Written by: Rob Moseley, GoDucks.com
LAIE, Hawai’i — Oregon lost the rebounding battle for the first time this season Monday, and perhaps not coincidentally, the UO women’s basketball team also suffered its first loss of the season.The No. 21 Ducks (6-1) lost 74-58 to Georgia Tech in the Hawai’i North Shore Showcase hosted by BYU-Hawai’i. The Yellow Jackets had a 53-31 advantage on the boards, and 25 second-chance points stemming from 23 offensive rebounds.“I credit George Tech — they outworked us,” UO coach Kelly Graves said. “You could tell it meant more. But when you get beat by 22 on the boards, there’s your game; there’s your game in a nutshell.”Deja Kelly scored 10 points to lead the Ducks, who had 10 players hit at least one field goal in the game. Phillipina Kyei grabbed eight boards to lead the UO women, but she was just the fourth-leading rebounder in the game as Georgia Tech dominated the glass.“It started and it ended with the offensive rebounds,” Graves said. “To give up 23 offensive rebounds, you can’t get out and run and go and do the things that you want to do.”Peyton Scott added nine points for the Ducks, while Amina Muhammad and Ehis Etute provided eight points each off the bench — the latter in her UO debut.“I was actually impressed with the team at the end,” Graves said. “I thought we did some good things with those young kids. Ehis came in and did a really nice job; Katie Fiso was pretty good. We just didn’t have enough.”Oregon has to regroup quickly before closing out the Hawai’i North Shore Showcase against South Dakota State on Tuesday.“We’ve just got to play better, and I anticipate that we will,” Graves said. “We certainly don’t want to come this far and lose a couple of games.”How It Happened: The Ducks committed four turnovers in the first six minutes of the game, resulting in four Georgia Tech points. The Yellow Jackets went on a 14-2 run, including nine unanswered points, in opening a 16-7 lead. UO trailed 18-11 after the first, shooting 31 percent from the field (5-for-16) and 1-for-4 from the three-point line, with Sofia Bell hitting the lone triple.Oregon put the clamps on GT’s offense in the second quarter, holding the Yellow Jackets without a field goal for over a five-minute span. UO was able to put together a seven-point scoring run, including back-to-back baskets from Scott, to take a 25-24 lead with 2:15 left in the half.Georgia Tech’s Kara Dunn answered the Ducks’ run by scoring the next five points, helping GT to a 29-27 halftime lead. The Yellow Jackets owned a 22-10 lead in points in the paint, outrebounding UO 32-21. The teams went a combined 3-for-21 from downtown, with the Ducks hitting on 2-of-10 tries.Scott led all players with seven first-half points, as nine Ducks got into the scoring column in the half. Nani Falatea added five points off the bench, hitting one of UO’s two three-pointers in the half. Despite its four turnovers in the first quarter, Oregon committed just one in the second quarter.Neither team was able to manage a run longer than four points in the third quarter. Layups from Kelly and Kyei in the final minute of the quarter trimmed UO’s deficit to just three points, 46-43. Kelly accounted for eight of her team’s 16 points in the third on 4-of-5 shooting.UO held Georgia Tech without a three-pointer in the third, as the Yellow Jackets sat 1-for-17 from deep through three quarters. However, the Yellow Jackets connected from range on consecutive possessions to begin the fourth, opening a 54-43 lead.GT’s run reached 10 straight points, creating a 56-43 advantage with just under eight minutes to play. The Yellow Jackets hit all four three-point attempts in the fourth quarter and led as many as 21. Tech shot 67 percent in the quarter, outscoring the Ducks 28-15.Notable: Etute made her collegiate debut, scoring eight points to go with five rebounds, while the Ducks played without Salimatou Kourouma and Sammie Wagner. … UO was outrebounded for the first time this season. … Georgia Tech has now won all three all-time meetings in the series, also winning in 2008 and 2009.Up Next: The Ducks conclude the Hawai’i North Shore Showcase against South Dakota State on Tuesday (4 p.m. PT, BallerTV).
