Author Archives | Aaron Alter

Preview: Oregon women’s basketball looks to clinch Pac-12 title in Arizona series

After a pair of thrilling overtime wins against USC and UCLA, Oregon women’s basketball is headed down to the desert to conclude the regular season against the Arizona schools. The Ducks (25-4, 14-2 Pac-12) are in the driver’s seat for a potential Pac-12 title — a pair of wins would seal the deal.

While the Ducks have talked all season long about taking the season one game at a time, this weekend is a little different. With the team’s first chance for a conference title since the 1999-2000 season, there’s a tangible goal in sight for the young team.

“I think our kids realize what’s right in front of us,” head coach Kelly Graves said on Wednesday. “We’re going to be really focused and ready for that game.”

The 2017-18 season has not been kind to the Wildcats since they last faced the Ducks. Currently 11th in the Pac at 2-14, the Wildcats have won just two games since the teams last met. Since then, Arizona has struggled in just about every phase of the game.

The team is managing just 58.9 points-per-game on 37 percent percent shooting from the field, and averaging just over six fewer assists than their opponents.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the Wildcats, however. Senior guard JaLea Bennett is averaging 14.3 points and four rebounds per-game, while sophomore Lucia Alonso is shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc. Even so, they match up poorly to Oregon’s 83.8 PPG.

Despite the mismatch on paper, the Wildcats will be playing for pride on their home court, and the Ducks would do well to not overlook them.

While their brethren in the Grand Canyon State have struggled, the Sun Devils have had a reasonably solid season.

They sit at 5th place with a 10-6 record in the Pac-12, along with wins over then No. 23 Cal and No. 24 Stanford. They’ve also been excellent on their home court, with 12 wins to just one loss.

The Sun Devils are a strong team defensively, coming in at +7.0 in rebounds and +3.3 in turnovers on the season. While they only average 69 points per game, they’ve held their opponents to an just 57 points per game on aggregate.

At the forefront of the ASU effort is junior Kianna Ibis. She’s currently averaging 13.2 PPG, but it’s her consistency that makes her so dominant: Ibis shoots 47 percent from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range.

The Sun Devils have impressive depth as well, with eight players shooting the ball at a 40 percent clip. The Ducks hold the statistical edge, but ASU’s defense and home atmosphere will make for a tough matchup.

One more thing to watch closely for the Ducks will be guard Maite Cazorla’s status. After leaving Monday’s game with leg cramps before returning in overtime, Cazorla said Wednesday that she was feeling good.

Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon baseball’s pitching struggles in 9-3 loss to UNLV

After a stellar showing from the Oregon Ducks’ pitching staff in the season opener against LMU, the team was unable to replicate that success in an 9-3 defeat at the hands of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels in the second round of the Marucci Classic on Saturday.

Ducks starting pitcher Cole Stringer struggled, allowing four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. Cullen Kafka suffered a similarly rough day, giving up four runs in just two innings pitched.

Despite the end result, the Ducks got off to a decent start.

UNLV got on the board in the first inning on an RBI single from Kyle Isbel to give them a 1-0 lead. The Ducks struck back in the third inning however, when Evan Williams sent Kenyon Yovan home on an RBI single of his own.

Oregon was able to add another pair of runs, with some help from their opponents. On a single from Kyle Kasser, a throwing error from the rebels allowed Ray Soderman to score. Jonny Deluca followed that up with a sacrifice fly that sent Evan Williams across the plate to give the Ducks a 3-1 lead.

The Rebels broke the game open in the fifth inning with a RBI double from Jack-Thomas Wold. Stringer went on to give up an RBI single and a sacrifice fly that put the Ducks down 4-3 before being replaced by Kafka. The reliever managed to strike out the side.

Oregon’s bats went quiet for the rest of the game and the team didn’t score again. The Rebels didn’t ease up. Kafka gave up four more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, before he was pulled for Peyton Fuller. He proceeded to allow another run on a wild pitch before the night was through.

The Ducks will look to bounce back on Sunday when they face Indiana State at 11:05 a.m.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon women’s basketball hang on to beat USC 80-74 in double-overtime nail-biter

Fans who came to Oregon women’s basketball’s Friday night clash with USC in hopes of seeing a conventional, by-the-numbers game likely walked away disappointed.

For those looking for thrilling basketball, the Ducks’ gritty, thrilling 80-74 win in double-overtime delivered in spades.

