Thanks to an early 22-0 run and one of the best defensive efforts of the season, the Oregon women’s basketball team (16-15) cruised to an 90-63 win over the Pacific Tigers (18-13) in the first round of the WNIT.
The Ducks looked sluggish at the start, trailing 6-3 while making just one of their first seven shots. Oregon head coach Paul Westhead then brought in leading-scorer Chrishae Rowe off the bench, and her energy appeared to turn the entire game around. She made a jumper moments after she checked in and knocked down two free throws the following Oregon possession to tie the game. Her scoring sparked a 22-0 run that essentially put the game out of reach (the smallest Oregon lead the rest of the game was 10 points).
“I think both teams were trying to figure it out,” Westhead said, referring to each team’s motivation going in. “Chrishae Rowe came in and said, ‘I’ll figure it out for you.’”
While players like Rowe (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Ariel Thomas (tied with Katelyn Loper for a game-high 20 points) were huge on offense, Oregon defense shined the brightest Thursday night. Pacific’s 63 points is the second-lowest Oregon has allowed this season, trailing only the 61 it gave up to Cal State Northridge on Dec. 29. The Tigers’ 27.6 field goal percentage on Thursday is the lowest Oregon has given up all season.
Oregon head coach Paul Westhead said he had no idea where the defensive effort came from and he wouldn’t take credit for it.
“But we scored 90 points,” Westhead said, “so I’ll take some credit for that.”
Westhead added that he and his coaching staff knew Pacific liked to drive to the hoop, so they used a zone most of the game to try to neutralize them.
Thomas said her team’s heart was one of the biggest reasons it stifled Pacific’s offense, and Alleyne said Oregon’s practices since its early exit from the Pac-12 tournament have probably been “the most competitive practices I’ve been in this whole year.”
Pacific guard Kiki Moore, who came into the game averaging 16.5 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting, was cold all game. She made five of her 23 shots (21.7 percent), one of her nine attempted threes and 2-of-8 free throws.
“Our coaches did a really good job on (Moore’s) scouting report,” Oregon forward Jillian Alleyne said. “They pretty much told us everything she did and we counteracted.”
Hailie Eackles and Madison Parrish shot even worse, going 3-of-15 (20 percent) and 0-of-10, respectively.
The Ducks also recorded more rebounds (65) than Pacific did points. The rebound total was the third-highest in a game for the Ducks this season.
Alleyne recorded a game-high 18 rebounds en route to her 28th double-double of the season (she 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting). Westhead said Alleyne’s performance was just “OK.”.
“Jillian OK is better than most,” Westhead said.
Katelyn Loper had a rough start for the Ducks, missing her first 10 three-pointers with just as many struggles from other spots on the floor. But she caught fire midway through the second half, hitting three straight threes to turn a fairly close game (50-38) into a rout.
“Finally she made some shots,” Thomas said. “K-Lope is a great shooter, I think she sometimes just gets in her head. It was good to her knock some shots down for herself because we already know that’s K-Lope.”
Kendall Kenyon was one of the few bright spots for Pacific, leading her team with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
Westhead said the team’s goal before the season was 16 wins. The Ducks might have reached that mark, but that accomplishment comes with a caveat.
“The Navy Seals always say, pick your goal and then put ‘plus-one,’” Westhead said. “It’s 16 wins, plus one, so we’re not quite there.”
The Ducks will face the winner of Friday’s Washington-Hawaii game. The date and location for Oregon’s next game won’t be decided until after the Huskies and Rainbow Wahine finish their game. Oregon will play sometime between Saturday and Tuesday, likely at Matthew Knight Arena.
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415