LAIE, Haw. — In their first action this season away from the home comforts of Matthew Knight Arena, the No. 21 Oregon Ducks looked much more like last season's version of themselves than the team that was undefeated to start the year. Oregon struggled to find consistency on the offensive end of the floor while the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets dominated them inside en route to a 74-58 defeat for the Ducks' first loss of the season.
Oregon (6-1) got out to a slow start in the first quarter, falling behind 18-11 as Georgia Tech's spread-out offense opened up the paint for easy layups and offensive rebounds. The Yellow Jacket's starting center Ariadna Termis — a career 39.5 percent three-point shooter — knocked down her first look from outside, which pulled newly reinstated Oregon starter Phillipina Kyei out of the paint for the Ducks. With Kyei preoccupied on the perimeter, it opened up the paint, where Georgia Tech took advantage by outscoring the Ducks 14-4 in the first.
"Defensively, we just got bullied," head coach Kelly Graves said of his team's lackluster performance. "That was the main thing."
The first quarter nine-point deficit was the Ducks' largest deficit of the season, and it only got worse.
Oregon was able to fight its way back in the second period as the Yellow Jackets (6-0) went cold from the floor. Georgia Tech shot just 4-of-16 in the second quarter while missing all three of their looks from beyond the arc. The Ducks responded by finally hitting their first three since Sofia Bell's at the 7:35 mark in the first quarter when Kyei swung a nice pass out of the post to Nani Falatea in the corner to knock down the triple. Peyton Scott followed with a layup and a tough jumper on the move to give Oregon its first lead of the game with just over two minutes remaining in the half, although the Yellow Jackets would regain it to lead 29-27 at the break.
After a scoreless first half, Kyei finally scored her first points of the game on her signature lefty hook shot, tying the game at 29 to begin the second half. Both teams battled to a near draw in the third as Deja Kelly came up big for the Ducks with a team-leading eight points in the quarter, including a near three-point play that appeared to give the Ducks momentum at the end of the period.
That momentum wouldn't last as things quickly got out of hand in the fourth quarter. The Ducks entered the final 10 minutes trailing by just three but saw that deficit quickly balloon to 13 just two minutes in thanks to a 10-0 run by the Yellow Jackets to begin the fourth. Termis led the way for Georgia Tech to close out Oregon, hitting two more threes in the final quarter to put the Ducks away.
"I thought we were the kind of team that can wear teams down and play well in the fourth quarter," Graves said. "But that's not been the case. We've been outscored the entire year. Part of it is — I wouldn't say we quit, but we got to a point where nothing was really working."
The Yellow Jackets continued to hammer Oregon on the offensive glass in the fourth, bringing their margin to plus-15 on the night which they turned into 25 second-chance points, by far the most the Ducks have allowed in a game this season.
"It started and it ended with the offensive rebounds," Graves said. "To give up 23 offensive rebounds, you can't get out and run and do the things you want to do if they continue to get shot after shot after shot. They were just more physical than we were."
The one positive to come out of Monday's fourth quarter was the play of freshman Ehis Etute. She made her Oregon debut after missing the beginning of the season representing Luxembourg in the EuroBasket qualifiers. She scored her first two career points from the free throw line late in the first half before adding six more on 2-for-2 shooting with two more free throws in the fourth, bringing her debut totals to eight points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.
"I thought we did some good things with those young kids," Graves said. "Ehis came in and did a really nice job today, I thought Katie Fiso was good. We just didn't have enough."
The Ducks will continue their run in the Hawai'i North Shore Showcase at 4 PM on Tuesday against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (3-2), who lost to Georgia Tech 71-57 on Saturday.
"We drew the short straw," Graves said. "We've gotta turn right around and play. South Dakota State's had two days off and... it's weird the way it worked out."
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