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Oregon women's basketball delivers strong showing, but falls short against North Carolina

Jarrid Denneyby:Jarrid Denney•11/24/22•

jarrid_denney

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(Photo by Donald Page/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The No. 19 Oregon Ducks delivered one of the better performances in recent program history.

But they ultimately fell just short against a talented North Carolina squad.

The Ducks (4-1) lost, 85-79, to the No. 8 Tar Hells (5-0) in their opener at the PK85 Invitational at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.

Te-Hina Paopao led the Ducks with 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting and Grace VanSlooten had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jennah Isai added 15 points.

Oregon shot 33-of-65 from the field and VanSlooten was incredibly efficient, shooting 8-for-13 on the day.

Eva Hodgson led North Carolina with 21 points and Alyssa Ustby had 19 points and eight rebounds.

The Ducks held a slim lead with less than six minutes to go and were going toe-to-toe with the 4-0 Tar Heels. But Hodgson buried a three-pointer with 5:12 to go to give UNC a 71-69 advantage that they never surrendered.

Oregon hung tough and was within one possession with 1:40 to go after an Endyia Rogers jumper cut the North Carolina lead to 78-75.

The Ducks forced a stop at the other end and had a chance to tie the game on their ensuing possession.

But a Paopao turned the ball over next time down the floor, and then missed a three-pointer on Oregon’s ensuing possession and the Ducks were unable to capitalize.

A pair of free throws from Hodgson pushed the gap to 80-75 with 28 seconds to go.

Then an offensive foul from Rogers at the other end sealed Oregon’s fate.

Oregon will look to bounce back on Sunday when it faces either Iowa State or Michigan State on Sunday. The Cyclones and Spartans are scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. PT Thursday.

The Ducks will face the winner of that game at 10 a.m. PT at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

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