Melgoza Scores Career-High 31 But Washington Falls 94-83 at No. 10 Oregon

Sunday, December 31

Eugene, OR

1:00 PM

University of Washington

6-7, 0-2Pac-12

Oregon

13-2, 2-0Pac-12

Washington

Oregon

Melgoza Scores Career-High 31 But Washington Falls 94-83 at No. 10 Oregon

December 31, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. --- Amber Melgoza scored a career-high 31 points including 23 in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough as Washington was unable to pull off the upset, falling 94-83 at No. 10 Oregon on Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Huskies fall to 6-7 on the season, suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this year and falling to 0-2 in Pac-12 games. The Ducks improve to 13-2 overall and are now 2-0 in conference play.

Melgoza continued her hot play as of late, scoring at least 18 points in each of the last five games for a 23.8 points per game average. She hit that average just in the fourth quarter, scoring 23 of UW's 28 fourth-quarter points. Melgoza hit 11-of-18 from the field in the game including 8-of-11 in the fourth. She also added eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Hannah Johnson and Jenna Moser each added 12 points for the Huskies.

Washington played an impressive game outside of the first quarter. Oregon jumped out to a quick 27-7 lead in the game and led through much of the first half. But the Huskies battled back and closed the deficit to 10 points at halftime with a nice run. However, Washington could get no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Sabrina Ionescu led the way for Oregon, recording her NCAA record eighth triple-double with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Ruthy Hebard added 23 points and 11 assists while Lexi Bando added 20 points.

Oregon broke open a close game with a 14-2 run over a five-minute stretch in the first quarter to take a 27-7 lead in the first quarter. The Ducks went 10-of-15 from the field in the opening 10 minutes while the Huskies connected on just 4-of-15.

But Washington clamped down on defense from that point on and made a close game out of what looked to be a blowout early. The teams went back and forth through the first part of the second half, but the Ducks went cold from the field, missing six-straight field goals over a four-minute stretch while the Huskies hit five-straight. However, the Ducks were able to get five of their eight offensive rebounds in the quarter over that stretch and maintained the lead.

Washington made a run late in the quarter again as Johnson hit an and-one, then added a pair of free throws, capping a 7-0 Husky run to again pull within 10 at 65-55. But Oregon closed the half on a 5-0 run to go up 15 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, Melgoza took over, keying a 9-3 run to open the fourth and cut the Oregon lead to single digits at 64-73 with 6:18 left. But the Huskies weren't able to slow the Ducks offense as Oregon was able to slowly build the lead back to 16 before Washington scored the final five points of the game to account for the final 11-point margin.

The Huskies had one of its best shooting halves of the year in the second, hitting 60 percent (18-of-30) including an impressive 10-of-16 in the fourth quarter. Washington held down the Ducks to just 41.9 percent shooting, but allowed 14 offensive rebounds in the second half which led to 20 second-chance points.

Washington returns home on Friday, Jan. 5, hosting Utah in a Pac-12 game at 6:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.