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QuickTake:
On their third game in as many nights, the Ducks didn’t have the energy to match the third-seeded Wolverines in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament’s quarterfinals.
There’s no sugarcoating it: The Michigan Wolverines whooped up on the Oregon Ducks Friday night.
They beat the Ducks in the paint. They beat the Ducks with their press. And with two byes to open the tournament, they beat them with a roster that simply had more in the tank than an Oregon team playing its third game in as many days.
This wasn’t Michigan’s four-point double-overtime win over the Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena in December. This was an 80-58 pulverizing that sent the three-seeded Wolverines into the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinals and the 11th-seeded Ducks back home to Eugene.
Oregon will have a week to sit around until Selection Sunday. Their NCAA Tournament hopes remain strong. But on Friday, they were reminded of the challenge that awaits once they get there.
“We’ll have to take away from this that we’re a good team, but we just have to be locked in for four quarters,” said center Ehis Etute, who scored 16 points for the Ducks with 11 rebounds. “We can’t just play for 10 minutes and then quit, and when things don’t go our way, quit. We’ve just got to keep fighting for 40 minutes.”
To be clear: Oregon wasn’t supposed to win on Friday. The Wolverines are the No. 8 team in the country. They never trailed against the Ducks. They never lost a quarter.
“They’ve got a legitimate Final Four kind of team. And I’ve been there. I know what it takes,” Graves said. “They’ve got depth. They’ve got size. They’ve got the ability to score in different ways from different levels. And they’re tremendous defensively.”
They were also well rested, which is maybe why Graves seemed optimistic after the loss. Friday was Michigan’s first game of the tournament. The Ducks had enough to keep things close in the first half, but the game got away from them in a third quarter that saw five UO turnovers, a three-minute scoring drought, a 7-0 Michigan run and a 14-point Oregon deficit going into the fourth quarter.
“I think we just ran out of gas,” Graves said. “Three games in three days — not making that an excuse, but that’s real though. And we just didn’t have as much gas left in the tank.”
For a young roster, though, Graves saw the week as the Ducks’ drinking big-game experience from a fire hose.
Etute, a sophomore, had double-doubles in all three of Oregon’s games this week. With a game-high 22 points on Friday, sophomore Katie Fiso finished the tournament averaging 18.6 points.
The Ducks needed more from their supporting cast Friday night — Etute and Fiso combined for 38 of Oregon’s 58 points — but Graves knows that comes in waves. If this week proved anything, it’s that the Ducks have two foundational pieces for their roster. And Graves knows they’re only getting better.
“I don’t think many people figured we were going to come in here and win a couple,” Graves said. “I think anytime you win in the postseason that kind of experience goes with you into the next tournament — the next year. I really think they’re just scratching the surface.”