Wednesday, March 4
Indianapolis, Ind.
Approx. 5:30 p.m.
University of Oregon
21-11,8-10Big Ten
82
vs
64
Purdue
13-17,5-13Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Purdue
12
12
25
15
64
Oregon
21
26
17
18
82
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
First Big Ten Tournament Win Advances Ducks
03/04/26 | Women's Basketball
Oregon opened the conference tournament with a comfortable 82-64 win over Purdue on Wednesday.
INDIANAPOLIS — A dominant first half gave the Oregon women's basketball team more than enough cushion to survive Purdue's comeback bid Wednesday night.
As a result, the UO women have their first-ever Big Ten Tournament victory, an 82-64 win over the Boilermakers in the first round at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. And the Ducks (21-11) are moving on to play Thursday night against Maryland, knowing there's plenty of room for improvement even after a convincing win to open the tournament.
"We played a great first half, obviously," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "One turnover. We shot the ball well. We distributed the wealth, so to speak, and it was one of our better halves. But you know, we're still a relatively young team, and we've got to learn how to close teams out when we got them down."
The Ducks shot 47.1 percent and held the Boilermakers to 24.2 percent shooting in the first half, taking a 47-24 lead into halftime. The third quarter saw Purdue go 11-of-15 from the field while holding the Ducks to 3-of-12; although the UO women never led by less than 12 at any point in the second half, they still were frustrated by that second-half effort.
"When we move the ball, when we distribute the ball to all players in the court, we're dangerous," UO sophomore point guard Katie Fiso said. "We have a lot of threats on the floor. So (a key is) utilizing those threats, finding the open person, finding the hot hand. Whoever's hot, continue to feed them the ball."
Fiso had 20 points to lead the Ducks on Wednesday, and Ehis Etute added 16 points with 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Mia Jacobs scored 14 points and grabbed nine boards after missing Oregon's win at Purdue on Feb. 25; Jacobs and Astera Tuhina both went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, as the Ducks finished 27-of-29 (93.1 percent) as a team.
Etute had four fouls and played just 20 minutes. Graves would have liked to limit the minutes of some other key contributors as well, given the conference tournament schedule, but needed 34 from Fiso, 33 from Sofia Bell and 31 from Jacobs given Purdue's second-half surge.
"That's where immaturity comes into play," Graves said. "I wish we could have come out in that first five minutes of the second half, and kind of put a foot down and built on the lead that we had so that we could give them some rest. I mean, if we hope to win this thing, it's a five-game gauntlet, for crying out loud. So any minutes you can give your kids on the bench, you take them. But again, credit Purdue, they really battled and fought back."
How It Happened: After Purdue opened the game with a three-pointer, Fiso answered with a bucket, Bell scored to give the Ducks the lead for good, and Ari Long capped a 7-0 run with a three-pointer. Then, Etute went to work, scoring Oregon's next three baskets despite giving up size to Purdue's posts, as the 6-foot- sophomore typically does.
Etute said a film session earlier in the day with UO assistant coach Tre Simmons provided her the key to success against the bigger Boilermakers. After going 4-of-11 from the floor at Purdue on Feb. 25, Etute was 7-of-13 on Wednesday.
"He told me that I should square up and use my speed against them, rather than try and power them up, because that'll be much easier for me," said Etute, who had 12 points with eight rebounds in the first half. "So I think that was one of the key factors that I tried to change this game, in comparison to the last one we played against them."
Etute's fourth bucket of the first period put Oregon up 21-12 at period's end. In the second, Purdue scored to stay within 28-20 with 7:04 left before halftime, but that would be the Boilermakers' final field goal of the half as the Ducks blew the game open with a 19-4 run.
Jacobs had eight points in that stretch, including all six of her made free throws.
"Obviously we didn't have her for the first matchup," Fiso said of Jacobs missing Oregon's 71-65 win at Purdue on Feb. 25. "It kind of was shown in the game. But having her today, you know, she's just another threat on the court that the defense has to scout."
A three-point play by Fiso early in the third quarter gave the Ducks their biggest lead of the game, a 26-point margin at 52-26. But from there Purdue flipped the script from the second quarter, holding Oregon to just one field goal over the final 9:16 of the third quarter and cutting the deficit to 64-49 entering the fourth.
A three-pointer to open the final period got the Boilermakers within 12, and they'd close within a dozen points a couple more times early in the fourth. But helped by their nearly flawless free-throw shooting, the Ducks allowed Purdue no closer, securing their first Big Ten Tournament win and advancing to play Thursday night.
Up Next: The 11th-seeded Ducks face No. 6 seed Maryland on Thursday (approx. 6 p.m. PT, Big Ten Network).
