EUGENE — In a game that featured 41 combined fouls and 39 combined turnovers, No. 23 Oregon women’s basketball pounded the ball inside and pulled out a narrow win over Auburn, 70-68.
The Ducks (6-0) were led by a double-double for center Phillipina Kyei (14 points, 11 rebounds) in her first start of the season, and 13 points for guard Peyton Scott. Auburn was led by the sharpshooting Taliah Scott with 28 points including seven three-pointers.
“Now I know what Dan Lanning felt like back there in Madison,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “Gritty wins are hard to come by, but really rewarding. Good win against a NCAA tournament team from the SEC. … Got some work ahead of us, but this was a heck of a game. Two heavyweights. I don’t think either team played their best tonight, both teams a lot of turnovers, but pretty good defense and we’ve got to clean up a couple of the errors we made.”
Both teams got off to sloppy starts, committing 16 turnovers and 11 fouls combined in the first quarter alone. Auburn (3-1) led, 12-9, through one quarter, buoyed by relentless defensive pressure that bothered the Ducks.
The Oregon offense came alive in the second quarter, finding success in transition and getting easy buckets. Peyton Scott led the way with smooth midrange jumpers, finding teammates like Amina Muhammad and Kyei for open layups.
A 9-0 run for Oregon gave them a 29-19 lead, but Auburn refused to let it linger. Taliah Scott hit back-to-back threes for the Tigers to cut the deficit to four.
The Ducks entered the half leading, 33-27, while shooting 54% including a blistering 73% in the second quarter.
“This game and the rest of our games, we’ve got fight,” Peyton Scott said of the Ducks. “We’re not just gonna lay down for anybody. We don’t care who we’re playing. I know that one through 15 is going to be ready to come in and make an impact, and it shows every game. Whenever we might have a lull, there are people on our bench that are going to come in and revamp that intensity. Whoever it may be.”
Oregon came out strong in the third quarter, scoring a trio of transition baskets to make it 39-27. Auburn struggled mightily to get back on defense, and committed a litany of fouls in the process. The Ducks weren’t clean, either, and entered foul trouble early in the quarter.
The game was called unusually tight by officials, though, much to the chagrin of a solid showing of fans at Matthew Knight Arena.
Kyei imposed her will throughout the third quarter, working towards her double-double with consistent footwork and strength in the post.
The Ducks let Auburn creep back within six at the end of the third, however, as another three-pointer by Taliah Scott cut the Oregon lead to 50-44.
Oregon didn’t make a three-pointer until the fourth quarter, hitting two during the course of a 8-0 run that gave them a 58-47 lead. But Auburn would not go away, keeping the game tight down the stretch.
Kyei would have none of it. The Ducks fed it inside to their towering center, and she scored plus the foul to make it 66-58 Oregon with 2:41 to go.
Carrried by the scoring ability of Taliah Scott, Auburn cut it to 66-63 with 51.2 seconds remaining. But Elisa Mevius’ and-one layup electrified the crowd and gave Oregon a 69-63 advantage with 26.2 seconds left.
The Ducks finished the job despite a late three-pointer from Taliah Scott off the turnover to bring the game to its final margin with 0.8 seconds on the clock.
After the game, Graves lauded the resilience and ability to come together quickly for an Oregon team with nine newcomers in the program.
“That’s what I’ve been most impressed with,” Graves said. “People forget we have nine new players, really 10 if you count Peyton (Scott) because she didn’t play last year. That’s not easy in this short a period of time, and look at our schedule. I look at a lot of teams just rolling up on people by 60, 70, 80 points, and we’re playing knock down, drag out games against big time competition. It’s making us better.”
Next game: No. 23 Oregon (6-0) vs. Georgia Tech (4-0) — Hawaii North Shore Showcase
- When: Monday, Nov. 25
- Time: 4 p.m. PT
- Where: George Q. Cannon Activities Center — Laie, Oahu, Hawaii
- Streaming: BallerTV
- Radio: Oregon Sports Network
— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
