{"id":131071,"date":"2026-03-22T03:02:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T06:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/901028922"},"modified":"2026-03-22T03:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T06:02:27","slug":"fiso-oregon-use-big-3rd-quarter-to-open-march-madness-with-70-60-win-over-virginia-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/22\/fiso-oregon-use-big-3rd-quarter-to-open-march-madness-with-70-60-win-over-virginia-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiso, Oregon use big 3rd quarter to open March Madness with 70-60 win over Virginia Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 <\/span>Katie Fiso scored 22 points and Oregon used a dominant third quarter to pull away from Virginia Tech for a 70-60 win Friday to open the women’s NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

Ehis Etute added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 8-seed Ducks (23-12) who took control of the game with an 18-0 run in the third and advance to the second round of the tournament for the second consecutive season. They earned a matchup with No. 1 Texas (32-3) on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s some maturity. We can hold on to a lead and build on it. Defensively we were on point,\u201d Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “We didn\u2019t turn them over a ton, but we had some at the right time. Any time you have a run on anybody, it\u2019s the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mia Jacobs added 13 points for Oregon. Carys Baker scored 21 to lead the No. 9-seed Hokies (23-10), who shot under 30 percent over the first three quarters.<\/p>\n

Fiso and Oregon started the game by making nine of their first 11 shots and led 22-11 by the end of the first quarter. The Hokies went more than six minutes without a field goal, and leading scorer Carleigh Wenzel went to the bench with two early fouls.<\/p>\n

Wenzel stayed out the entire second quarter, but Virginia Tech rallied to within 32-29 before Oregon closed the half with a 3-pointer by Jacobs.<\/p>\n

Etute scored seven points in the Ducks’ big run in the third and Fiso hit a step-back 3-pointer when she was left open at the top of the arc. Oregon stretched the lead as high as 22 in the quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe missed easy shots, easy put-back layups that we always make. We got a little (rattled) in the beginning,\u201d Virginia Tech\u2019s Mackenzie Nelson said. \u201cWe calmed down a little bit, but they made another run and we weren\u2019t able to fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wenzel, who averaged 15.3 points, finished with nine on 2-of-12 shooting for the Hokies. Virginia Tech, a Final Four program as recently as 2023, had missed the tournament last year in coach Megan Duffy\u2019s first season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game was a microcosm of our season where we had those dips, those highs, those low moments,” Duffy said.<\/p>\n

Jacobs takes one on the chin<\/h2>\n

Jacobs made consecutive layups in the third quarter that put the Ducks ahead by 20. Seconds later, she was lying on the floor face down after a dive for a loose ball. The senior wears a large brace on her left leg and appeared motionless as team trainers talked to her.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t her knee. It was her face. She was eventually able to walk off and went to the bench for a brief time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to dive on the ball and I kind of got squished, almost landed on my chin, pretty much. So that kind of caught the floor on my head,” Jacobs said. \u201cNot knowing if it was going to be my last game, I kind of wanted to push through a little harder, but I\u2019m a tough cookie, so it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Too little, too late<\/h2>\n

Virginia Tech made nine 3-pointers and Baker was 5-of-8 from long range. But all of hers came in the final six minutes when the Hokies were already down by 21.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/h2>\n

The Ducks plays Texas, which beat No. 16 Missouri State 87-45 on Friday. The Longhorns have won 43 in a row on their home court.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… second quarter, but Virginia Tech<\/span> rallied to within 32- … (rattled) in the beginning,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Virginia Tech<\/span>\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Mackenzie Nelson said. \u00e2\u0080\u009cWe … shooting for the Hokies. Virginia Tech<\/span>, a Final Four program as … little, too late Virginia Tech<\/span> made nine 3-pointers and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}