As a result, the UO women have their first-ever Big Ten Tournament victory, an 82-64 win over the Boilermakers in the first round at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. And the Ducks (21-11) are moving on to play Thursday night against Maryland, knowing there's plenty of room for improvement even after a convincing win to open the tournament.
"We played a great first half, obviously," UO coach Kelly Graves said. "One turnover. We shot the ball well. We distributed the wealth, so to speak, and it was one of our better halves. But you know, we're still a relatively young team, and we've got to learn how to close teams out when we got them down."
The Ducks shot 47.1 percent and held the Boilermakers to 24.2 percent shooting in the first half, taking a 47-24 lead into halftime. The third quarter saw Purdue go 11-of-15 from the field while holding the Ducks to 3-of-12; although the UO women never led by less than 12 at any point in the second half, they still were frustrated by that second-half effort.
"When we move the ball, when we distribute the ball to all players in the court, we're dangerous," UO sophomore point guard Katie Fiso said. "We have a lot of threats on the floor. So (a key is) utilizing those threats, finding the open person, finding the hot hand. Whoever's hot, continue to feed them the ball."
Fiso had 20 points to lead the Ducks on Wednesday, and Ehis Etute added 16 points with 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Mia Jacobs scored 14 points and grabbed nine boards after missing Oregon's win at Purdue on Feb. 25; Jacobs and Astera Tuhina both went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, as the Ducks finished 27-of-29 (93.1 percent) as a team.
Etute had four fouls and played just 20 minutes. Graves would have liked to limit the minutes of some other key contributors as well, given the conference tournament schedule, but needed 34 from Fiso, 33 from Sofia Bell and 31 from Jacobs given Purdue's second-half surge.
"That's where immaturity comes into play," Graves said. "I wish we could have come out in that first five minutes of the second half, and kind of put a foot down and built on the lead that we had so that we could give them some rest. I mean, if we hope to win this thing, it's a five-game gauntlet, for crying out loud. So any minutes you can give your kids on the bench, you take them. But again, credit Purdue, they really battled and fought back."
How It Happened: After Purdue opened the game with a three-pointer, Fiso answered with a bucket, Bell scored to give the Ducks the lead for good, and Ari Long capped a 7-0 run with a three-pointer. Then, Etute went to work, scoring Oregon's next three baskets despite giving up size to Purdue's posts, as the 6-foot- sophomore typically does.
Etute said a film session earlier in the day with UO assistant coach Tre Simmons provided her the key to success against the bigger Boilermakers. After going 4-of-11 from the floor at Purdue on Feb. 25, Etute was 7-of-13 on Wednesday.
"He told me that I should square up and use my speed against them, rather than try and power them up, because that'll be much easier for me," said Etute, who had 12 points with eight rebounds in the first half. "So I think that was one of the key factors that I tried to change this game, in comparison to the last one we played against them."
Etute's fourth bucket of the first period put Oregon up 21-12 at period's end. In the second, Purdue scored to stay within 28-20 with 7:04 left before halftime, but that would be the Boilermakers' final field goal of the half as the Ducks blew the game open with a 19-4 run.
Jacobs had eight points in that stretch, including all six of her made free throws.
"Obviously we didn't have her for the first matchup," Fiso said of Jacobs missing Oregon's 71-65 win at Purdue on Feb. 25. "It kind of was shown in the game. But having her today, you know, she's just another threat on the court that the defense has to scout."
A three-point play by Fiso early in the third quarter gave the Ducks their biggest lead of the game, a 26-point margin at 52-26. But from there Purdue flipped the script from the second quarter, holding Oregon to just one field goal over the final 9:16 of the third quarter and cutting the deficit to 64-49 entering the fourth.
A three-pointer to open the final period got the Boilermakers within 12, and they'd close within a dozen points a couple more times early in the fourth. But helped by their nearly flawless free-throw shooting, the Ducks allowed Purdue no closer, securing their first Big Ten Tournament win and advancing to play Thursday night.
Up Next: The 11th-seeded Ducks face No. 6 seed Maryland on Thursday (approx. 6 p.m. PT, Big Ten Network).
Team Stats
Purdue
Oregon
FG%
.417
.410
3FG%
.320
.313
FT%
.462
.931
RB
27
42
TO
10
9
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballEhis Etute & Katie Fiso | Postgame vs. Washington
Monday, March 02
Kelly Graves | Postgame vs. Washington
Monday, March 02
Astera Tuhina & Katie Fiso: "Coming out hungry."
Friday, February 27
Kelly Graves: "I like where we're at."
Friday, February 27
