Cal came out with the effort, but both teams lost the turnover battle as the Golden Bears capitalized with the win 55-49 over Oregon.
The Oregon Ducks and Cal Golden Bears took to the court at Matthew Knight Arena. Cal was playing to be noticed for a shot at playing in the NCAA Tournament, while Oregon was looking to add to their body of work. To start the game, Cal played like a team on a mission.
The Golden Bears started the game hitting over 60 percent from the field and pushed their lead to 13-4 before Oregon took their first timeout, but Oregon clawed their way back after a rough start that saw a 2+ minute scoring drought. Cal started the game 3 for 4 from beyond the arc.
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Sabrina Ionescu and Lexi Bando dropped back to back three pointers pulling Oregon within 3, 16-13 with two minutes left in the first quarter. Kelly Graves would see his team down just three points entering the second quarter after a rough start. Both teams had 4 turnovers and that would be worth watching the rest of the way.
Oregon and Cal continued to trade baskets in the 2nd Quarter, but the Bears were held to single digit scoring in the ten minute period. Cal added 7 turnovers in the Quarter, Oregon didn’t do much better with five. Scoring was at a premium with both teams scoring six points each. Cal went into the break with a 23-20 lead. Cal was scoreless in the final 6 minutes of the first half.
The second half saw the Oregon Ducks pick up the pace and cut the lead to a point after two big plays by Sabrina Ionescu and Maite Cazorla. It continued to be a back and forth battle. Oregon cut the lead to two points and had the best opportunity with just under 7 minutes left in the 4th Quarter for a breakthrough. A few missed shots and a rough foul on Ruthy Hebard saw Oregon down 44-42 at the 6:05 mark. The Golden Bears came down the stretch with 19 points in the third quarter to just two in the fourth to that point.
Hebard tied the game with 5:22 remaining. After that it was all downhill for Oregon. The Ducks went cold finishing the game 0 for 7 and not hitting a basket in the final three and a half minutes losing to Cal 55-49. The Ducks shot 37 percent for the game and 25 percent from beyond the arc.
Next: Oregon Baseball: Ducks Offense Breaks Through In Win Over UC Irvine
Oregon finishes the regular season at home on Sunday hosting Stanford at 1pm Pacific Time.