Eugene, OR – The Oregon women’s basketball team won their 23rd straight game dating back to last season with an easy 85-43 win over a Utah team playing their first game of the season. The Utes were held back from playing their previously scheduled games due to COVID-19 protocols. 6-2 senior Erin Boley and 5-9 freshman point guard Te-Hina Paopao led the Ducks (4-0) with 17 points. Niyah Becker, a 6-2 junior from Canada, led Utah with 11 points.
Oregon put this game away early with Boley scoring 13 of their first 18 points, connecting on two three-pointers. The Ducks led 20-4 after the first quarter and by 45-20 at halftime. Then then scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take a 33-point lead. The lead eventually reached 53 points. The Ducks used their bench throughout the game especially in the fourth quarter. The starters only played a combined 103 of the total 200 possible minutes. Sedona Prince, Oregon’s 6-7 center missed the game with a sprained ankle with her status for next week’s game against Oregon State in question.
Paopao is quickly emerging as a budding star and the centerpiece of Oregon’s top-rated recruiting class. She has taken to the starting point guard role and shows a varied offensive game with good distribution and leadership skills. In this game she took advantage of offensive opportunities for herself both from mid and long range. Although she only hit 25% of her 3s all her shots were good ones. She connected on 7-of-11 shots overall. Paopao added four assists and two rebounds while committing only two turnovers over 24 minutes.
Boley, who came into the game as Oregon’s leading scorer (16.7 ppg) continued her solid play with her strong start. She wound up shooting 7-of-11 from the field with 2-of-3 from long distance. She added five rebounds and three assists.
Jaz Shelley, Sydney Parrish and Angela Dugalic benefited from more court time than usual. Shelley, a 5-9 sophomore from Australia, broke out of an early season shooting slump and scored 11 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 22 minutes. Parrish, a 6-2 freshman, added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with four rebounds in 17 minutes while the 6-4 freshman Dugalic scored nine points, including a three-pointer, to go along with a game-high nine rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
Oregon shot 56% for the game compared to 29% for Utah. The Utes only connected on 4-of-26 of their three-point attempts. Oregon dominated the glass with a 46-34 margin and had a 40-28 edge in points in the paint. Their bench scored 37 points. According to Head Coach Kelly Graves two areas the team can work on are to reduce their turnovers (16 today) and offensive rebounding (-3 difference today).
Oregon will get their toughest competition of the young season next Sunday when they head up to Corvallis to face Oregon State, currently rated No. 17 in the nation.
This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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