Oregon Ducks Falter With Late Turnovers, Fall Against Stanford Cardinal

Kelly Graves watched his team lead until the final minutes against the Stanford Cardinal on Friday night but turnovers late were the difference as the Oregon Ducks lost 64-62 and still look for their first Pac-12 win.

Oregon started the 2015-16 season undefeated in non-conference play. It started in North Carolina with a win over a tough Tar Heels team to get to 11-0 on the season. The start of the Pac-12 Conference slate has not gone so well. Following a sweep by the Oregon State Beavers, the Ducks were seeking their first Pac-12 Conference win against another Top 15 team in the Stanford Cardinal on their home floor on Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

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Stanford would start the game with the first possession as the first 10 minutes got underway. Both teams would exchange baskets until Lexi Bando hit a three pointer that gave Oregon an early 5-3 lead. Kaley Johnson would hit a two pointer from inside the paint tying the game at 5. Liz Brenner keyed a sequence snagging a Offensive rebound under the Oregon basket, but after two shots to teammates, a shot would not land for the home team. With under 5 minutes to go it was 8-5 Oregon. It would be a game of baby steps for Kelly Graves team. The key was to win each Quarter against a highly touted and quick Stanford Cardinal team.

Lexi Petersen hit a three pointer out of the timeout giving Oregon their biggest lead of the night at 6 points. Stanford would come back and cut the Ducks lead in half. Lexi Bando would take an Offensive Foul to end the first quarter of play with Oregon up 18-12 on Stanford.

The second quarter saw Stanford tie the game and the battle for the lead. Oregon would hit back to back three pointers from Kat Cooper and Lexi Bando to push their lead back to 6 points at 27-21 at the midpoint of the second quarter. The Cardinal would have a chance to tie the game following the second foul on Jillian Alleyne with just over a minute to go in the first half.

Oregon would finish the first half hitting at 52 percent, the Cardinal at 48 percent. The Ducks would hit six three pointers in the first half to take a 36-32 lead into the locker room.

"Have gotta hand it to Stanford, they know how to win and we’re still learningHead Coach Kelly Graves following the loss to Stanford"

The third quarter would again see the ball go back and forth, but Oregon would maintain the lead midway past the quarter as Jillian Alleyne pulled down back to back rebounds and Lexi Bando came in off the bench to make the Ducks 9^th three point shot of the game. Maite Cazorla would add to it pushing the lead to 48-39.

Stanford would hit 4 field goals in a row to get within four of the lead with just under a minute left in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, Oregon was hitting three points shots at a better clip than shots from the field. Oregon would take a four point lead into the final quarter of play vs the Stanford Cardinal.

The fourth quarter would begin with a Stanford turnover. Lexi Bando would make them pay with a three pointer extending the Ducks lead to 53-46. Approaching the 5 minute mark Stanford would cut the lead to 2 points after two free throws from Thompson. On the night Thompson, Johnson and Samuels had the points for Stanford. Lexi Bando would hit a three to push the Ducks lead back to 5 as the Lexi’s were the scoring duo for the Ducks netting _ points between them as the final quarter wound down.

Head Coach Kelly Graves gave the ref an earful following a questionable non-call against Liz Brenner who appeared to be fouled with just over 4 minutes left in the game. Stanford had the ball and was down by one, 61-60.

The final minutes would see several shots on both ends of the floor miss as Oregon held a one point lead. Oregon would go over three minutes without scoring. Following a shot clock violation, the Ducks would get the ball with just under two minutes left but would turn the ball back over to Stanford. Jillian Alleyne would try for two points before she was fouled. She missed the first, and made the second giving Oregon their first point in over four minutes and pushing their lead to 2 points, 62-60.

Stanford would tie the game with 34 seconds left and Thompson would miss the foul shot giving Oregon likely the final shot of the game. Stanford would steal and take the lead 64-62 with 2.4 seconds left.

Kat Cooper had a look, but Stanford would prevail 64-62.

Next: Oregon Men Dominate On The Road vs Utah

Lexi Bando and Lexi Petersen led Oregon in scoring with 15 and 17 points respectively. Jillian Alleyne led the team in rebounding with 14, but scored only 5 points for the game. The Ducks will look for the Pac-12 Conference breakthrough against Cal on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2pm Pacific Time.