EUGENE, Oregon—Strong efforts from Mikayla Ferenz and Geraldine McCorkell gave the Vandal women's basketball team a shot to upset Oregon on its home court on Tuesday. Idaho trailed by as many as 18 points in the contest, fighting back have a last-second chance to send the game to overtime.

Idaho (4-6) was not able to get a shot to drop in the end, falling to the Ducks 73-70 at Knight Arena. Ferenz and McCorkell led all players with 23 points apiece.

Idaho closed the game's final 6:06 with a 17-4 run. The Vandals started the final 10 minutes trailing by 16 points, 60-44. The Ducks gained their largest lead of the game, 65-47, early in the quarter. Senior Karlee Wilson hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead down to 15 with 7:57 to play. A pair of Brooke Reilly free throws started Idaho's final push. An Agueda Trujillo layup cut the Ducks' lead to six, 69-63, with 3:42 to play.

Oregon (10-2) got a quick spurt from Maite Cazorla and Oti Gildon to build its lead back to 10, 73-63, with 2:10 to play. A McCorkell trey followed by a Reilly jumper slimed the deficit to five, 73-68, with 1:14 on the clock. Ferenz made it a one possession game at 73-70 with 53 seconds to go.

"It never comes down to the last shot," head coach Jon Newlee commented. "We had a great look. They executed the play we called. What a great comeback. I told the team in the locker room, 'we could have quit.' It is the game before Christmas, we could have packed it in. I thought we did all the things right, that earlier in the year cost us games like this."

The Vandals trailed 43-34 after the two quarters of play. Oregon used a 7-2 run to close the half. The Ducks shot 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half and outscored Idaho 21-0 from the bench.

The Vandals got a bulk its early scoring from Ferenz and McCorkell. The duo totaled 27 of Idaho's 34 first-half points. The pair carried Idaho's offense in the third quarter. They scored five points each in third, accounting for all of Idaho's offense in the third. 

Ferenz and McCorkell got reinforcements in the fourth. Reilly came on and scored six points in the quarter to lead the Vandals. The Silver and Gold shot 45 percent from the field in the quarter and 33.3 percent from behind the arc. 

"I thought our lineup in the fourth did great," Newlee said. "I could tell Mikayla was gassed at the end of the third. She needed a rest, having to fight through all the screens she did. Both Mikayla and Geri were exhausted so we had to go to the bench. I thought they came in and played tough defensively and got things going."

The Vandals scored 15 points off 16 Oregon turnovers, while limiting the Ducks to just eight points off nine turnovers. Oregon, one of the tallest teams in the NCAA, outrebounded Idaho 41-31. The Vandals did a good job limiting the damage done on the boards, holding the Ducks to just 10 second chance points.

Lexi Bando led the Ducks with 17 points. Ruthy Hebard was held in check by the Vandal defense. She totaled six points and was held to 2-for-10 from the field.

Idaho is back home next Tuesday, Dec. 27 to close the non-conference season. The Vandals host Lewis-Clark State in Memorial Gym. 

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com.  Fans can also follow Idaho women's basketball on Twitter, @VandalsWBB.