The win comes at a critical moment for the No. 9 Ducks (24-4, 13-2 Pac-12), as it keeps them locked in a three-way tie for first place in the conference with No. 7 UCLA and No. 14 Stanford.

“I thought it was a heck of a game,” Ducks head coach Kelly Graves said. “We weren’t at our best tonight, but give USC credit man, they played hard.”

The Ducks started off strong in the first quarter. After allowing the Trojans to jump out to a 4-0 lead off of a pair of turnovers, Ruthy Hebard took matters into her own hands with a pair of baskets.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that it was Hebard who got things going — coming into the game, the sophomore had made her last 18 field goals. Clearly, the five days between games weren’t enough to throw Hebard off her streak.

By the end of the night, she had set a new NCAA record with 30 consecutive baskets. Impressively, Hebard’s 27 points came while going up against Kristen Simon, an imposing presence in the paint in her own right. Despite some chippy moments, Hebard stayed cool.

“It was definitely pretty physical,” Hebard said. “I’m really blessed that I have really good teammates that come up to me and pick me up. My mom was in the crowd, and I know she’d be mad if I got in a fight, so I just don’t do that.”

After entering the second quarter with a 21-12 lead, the wheels looked like they had fallen off the Ducks by the end of the half. The team scored just five points on 15 percent shooting from the field. USC was able to fight back, and the Ducks went into halftime tied at 26.

As they’ve done so many times this year, the Ducks came out of the break hot. The team put up a solid 19 points on 57 percent shooting, but struggled to stop the Trojans on defense.

Part of that fell on the Ducks’ 24 turnovers, which USC was able to convert into 31 points. While Graves wasn’t pleased with his team’s struggle to hold on to the ball, he noted that overall, the Ducks tend to not turn the ball over as much as tonight.

The fourth quarter went back and forth, with the teams knotted up at 62 with 12 seconds left to play. Sabrina Ionescu held the ball for a potential game-winner, only to miss her jumper.

The first overtime period stayed neck-and-neck, but the Ducks had the chance to win it with a final shot once more. This time, Maite Cazorla was unable to convert her layup attempt.

After USC scored the first basket of the second overtime, Lexi Bando answered with a deep 3-pointer. She wasn’t done, though.

Holding just a one-point lead with 46 seconds to play, Bando heaved up a long 3 as the shot clock expired. The ball kicked off the rim and struck the top of the backboard before falling through the hoop to put the Ducks up 78-74. USC failed to score again, and the Ducks emerged the victors.

Oregon will look to claim Pac-12 supremacy when it faces No. 7 UCLA in Eugene on Monday.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Top-10 matchup for No. 9 Oregon in store as LA schools come to town

Coming off a road sweep of the Washington schools, Oregon women’s basketball is back in Eugene for a two-game homestand against USC and UCLA. When the Ducks faced both teams in Los Angeles earlier this season, they edged both out in a pair of close games.

With Pac-12 play quickly approaching its end, the stakes are set for weekend that could potentially affect NCAA Tournament seeding.

First up, the Ducks will clash with the Trojans on Friday night. When the teams first met in January, Oregon held on to win 70-66 on the back of double-digit performances from Sabrina Ionescu, Maite Cazorla, Ruthy Hebard and Lexi Bando. Since then, the Ducks have gone 9-2, while the Trojans have gone 7-4.

In contrast to the Ducks’ young lineup, three of USC’s four top scorers are upperclassmen. The senior duo of Kristen Simon and Sadie Edwards are averaging 17.5 and 13.6 points per game, respectively. Junior Aliyah Mazyck joins them with 16.3 PPG as well. All three are shooting better than 40 percent from the field on the season. Additionally, Mazyck and Edwards both shoot around 30 percent from 3-point range.

The Trojans are also fairly strong on the boards. Simon, Mazyck and Jordan Adams average at least five rebounds per game. However, the team averages just over 13 assists per contest — a far cry from Oregon’s 19.7.

On Friday, watch for USC to try and exploit Oregon’s youth. As a team, they don’t give the ball away too much and force nearly 10 steals and 20 points off of turnovers. An experienced Trojan squad out for revenge could give the sometimes turnover-prone Ducks fits.

When the Ducks pulled off their road defeat of UCLA, the highlight of the night was Lexi Bando’s dagger of a 3-pointer near the end of regulation. At the time, the Ducks were ranked No. 9 while UCLA sat at No. 14.

Now, UCLA is ranked two spots above Oregon at No. 7, though the two teams are tied for first in the Pac-12 with Stanford.

