that bucket with two game-clinching free throws after an Illinois turnover. "If I see that straight line, I'm committed, and I'm going. If I didn't see that, Ehis was right there to get the clean-up. But I trusted my work. I put a lot of work in, and I ended up making a shot."
The dramatic finish took the sting out of an equally dramatic collapse by the Ducks coming out of halftime. There was little indication at the time it was looming — Oregon led 23-14 after the first quarter and 45-24 at the half, having shot 66.7 percent in the first half while holding Illinois to 34.6 percent.
"We had (a few) goals coming in, and one was to limit transition points; that's how they won the other night at Washington," Graves said. "They had zero transition points at the half. The other was blocking out; no second chances. They had zero second-chance points for the first half. So we had done what we wanted to do, and that's why we had the lead we did. And then we suddenly kind of forgot about that."
Illinois shot 9-of-19 while outscoring the Ducks 27-6 in the third quarter. The UO women made two of their first three field goals in the half but then went ice cold, as Illinois put together a 21-0 run to tie the game.
"They just came out, they were more physical, they wanted it more, and they executed better," Graves said.
After an Etute free throw to open the fourth, Illinois scored to take its first lead of the entire night, 53-52. Etute followed with two more free throws to put Oregon back in front, but the Illini countered with an 11-2 run to go up by eight.
That run was capped by a bucket for a 64-56 lead with exactly 5 minutes left in the game. Graves took a 30-second timeout to stop the momentum, and huddled his team to deliver a message.
"We've been there before," Graves recounted later. "We've been there, done that. You know, there's no quit in them."
They proved that over the final five minutes of Wednesday's game. The "cardiac kids" may have caused a few palpitations in the process, but in the end the Ducks got it done.
Up Next: The Ducks host Ohio State on Sunday (noon, B1G+).
Team Stats
Illini
Oregon
FG%
.443
.509
3FG%
.211
.429
FT%
.882
.737
RB
31
32
TO
10
15
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballEhis Etute, Katie Fiso and Mia Jacobs | Postgame vs. Illinois
Thursday, February 05
Kelly Graves | Postgame vs. Illinois
Thursday, February 05
Ehis Etute & Ari Long: "Believing that we can."
Tuesday, February 03
Kelly Graves: "We played really well."
Tuesday, February 03
