Ruthy Hebard thought she'd cost the Ducks the game. Then Mallory McGwire thought she had.
And if they'd cost the Ducks that game, in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, what else might have been lost?
When the Ducks open this year's tournament against Seattle U in Matthew Knight Arena on Friday (4:30 p.m., ESPN2), it will be two days shy of one year since they beat Temple in 2017's first round. It took a last-second block by Hebard to save that one-point victory, which set the stage for Oregon's run to the Elite Eight last spring, and its preseason top-10 ranking last fall, and the Pac-12 regular-season title this winter, and the conference tournament title and … well, everything that's come since.