Bando is back from an injury that saw her miss extended time. The Bruins are also riding a hot streak, having won their last 10 games.

While the Ducks played well with double-digit efforts from Cazorla, Ionescu and Hebard, the Bruins clearly struggled. While they’ve shot 42 percent from the field on the season, UCLA shot a mere 30 percent in that matchup. The Ducks also out-played the Bruins on the boards.

Bando, one of the nation’s most accurate 3-point shooters, is a big part of that. While she scored just nine points in the first matchup, her dominance from downtown forces opponents to spread themselves thin around the court. In turn, Hebard and the rest of the Ducks are able to exploit the holes she opens up and dominate the paint.

While Bando returned from injury in the Ducks’ victory over Washington State last weekend, she played just 12 minutes. While she made a trio of 3-pointers in that short time, her relative absence (she played 27 minutes in the first matchup) gives the Bruins one less variable to plan for.

With leadership of the Pac-12 on the line, it’s anyone’s game.

Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Hebard carries Oregon women’s basketball in 76-63 victory over Washington

In the second half of Oregon’s loss to Stanford last weekend, Ruthy Hebard was held scoreless.

On Friday night in Seattle she erupted for 30 points and 14 rebounds, boosting her team to a dominant 76-63 thumping of the Washington Huskies. The victory keeps the No. 9 Ducks (11-2 Pac-12) in a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-12 with No. 8 UCLA and No. 17 Stanford.

While Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu (10 points) were the only Ducks to score in double figures, the team delivered an accurate shooting performance. By the end of the night, the Ducks shot nearly 52 percent from the field.

The first half saw the teams trading body blows. The Ducks would pull ahead, but the Huskies kept scoring just enough to keep things close. Going into halftime, the Oregon held a 33-27 lead.

In contrast to their brutal second half against Stanford, the Ducks delivered a strong performance out of the break. It was Hebard who led the charge with a monster 14-point effort, giving her team a 60-42 lead heading into the final period of play.

Oregon only scored five points in the final seven minutes of play.

The Ducks will look to complete a sweep of the Washington schools when they face Washington State on Sunday.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Ducks win season-opener over Concordia Wisconsin

The Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team kicked its season off with a win over Concordia University (Wisconsin) in Mequon, WI on Monday, winning 267.89-225.305. The team has now won its opening meet eight consecutive times.

Oregon took the compulsory round, beating Concordia (Wisconsin) 38.5-32.1.

In the acro event, the Ducks won again, outscoring their opponents 29.50-22.45, which included a 9.90 score in the 5-element event. Oregon’s 29.50 score is tied for fifth on the team’s all-time acro event score list. That round brought the score to 68.00-54.55.

For event three, the pyramid, they edged Concordia (Wisconsin) 29.10-27.95. The Ducks entered halftime with 97.10-82.50 lead.

Oregon came out of the intermission strong in the toss event, winning with a 28.45-23.35 effort.

The Ducks continued their run in the tumbling event, soaring past Concordia by nearly seven points to set up a 177.00-150.725 lead for the team event.

The Ducks won the team event 90.89-74.58 to secure the 267.89-225.305 meet win.

The Ducks will return to Eugene to face the Hawaii Pacific Sharks on Friday at 7 p.m.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Turnovers clip Ducks’ wings in loss to Stanford

On Oregon’s second-to-last possession on Sunday, Ruthy Hebard turned the ball over to Stanford’s Marta Sniezek. The Cardinal would score on the ensuing play.

It was a fitting conclusion to a game in which the Ducks struggled mightily with ball control, turning the rock over 16 times. In contrast, Stanford committed just six turnovers while scoring 21 points off of the Ducks’ mistakes.

Oregon’s head coach Kelly Graves said he felt the team showed its youth on Sunday. The oldest player to take the court for the Ducks was junior Oti Gildon. Stanford on the other hand fielded a more veteran-heavy roster that included senior Brittany McPhee, who scored 33 points while turning the ball over just once.

After his team’s win over California on Friday, Graves noted that Stanford was not a team at risk of beating themselves. If the Ducks wanted to win, Graves said, they would have to play their best basketball. It was a sentiment he repeated on Sunday.

“It’s not like they pressure you,” Graves said. “We just made some poor decisions.”

For the first half, the turnover margin didn’t seem to be causing huge problems for the Ducks. While the team was still minus-4 in that area, it still entered halftime with a nine-point lead. That was in large part due to 50 percent shooting from the field and 23 rebounds.

When the Ducks’ shooting dipped to a meager 29 percent in the third quarter, the turnovers became magnified. Stanford was firing on all cylinders right as the Ducks were coming apart.

“I thought in the second half we were on our heels,” Graves said. “We weren’t aggressive like we were in the first half. We just didn’t have the same energy or fire.”

While Sabrina Ionescu led the Ducks in scoring and assists, she also had the less dubious honor of a team-leading seven turnovers. It was her third game this season with that number. Graves said that the missteps came as a result of the sophomore star’s attempts to “do too much” on certain plays.

Interestingly, the Ducks’ 16 giveaways aren’t significantly worse than the team’s season average of 13.1. However, three of the team’s four losses this year have come on nights where they gave away the ball at least 15 times.

The Ducks also average 17.1 points off of opposing turnovers — a category that was completely neutralized by Stanford on Sunday. Conversely, the Ducks hold opponents to an average of 12 points off turnovers. Once again, the Cardinal dominated the Ducks in that aspect.

The Ducks will look to bounce back on Friday when they face the Washington Huskies in Seattle. Notably, the Huskies average 18 points off turnovers while forcing 3.9 more per game from their opponents. With just three weeks left in regular season play, the matchup will be a good gauge of whether or not the Ducks can corral their ball handling.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Ducks rout California in 91-54 win

For one quarter, the Friday night clash between the No. 6 Oregon Ducks and No. 25 California Golden Bears looked like what you’d expect of a conference matchup of ranked teams. It was an ugly, defensive period of play, and neither team seemed able to gain an edge.

By the time the game clock hit triple zeroes, the score bore no resemblance to that close game. The Ducks utterly dominated the Golden Bears, cruising to a crushing 91-54 victory.

“I’m really pleased. I thought we played a great game tonight on both ends of the floor,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “I loved our energy, focus, our intensity really for 40 minutes.”

The win keeps the Ducks atop the Pac-12, and extends the team’s home winning streak to 13 games.

Once again, Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard showcased the play that’s made them one of the best duos in college basketball. Both posted double-doubles — Ionescu finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Hebard ended the night with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Australian freshman Anneli Maley also delivered one of her best performances coming off the bench to date, tying her career-high of nine points on a trio of 3-pointers.

“I just try to go in and do my part,” Maley said. “I’m surrounded by good people, and it’s hard not to thrive in an environment where everyone is so supportive.”

While the team got off to a slow start, they erupted in the second quarter. Ionescu kicked things off with a deep 3-pointer, which marked the beginning of a 30-15 quarter for the Ducks.

The quarter’s highlight moment came with just over three minutes left on the clock. Ionescu drove under the basket before delivering a behind-the-back layup while getting fouled. Almost as if in sync with the star’s first pump, the crowd of 3,670 went crazy.

“Playing two top-25 teams is fun, especially when you get to play at home,” Ionescu said. “The crowd was awesome.”

By the end of the half, the Ducks led 46-29. When the team’s returned to begin the third quarter, the Ducks kept the pressure on with a 26-point effort.

In the span of less than a minute, Ionescu and Maley both buried 3-pointers to extend an 11-0 Oregon run.

The Ducks added another 19 points in the fourth quarter to seal the game. While the team has sometimes let opponents creep back into games, Graves said it felt good to see the Ducks deliver a final score that reflected the team’s domination.

While impressive, the Ducks’ scoring only tells half the story. The team was lights-out on the boards, out-rebounding the Golden Bears 40-28. Equally critical to their performance was the team’s defense. The Ducks stifled Cal and prevented them from ever finding an offensive rhythm.

“I think we’ve noticed that if we can play very good defense for 40 minutes, we’re gonna be hard to beat,” Ionescu said. “We have to continue to stay focused for 40 minutes.”

The Ducks will face No. 24 Stanford on Sunday in a clash for Pac-12 supremacy.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Ducks soar in 75-63 win over Oregon State to snap Civil War losing streak

After a tough overtime loss to the Oregon State Beavers on Friday, Oregon women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves didn’t mince words. He wanted to beat the Beavers.

On Sunday night, in front of a crowd of 7,249 at Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks granted their coach’s wish with a dominating, physical 75-63 win over the Beavers.

As the clock ticked down to triple zeroes, the crowd erupted as it celebrated the Ducks’ first win over the Beavers since 2011.

The win snaps No. 18 Oregon State’s 14-game Civil War winning streak, and brings the No. 7 Ducks (18-3, 7-1) their first victory over the Beavers in Graves’ tenure.

