Junior guard Shaquala Williams drives past Western
Oregon’s Trisha Schwenk (35) for two of her game-high 23 points Thursday. The Ducks won their last exhibition game 75-55.
Good things happen to those who don’t stand around.
After a lackluster performance in the first exhibition game last week, the Ducks’ defense stole the show Thursday night. Western Oregon committed 34 turnovers and the Oregon women’s basketball team had 22 steals in a 75-55 victory in front of 3,706 fans at McArthur Court.
Offensively, the Ducks have now scored 75 and 83 points in their first two games, with junior guard Shaquala Williams leading the way with a combined 45 points. The real story of Thursday’s game, though, was Oregon’s pressure defense, which was virtually non-existent in the first exhibition game last Friday.
“In the big picture, as a coaching staff, we were much more pleased by our effort tonight,” head coach Bev Smith said. “It was not always pretty and we still had some mental lapses … but the defensive pressure that we were looking to apply was there.”
The backcourt tandem of Edniesha Curry and Williams combined for eight steals and 38 points Thursday, while holding the Wolves to 43 percent shooting.
Curry, a senior transfer from Cal State-Northridge, said she was a
little nervous in the first exhibtion game, where scored only seven points and committed four turnovers.
“I was hesitating on everything,” Curry said. “I was just standing around and watching.”
But against Western Oregon, Curry let loose against point guard Becky Gregory — who committed a game-high six turnovers — and showed her tenacious defensive style.
“From a personal standpoint, it helps the team tremendously when I’m pressuring the ball,” Curry said with a grin. “I love to play defense. I love to frustrate the point guard. You’ll see this smile on my face the rest of the year if I can do that.”
Said Williams of her backcourt partner: “She makes my life so much easier. Everyone knows defense is not my forté.”
And everyone knows Oregon’s forté this season is not in the paint, where the Ducks were out-rebounded by Western Oregon 33-27.
“We certainly need to establish a presence in the post,” Smith said. “We need a balanced attack to be competitive.”
Senior post Alyssa Fredrick, after scoring 16 points in the exhibition opener last week, was 0-for-1 from the floor and finished the game with three points (all on free throws). In all, Oregon’s five post players scored a combined 18 points against the Wolves Thursday.
“We’re a young team and I thought they got better tonight,” Curry said. “I think we’ll have
a great team come the start of
Pac-10s.”
The Ducks now have a little more than a week to prepare for their first regular-season game against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Nov. 17.
“I wish we had one more exhibition game,” Williams said. “I think we still have one more step to take before we’re in regular-season shape.”
If Thursday night’s progress was any indication of how much a week’s practice can do, Oregon should be just fine come next
Saturday.
Adam Jude is the sports editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].