Iowa came into Matthew Knight Arena Sunday afternoon reeling from four straight losses and with one its best players out with an injury.
It looked like it could be an easy day at the office for Oregon. Instead, it was anything but.
The slow-starting Ducks had to rally from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Hawkeyes 50-49 in a Big Ten women’s basketball game.
In front of an announced crowd of 7,307, Oregon (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) improved to 12-1 at home this season by overcoming a seven-point first quarter with a second-half effort that guard Deja Kelly said was “100%” the best defensive performance by the team this season as the Ducks held Iowa to 17 points in the second half on 6-for-21 shooting.
“We were really locked in in that fourth quarter,” said Kelly, who had 10 points and six rebounds. “We all knew how much it meant, and everyone was sacrificing their bodies.”
The Ducks trailed 35-22 barely one minute into the third quarter but then started to grind away on defense and chip away on offense.
Center Phillipina Kyei scored eight of her 12 points in the second half, including the final basket of the third quarter and first two baskets in the fourth during a 13-0 run by the Ducks.
Nani Falatea tied the score 41-41 with 6:38 to play and Elisa Mevius gave Oregon its first lead with a corner 3-pointer with 5:59 to go in the game.
The Ducks led the rest of the way, and survived an open mid-range jumper in the final seconds by Iowa’s Addison O’Grady that fell short.
O’Grady and Sydney Affolter scored 10 each to lead the Hawkeyes (12-7, 2-6), who were without one of their most productive players as 6-2 junior forward Hannah Stuelke didn’t make Iowa’s road trip after getting a concussion Thursday against Nebraska.
Stuelke is averaging 12.9 points and a team-leading 8.2 rebounds per game this season.
“I’m really proud of them,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “It was almost like we were sleepwalking in the first half, just a little sluggish. I don’t know what it was. I thought we prepared well, I thought we prepared the same, it just wasn’t working out there. (Iowa) came out desperate. They really needed this win.”
About that start – the Ducks’ first 10 possessions on offense ended with seven missed shots and three turnovers as the they fell behind 11-0 before Alex Whitfield connected on a 3-pointer at the 2:53 mark of the first quarter.
After trailing by a game-high 15 points, 27-12, early in the second quarter, the Ducks went on an 8-0 run to make it 27-20 but only scored one field goal in the final 5:25 of the second quarter and trailed 32-22 at halftime.
“It just shows that we have a lot of fight, that we’re competitive and we don’t go down easily,” Kelly said.
What’s next for Oregon
The Ducks don’t play again until Friday, when they host Indiana for a 6 p.m. game at Matthew Knight Arena.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women’s basketball rallies to beat Iowa
