WBB: Beavers Take Down Ducks In Thrilling Civil War Classic

After dropping game one in Eugene, the Beavers bounced back for Round 2 of the Civil War, taking down the #2 Ducks 67-62. It’s the Ducks first loss in the Pac-12, and their first loss since December 9th against Michigan State. They had been on a 17 game win streak until the Beavers took them down. The Beavers are now 21-5 overall, and 11-3 in the conference.

The Ducks won thee tip off, and Sabrina Ionescu scored the first points shortly afterward. The momentum seemed to be with Oregon early, but Aleah Goodman started to get things turned around with a pair of three point jumpers that gave the Beavers the lead. Goodman added a third three later in the quarter, and Mikayla Pivec hit one as well, giving the Beavers a 5 point lead after the first.

The Beaver lead grew to as high as 11 in the second, with Destiny Slocum going on a scoring tear, but the Ducks weren’t about to quit. Erin Boley and Maite Cazorla cut the Beavers margin to just six at halftime, 33-27.

The Beavers held on to that lead for most of the third quarter, but some bad turnovers and clutch shots from Ionescu and Satou Sabally finally erased the Beavers advantage. Aleah Goodman hit a three, and followed that with a pair of foul shots to get the Beavers a five point lead back, but Erin Boley countered with a three of her own to cut OSU’s margin to just two headed into the final quarter.

A Sabrina Ionescu layup a minute into the fourth tied things up, and a couple minute later she gave the Ducks their first lead since the first quarter. The fourth was a defensive battle, with Ionescu’s four points being the only scoring for the first five minutes.

With four and a half minutes to go, Mikayla Pivec hit a layup to give the Beavers their first points in the fourth and tie things back up. Destiny Slocum hit a layup with 2:30 to go to give the Beavers the lead back, and 30 seconds later hit a big three to get that lead up to 5.

The Ducks weren’t done, and Oregon’s Taylor Chavez answered with a three. Joana Grymek hit a layup to keep things a two score game with forty seconds to go. Oregon got things down to two, but time was running out. With 14 seconds left in the game, the Ducks were forced to foul to try to extend things. At 7 seconds to go, the Beavers were up by four, but Aleah Goodman fouled Ionescu on a three point attempt, and Ionescu made all her foul shots. It was a one point game.

The Ducks fouled Destiny Slocum to get possession back, and Slocum made both her shots. On the Ducks finaly possession, down three, Ionescu turned the ball over, Taya Corosdale made her foul shots, and the Beavers won 67-62.

The Beavers three point shooting returned in a big way tonight, and Aleah Goodman was the most dangerous player on the court. She hit 4 of her 10 three point attempts, and finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Destiny Slocum turned in another stellar performance, with 20 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. She played a key role in setting up Goodman for open threes at several points in the game.

Mikayla Pivec finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Joana Grymek wasn’t quite as effectively offensively as she has been of late, but she was one of the most important parts of the Beavers’ defense tonight. She had 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The Beavers will next host the southern California schools. They’ll take on USC on Friday, February 22nd and UCLA on Sunday, February 24th. Check back with Building the Dam for previews.