Oregon women’s basketball suffered their second double-overtime loss of the season against the Wisconsin Badgers yesterday in Madison, 94-92.
Mia Jacobs and Katie Fiso pulled out of whatever shooting slump was afflicting them against Iowa, and even though the Ducks were down by five at the half they seemed reasonably in control of the game.
The difference in the game was the three-point shooting of Wisconsin’s Destiny Howell. She was on a hot streak, knocking
down 4-7 from distance in the first half.
Surely she would cool off, right? Right??
Oregon came out strong in the third quarter, ending the third with a 52-47 lead. But in the fourth quarter, the Badgers were defensively very aggressive, and there was a couple of times where the officials appeared happy to let Wisconsin get away with it while calling at least one mystery foul against Oregon.
Be that as it may, that’s not really what killed Oregon this game. What killed the Ducks was Destiny Howell. She was on a hot streak all game with the long ball, making 10 of Wisconsin’s 17 buckets from distance. She was pivotal in getting the game tied in regulation, and hit the game winner in the second overtime.
Howell may have unexpectedly had a career day, but the Ducks did not help their own cause. The defense of Howell was nonexistent as she drained uncontested three after three.
Like a couple of games in the past two weeks, Oregon had the game in hand but could not execute and dropped a perfectly winnable game. This game is going to haunt them for awhile, and it should – the Ducks had every opportunity to take the road win, and instead gave it away.
The end-of-game stats for both sides were very even. Oregon made 10 3-point shots to 17 for Wisconsin, and that’s your game.
Mia Jacobs led Oregon shooters with 30 points, and Katie Fiso knocked down 26 points. Ehis Etute had her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Ducks come back to Eugene this week for a Wednesday contest against Minnesota and a Saturday matinee game against Penn State. If Oregon is to have any postseason aspirations, they absolutely must win these games.
