Oregon women's basketball suffers loss in Big Ten opener against a familiar opponent

The Oregon Ducks women's basketball team has surprised people this season. With a win over then-No. 12 Baylor, people were impressed by a Duck team that had struggled over the previous few seasons.

However, as Oregon opened Big Ten play against a familiar foe – the No. 6 USC Trojans – the Ducks couldn't keep pace with the high-power squad from SoCal.

Led by star point guard and sophomore phenom JuJu Watkins, the Trojans outscored the Ducks by 11 points in the first half and grew the gap by another bucket in the second. At the end of the four quarters, USC flew home with a 66-53 win over Oregon.

Watkins wasn't alone in her double-digit scoring (21 points). She was joined by teammates Kiki Iriafen (17) and Talia von Oelhoffen (11) as well as Oregon's Deja Kelly (16), Peyton Scott (11), and Ari Long (10).

Oregon didn't have a terrible game per se. Sure, a 13-point loss doesn't look great on a resume but Kelly and Scott shot over 54 percent from the field, and center Phillipina Kyei had the third-most rebounds in the game (7).

Not to mention, the Ducks forced 22 turnovers by the Trojans while only giving up 16 of their own. However, Oregon's 17 personal fouls sent USC to the line for 16 free throws, which they made 11 of, while Oregon only made 6 of 8 free throw attempts.

Irianfen and Rayah Marshall also combined for a jaw-dropping 21 rebounds – the Trojans had a resounding 45 total rebounds by the end of the game. USC was able to create second, third, and fourth chance shots throughout the matchup and Oregon couldn't slow them down. It's hard to stop people when you give them that many chances after all.

Oregon has nearly two weeks off before its next matchup when the Ducks host Air Force on Dec. 17 at Matthew Knight Arena.

Read more: