The Oregon Ducks were coming off an impressive comeback victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions as they visited the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes to continue Big Ten play. Head coach Kelly Graves had spoken highly of his team after its win over Penn State and sounded optimistic about the Ducks' odds agains their top-ten opponent.
Despite a dominant performance in the first quarter, after which Oregon held an 11-8 lead, the Buckeyes came storming back in the second quarter and built a 17-point lead as the two teams headed to their locker rooms at halftime.
Oregon put together a 38-point second-half performance, outscoring the Buckeyes by 8 points in the final two quarters, but fell just short of the comeback win over Ohio State. At the end of regulation, the Ducks had suffered a 60-69 defeat at the hand of the Buckeyes.
Final. pic.twitter.com/Sus4AAdGuS
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) January 12, 2025
Star transfer players Deja Kelly and Amina Muhammad led the Ducks in scoring with 21 combined points. Senior center Phillipina Kyei was close to yet another double-double with 8 points and 8 rebounds against Ohio State.
Former Oregon guard Chance Gray, who transferred to the Buckeyes' program ahead of the 2024-25 season, contributed 6 points, 2 assists, and 1 rebound against her former teammates. Ohio State was led in scoring by a dominant Taylor Thierry who found her shot for 20 points alongside Ajae Petty and Jaloni Cambridge who had 13 points each.
With the loss, Oregon fell to 3-3 in conference play and 12-5 overall. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes continued their undefeated start to the season, improving to 16-0 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten matchups.
The Ducks will return home for three games at Matthew Knight Arena – vs. Purdue on Jan. 15, vs. No. 23 Iowa on Jan. 19, and vs. Indiana on Jan. 24.