By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay
The Oregon Ducks held UTSA scoreless for the last four minutes on Sunday and came away with a 61-48 victory in women’s college basketball over the UTSA Roadrunners.
With the game played at Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore., the Ducks outscored the Roadrunners 8-0 down the stretch, improving to 8-3 on the season.
The Roadrunners shot a season-low 26 percent from the field and lost for the second straight game, both against Power 5 competition. With the setback, they fell to 5-5 going into another road game set for Tuesday afternoon at Seattle.
Guard Chance Gray led the Ducks with 14 points. Priscilla Williams had 13 and Grace VanSlooten 10. The threesome offset the Roadrunners on the boards, which they dominated, 57-36.
For the UTSA, freshman guard Aysia Proctor from San Antonio-area Clemens High School notched a double double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. UTSA hit only 20 of 77 shots from the field.
A momentum-turning sequence for Oregon came when the Ducks, leading by six points early in the fourth quarter, turned it over on consecutive possessions.
The Roadrunners came up empty on both chances, once on a missed three by Siena Guttadauro and the other on a Proctor turnover.
Oregon’s Sofia Bell responded by knocking down a three-point bucket, boosting the Ducks into a 51-42 lead with 7:16 remaining.
Undeterred, the Roadrunners kept attacking, scoring four straight points.
Sidney Love did the honors with a follow-up off an offensive rebound and two free throws, pulling UTSA to within 51-46. From there, the teams traded baskets, with Idara Udo hitting a shot shot with four minutes left to make it 53-48.
Records
UTSA 5-5
Oregon 8-3
Coming up
UTSA at Seattle, Tuesday, 2 p.m.
Third quarter
Six-foot-eight Phillipina Kyei converted on a three-point play with eight seconds left, boosting Oregon into a 45-37 lead.
UTSA’s Aysia Proctor scored six and grabbed four rebounds in the quarter to keep the Roadrunners in the game.
At one point, she was knocked down while making a shot and had to be helped off. Sidney Love entered to shoot the free throw for her. Later, Proctor returned and hit a bucket with 55 seconds left.
First half
Utilizing superior size, the Ducks limited the Roadrunners to eight points for the first 13 minutes of the game and then held off a surge to lead 26-20 at halftime.
Priscillia Williams scored six points and Grace VanSlooten had five in the half for Oregon.
Meanwhile, freshman Aysia Proctor came off the bench to produce 12 points and five rebounds as the Roadrunners stayed in contention.
Proctor sparked a 12-5 run down the stretch at the end of the second period.
In the first half, UTSA outrebounded Oregon 30-19 but failed to generate much on the offensive end, shooting 21.6 percent from the field.