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QuickTake:
On a night when Oregon’s stars started cold, a career-best performance from a role player propelled the Ducks into the quarterfinals.
A textbook win for the Oregon Ducks likely wouldn’t involve stars Katie Fiso and Ehis Etute combining for two points in the first half.
But this is March, and tournament play is anything but by the book. As UO coach Kelly Graves said Wednesday night, the team that wins this thing will have to survive a five-game gauntlet.
And in those five games, role players will have to step up.
For the Oregon Ducks, it was Avary Cain who started and finished things in their 73-68 upset of Maryland to advance to the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.
Cain scored a career-high 13 points, including 10 in the first half to keep Oregon afloat and a dagger three at the end after Fiso and Etute had gotten into gear, to secure the Oregon win.
“Honestly, at halftime, when our two leading scorers have a combined two points, just to be down one point at that time, I felt pretty good about our chances,” Graves said. “And then those two came out in the second half and played like we know they can, and Avary — it wasn’t just that last shot. It was several plays and several shots earlier in the game.”
That last shot was quite the moment, though.
By then, Oregon had erased its one-point halftime deficit and turned it into a lead — largely thanks to the emergence of its two stars. Fiso scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter and finished the game with 14. Etute, who struggled early with being swarmed in the paint, took her game outside of the key and put up 18 of her 20 points in the second half.
She also had 10 rebounds and three blocks — including a chase-down swat of Oluchi Okananwa with 2:24 to play that turned into a Sofia Bell three on the other end to put Oregon up 69-64.
Maryland had pulled back to within two points a minute later when Fiso ran down the shot clock in the half court, drove and dished a pass out to Cain, whose three iced the game with five seconds left.
It was Cain’s first time scoring double digits since December, and her 24 minutes were her most of the season.
“The feeling hasn’t kicked in yet but I’m sure it will later,” Cain said. “I think that’s just a testament to (Katie) and her hard work and how good she is with the ball and how many eyes are on her when it gets to that.”
Cain wasn’t the only Duck who was ready, though. Mia Jacobs scored eight first-half points for the Ducks. Bell hit a pair of threes. Six different Ducks tallied steals.
In particular, Graves pointed to the Terrapins’ 1-of-15 shooting from three.
“We were doing it with defense,” Graves said. “And if you’ve watched our team this year, you would know this is kind of how all of our games go. Up and down. It’s a roller coaster. We have huge deficits. But you know, oftentimes we find a way to win.”
Friday awaits Oregon’s toughest challenge yet. With the win, Oregon advances to face three-seed Michigan – the No. 8 team in the country who Oregon took to double overtime before the Ducks lost in December. The Wolverines are rested after earning byes through the first two rounds of the tournament, and Friday will be another late start. The game is scheduled to tip off at 9 p.m. locally in Indianapolis.
Those are starting to wear on the 63-year-old Graves. He’ll live with it, though, if Oregon keeps getting these results.
“It was a heck of a game,” Graves said of Thursday’s win. “This late-night feel is getting tough for a senior citizen like me… I’m just happy for these guys and glad to be moving on.”
