WACO, Texas — Oregon held Baylor to a season-low in points and field goal percentage Sunday afternoon, but the 13th-ranked Bears managed a 71-51 victory over the Ducks at Ferrell Center.
Baylor entered Sunday averaging 92.0 points an outing – good for sixth-best in the country – while shooting 50.6 percent from the field, but failed to reach the 80-point and 47 percent marks for the first times this season. Both sides shot 39 percent, but the Bears made nine more baskets while attempting 71 field goals to the Ducks’ 49.
“I told the team in the locker room that I’m really proud of them, I thought we played pretty good basketball,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “Two areas we talked about going into the game and reiterated after the game and I thought it was the difference: You’ve got take care of the ball, you’ve got to limit them to one shot. Two areas we didn’t do well tonight and both areas hurt us.
“We did some good things … I am going away from this far more encouraged than the first game of this road trip, because I think tonight we showed if we stick together and execute, we can play.”
BU hauled in 18 offensive rebounds, leading to 15 second-chance points and a 44-22 edge in points in the paint. Conversely, Oregon managed just four offensive boards while turning the ball over 20 times, helping Baylor to 23 point from turnovers.
Phillipina Kyei logged her fifth double-double of the season, and 19th of her career, finishing with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Grace VanSlooten added 14 points and Chance Gray pitched in 10 to round out three Ducks in double figures. Freshman Sophia Bell played all 40 minutes and scored seven points to go with four boards.
Freshman Sofia Bell knocked down a team-high four 3-pointers on her way to 12 points and equaled her season high with three steals. Chance Gray added 10 points and five rebounds while Kennedy Basham pitched in seven points and four blocks off the bench, both tying her career highs.
How It Happened: Following an opening layup from Kyei, Baylor proceeded to go on a 13-2 run, including eight unanswered points, to claim a 13-4 lead halfway through the first quarter. A jumper from VanSlooten got the Ducks within three at 15-12, but the Bears scored the final six points of the quarter to take a 21-12 lead. Kyei and VanSlooten each scored four in the quarter.
Oregon trailed by 13 at the half and shot 40 percent from the field to Baylor’s 42 percent, but the Bears made seven more shots (15-8). The difference was 11 Duck turnovers leading to 11 points for the Bears while BU also grabbed eight offensive rebounds compared to none by UO.
Bell led the Ducks with seven first-half points, including her team’s only made 3-point basket. Oregon shot 1-for-5 from range while Baylor hit on 4-of-12.
Oregon cut the deficit to single digits, 38-30, in the third on a putback by Kyei, but Baylor responded by going on a 9-2 run, hitting 4-of-5 shots in that span. VanSlooten scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the quarter.
A driving layup from Gray capped a six-point Duck burst in the final quarter, cutting the Baylor lead to a dozen at 62-50. The Bears answered with a 6-0 run of their own to open an 18-point advantage with around two minutes to play.
Notable: Kyei carded her fifth double-double of the season and now has 13 for her career, moving her into a 16th-place tie in UO history … Gray and VanSlooten reached double-figure points for the fifth time in six games … Oregon held Baylor to a season lows in points and field goal percentage.
Up Next: The Ducks return to Matthew Knight Arena and start a four-game homestand Friday against Idaho (6 p.m. PT).
