Oregon beats Cal on last-second three-pointer

The Bears left the door open in the closing minutes of a competitive game with Oregon on Sunday afternoon, and Sabrina Ionescu’s buzzer-beating three-pointer allowed the Ducks to escape with a 69-66 victory at Haas Pavilion.

Kristine Anigwe’s putback gave Cal a 60-59 lead with two minutes to play, but the Bears missed 4 of 10 free-throw attempts in the final 1½ minutes to give Oregon a chance.

Cal was ahead 66-61 before Maite Cazorla made a three-pointer, stole the inbound pass while Cal head coach Lindsay Gottlieb was desperately calling for a timeout and hit a layup to tie it with 11 seconds left.

After Cal point guard Asha Thomas missed two free-throw tries with four seconds remaining, Ionescu raced the length of the court and hit the game-winner.

The Cal sophomore had 20 points to become the quickest player to reach 1,000 career points in the program’s history.

Mikayla Cowling added 16 points and four assists for Cal, and Penina Davidson had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Lexi Bando led the way for Oregon with 17 points on 5-for-8 three-point shooting, Ruthy Hebard added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Ionescu, a Walnut Creek native who went to Miramonte High and was The Chronicle’s two-time Metro Player of the Year, had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists in just her second game back from a broken thumb on her shooting hand.

The Ducks promptly went on a 7-1 run and had the game tied until Cowling nailed a buzzer-beater to send Cal into the locker room with a 32-30 lead.