Sabrina Ionescu delivered a passionate message to her former team at halftime and the Ducks followed with a thrilling finish to take down the Trojans.
Ehis Etute had a career-high 17 points with 13 rebounds, Ari Long made three consecutive 3-pointers in the final minutes and Oregon rallied from a 17-point deficit to knock off No. 21 Southern California Jan. 6 in a Big Ten Conference women’s basketball game at Galen Center in Los Angeles.
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The final was 71-66, with the Ducks (14-3, 2-2 Big Ten) scoring the last 14 points of the game. During that run, Long made her three 3s, including one that tied the score at 66-66, and then the go-ahead 3 with 31 seconds left to put Oregon up 69-66.
Ionescu, the WNBA star with the New York Liberty, and her husband, former Oregon and NFL player Hroniss Grasu, watched the game from courtside. Ionescu went to the locker room during halftime when the Ducks were trailing 37-21.
“We were a little intimidated,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said during his postgame radio appearance on KUGN-AM. “She talked about that, talked about just playing stronger. … The message was right on point. And they listened.”Katie Fiso added 14 points — including 12 in the second half — eight rebounds and six assists. Mia Jacobs scored 11 points with three 3-pointers, and Long finished with 11 points as well.
“There’s too many heroes to point out,” Graves said. “I thought Katie was more like herself in that second half. But she didn’t get down on herself at halftime. She came back out with a new commitment to just do better. And how about the threes from Ari Long? Holy criminy. And then Ehis was spectacular tonight.”
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Jazzy Davidson, USC’s star freshman from Clackamas High, had 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting. She also had 13 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.
Oregon’s Ari Long celebrates with Duck fans after a home win against Army earlier this season. Long made three 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the Jan. 7 comeback win at USC.
What’s next for the Oregon women’s basketball team?
The Ducks will host No. 15 Michigan State (14-1, 3-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday in Matthew Knight Arena. The Spartans have won six straight but have a game against No. 23 Washington at 6 p.m. Thursday in Seattle.
Michigan State is led by former Oregon standout forward Grace VanSlooten, who is averaging 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women rally to beat No. 21 USC. How it happened.
