The best winter story in Oregon Sports...

...Is a plucky bunch of girls from around the world who came to Eugene to play basketball. They came from Luxembourg, Australia, Kosovo, Desoto, Texas, Flint, Michigan, Seattle Washington and Portland, Oregon to form a true TEAM, a group that plays with spirit and heart and determination.

Saturday night they won their third game in a row in the Big Ten, coming from six points down in the fourth quarter to beat No. 16 Maryland 68-61 in College Park with an 11-0 run late in the period. The win brings them to 17-7, 5-6 in the Big Ten comeback road victories over No. 21 USC and now the Terrapins, in sight of a spot in the NCAA Tournament where their joyous unrelenting effort just might write an exceptional story.

Last night it was the Luxembourger who provided the star power, Forward Ehis Etute, 6-0 from Dudelange, a town in 22,043 near the border with France. The sophomore scorched the nets with 10-15 shooting for a career-high 26 points while pulling down 11 rebounds with three assists, three steals and a block.

She made four layups in the fourth quarter rally, then kicked the ball out to Sofia Bell, the 6-0 guard from Jesuit High School in Portland, who swished a three-pointer from 24 feet to give Oregon their first lead since the middle of the third quarter at 55-54.

Then Bell hit another one from 23 feet, then another from 23, again off an assist by Etute. In the decisive fourth six of the last seven Oregon baskets were all assisted, three by Etute, one each by the Texan Amina Muhammad, Bell, Ari Long from Moreno Valley, California, Avary Cain, the sophomore transfer from UCLA and Santa Magarita, California.

For the game Bell hit 4-6 from three-point range, including the three big ones in the fourth.

They win together and they celebrate together, and that's what makes them such an inspiring sports story. All through the season the effort has been superb, turning around their season, snapping back from four close losses earlier in the month to win three in a row over Penn State, Rutgers and the Terps, the last two on a cross-country road trip.