EUGENE, Ore. – Illinois found itself in uncharted waters on Wednesday night.
After beating Washington over the weekend, it was time to conclude the West Coast road trip, this time facing off against the Oregon Ducks.
However, the Illini found themselves down 21 points at halftime to the Ducks. Shauna Green, though, rerouted the course in the locker room at half, with the orange and blue going on a 21-0 run in the third quarter to completely erase the Ducks’ lead. The second-half push would not be enough,
though, as the Illini would fall to the Ducks 76-73 in Eugene.
The Ducks (18-7) came out red-hot, behind their second leading scorer, Mia Jacobs, who knocked down three early shots to put Oregon on top.
The Illini (16-7), who have relied on star freshman Cearah Parchment all year, would have to find new heights early. As a blocking foul, on a Parchment drive into the lane in the middle of the second quarter, would be her second of the game.
The Ducks, after the hot start, didn’t seem to let up for one second the rest of the first half, and it looked as if the Illini had let the long road trip catch up to them.
Through the first three minutes of the third quarter, it still looked like Oregon was going to take care of business. That was until Maddie Webber and Berry Wallace happened. With Webber locked in man-to-man defense, she swung the rock across the line to hit Wallace perfectly in the hands for a catch-and-shoot corner three.
From there, the Illini would go on a 21-0 run, perfectly erasing the former 21-point lead that the Ducks had. The run completely demoralized Oregon who would not record a made field goal for over eight minutes. .
Midway through the fourth quarter, it was time for a team to separate, and at the time, it looked as if it was going to be the orange and blue.
With the Illini up one, Destiny Jackson weaved her way into the lane and jumped high into the Oregon air. With Jackson standing at only 5-foot-6, she somehow did a complete 360 and found a wide-open Jasmine Brown-Hagger for three. The Brown-Hagger three moved the Illini to their biggest lead of the game.
Illinois then doubled that lead to make it an eight-point ball game with just four minutes to play. The Ducks, who had absolutely no momentum at the time, looked as if they might falter under the extreme pressure. However, Jacobs and Katie Fiso weren’t going to let that happen just yet.
Jacobs hit a clutch three to move the Ducks into the lead with under two minutes remaining. Then, with the weight of the entire crowd at the Matthew Knight Arena, Etute stepped into play.
Following a Wallace basket to put the Illini back in the lead, Fiso scored on a nifty inbound play with just eight seconds on the clock.
Fiso would then ice the game, with two free throws with just a second to play in regulation.
Moments that Mattered
This impressive move by Etute would be part of a 22-8 run by the Ducks.
Maddie Webber started off the fourth quarter hot.
The Ducks needed this fourth quarter Sofia Bell three-pointer to fall to stay in it.
Stat Stuffers
- Mia Jacobs (OR)- 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
- Ehis Etute (OR)- 20 points, 9 rebounds
- Berry Wallace (ILL)- 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
- Destiny Jackson (ILL)- 13 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists
What’s Next?
It stings right now, but the Illini have to look at this road trip as a success. They took down a ranked Washington team and almost knocked off a soon-to-be-ranked Oregon squad.
The orange and blue will have a couple of days to recoup until their next game on Sunday against USC.
The game against the Trojans might be the loudest of the year for Green’s squad at the State Farm Center. For the better part of the last month, the university and Green have been advertising to fill the arena for the game on Sunday, and I think the Champaign faithful are going to do just that.
The Illini will take on USC at 12 p.m. on Sunday in front of thousands of die-hard Illinois fans.
