#18 Orange Take #3 Oregon to the Wire

Saturday, November 10

Eugene, OR

5 pm

Syracuse University

Oregon

Syracuse

Oregon

11/10/2018 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. - Up six on No. 3 Oregon with under two minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, the No. 18 Syracuse women's basketball team was on the verge of pulling off an early-season upset.

The Ducks, however, closed the game on a 14-6 run, snatching victory from the jaws of the defeat to win 75-73 against Syracuse Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.

"We had some defensive lapses [down the stretch], and that's something we'll build from," head coach Quentin Hillsman said. "[Oregon] made some big shots. They were contested shots, we were flying at them. That's what good players and good teams do. They make shots. They stepped up late and made some plays."

After Oregon jumped out to a 20-10 first-quarter lead, Syracuse trailed by as much as 15 midway through the second quarter. A Syracuse timeout followed by a late-quarter 11-3 run closed the Orange's deficit to 34-27 entering halftime.

Syracuse showed renewed energy at the start of the second half. The Orange shot 53.3 percent from the field in the third quarter to shrink Oregon's lead to four points by the end of the period.

Syracuse's push continued into the fourth quarter. The Orange turned up the defensive intensity and found their stroke from three-point territory, as redshirt senior Miranda Drummond and junior Gabrielle Cooper heated up from outside. Drummond's three tied the game at 57-57 with 5:46 remaining before Cooper's three-ball put the Orange up 62-61 with 3:28 left to play.

After a layup by junior Tiana Mangakahia gave Syracuse a 64-61 lead, Cooper hit another three to extend the lead to six with two minutes left in regulation.

It was all Oregon from there on out, however. The Ducks closed the game on a 14-6 run, led by Sabrina Ionescu's seven points and Maite Cazorla's game-sealing free throws, to secure a 75-73 victory.

"We were trying to get stops," Hillsman said. "They made some tough shots. We've got to get better at closing games, but our kids really played hard. They competed, and we had a chance to win the game. There's no moral victories in this. At the end of the day, we lost the game.

"We knew we were talented, but we also knew we were very young. We made some young mistakes down the stretch. Those are things we've got to guard against. You've got to give Oregon a lot of credit. They closed the game, and that's what good teams do."

Mangakahia finished with a team-high 15 points and team-leading eight assists. Cooper and sophomore Amaya Finklea-Guity also scored in the double-digits, both recording 11 points.

The Orange return to the east coast to host No. 20 Texas A&M at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y. Tickets are on sale now.