The Ducks’ win came on the backs of double-figure performances from their starters and rock-solid defense. Satou Sabally (21 points), Mallory McGwire (14 points), Sabrina Ionescu (15 points) and Maite Cazorla (16 points) all had standout nights in the win.

“That was a well played game,” Graves said. “I think that first 20 minutes is as good a defense that’s been in this arena since I’ve been here.”

The game got off to an ugly start offensively for both the Ducks and the Beavers, but defensively, the Ducks started strong, forcing a pair of shot clock violations along with a five-second violation on an Oregon State inbound.

McGwire provided the only spark in the quarter for the Ducks, delivering four points and three rebounds. With the Ducks trailing 3-0 early, she swatted a layup attempt from Marie Gülich, preventing the Beavers from pulling away.

The second quarter was a different story entirely. The Ducks erupted for 28 points, while holding the Beavers to just 11. In the span one minute the Ducks went on an 8-0 run. Sabally drained a pair of deep 3-pointers and McGwire pulled up to hit a mid-range jumper, while Oregon State seemed to have no answer.

Sabally wasn’t done.

With under five minutes to play in the quarter, she made an errant pass that looked like it would be a turnover. After several deflections the ball found its way to Anneli Maley, who kicked it out to Sabally, who had run to the corner of the arc. The ball swished through the net, and the freshman had her third 3-pointer of the quarter.

“After the game on Friday, I was a little upset,” Sabally said. “[Oregon State] also recruited me very highly, so it meant more to me to beat them to show I made the right decision.”

While the Beavers started to close the gap in the third and fourth quarters, the Ducks held them at arm’s length. A big part of that was the team’s shutdown of star Oregon State center Gulich, who Graves calls one of the best post players in the conference.

“It’s nice to kind of shut their crowd up,” Ionescu said. “We’re coming every game we play them now. We’re excited to get back to playing next week.”

Next up for the Ducks is a road clash with Colorado on Janu. 26 on a road trip to the mountain schools.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oti Gildon: More than just a role player

When Oti Gildon came to the University of Oregon to play basketball in 2015, she was the highest-rated player to ever commit to the Ducks’ women’s basketball team. ESPN rated her as a five-star player, and the No. 37 recruit in the entire country.

She was a star in high school at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, Washington, where she averaged 15.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, while leading her team to its first state title.

Now in her junior season, Gildon supports the Ducks in a different way. She’s not a regular starter, nor does she average anything close to a double-double. Instead, Gildon is a role player for the Ducks who comes off the bench at any instance, ready and able to get the job done.

She considers one of her strengths to be adaptability. In a role Ruthy Hebard has dominated for the Ducks in her first two seasons in Eugene, Gildon has found herself on the bench. But, when Gildon is needed, the drop off in quality isn’t big.

“It’s been good to come off the bench, be a little bit of an energy boost to the team when we have a down moment,” Gildon said. “I like playing my role defensively — just getting rebounds as best I can.”

It wasn’t until this year that Gildon made her first start in a college game. Going up against Hampton in November, Hebard was out with a foot injury. It was Gildon’s time to step into the spotlight.

“I was a little nervous ’cause I haven’t started in a college game yet,” Gildon said after the game. “I stepped up to the plate and played pretty well.”

Gildon finished with a double-double on a team-leading 20 points and 12 rebounds, which are career highs. Head coach Kelly Graves called Gildon the Ducks’ “Draymond Green” after the performance.

“She’s a heck of a player,” Graves said. “Tonight we really needed her, and she stepped up. This is not out of the ordinary.”
While it may have been her first start, it wasn’t the first time she’d come up clutch for the Ducks.

Coming off the bench in the team’s early November road clash with now No. 16 Texas A&M, Gildon racked up 12 points and nine rebounds en-route to an 83-68 win. When the Ducks stunned No. 3-seeded Maryland in last year’s Sweet 16, she was in the thick of it with 11 points in addition to nine rebounds.

Gildon is also one of the team’s few upperclasswomen — in her words, “a grandma.” Mentoring the team’s more youthful roster is one of her favorite parts of her role.

“It’s good to just show the younger kids how to be calm on the court, be that presence for them with nerves and all that good stuff.”

And the central piece that ties everything together for Gildon? Her head coach’s vision.

“He’s been saying that he’s gonna make this program one of the best,” Gildon said. “I trust his process and just roll with whatever he says.”

Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @aaronalter95

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