The lone suspense in Thursday’s exhibition game might have been the Ducks’ trivia question – who claims to have beaten Tajuan Porter in two out of three games of horse?
Even then, a giggling Taylor Lilley gave away the answer as she tried covering her mouth with her hand.
What was clear in the Oregon women’s basketball 92-45 win against Western Oregon at McArthur Court was the vast potential of the Ducks’ new post players and the inexperience that comes along with being underclassmen.
“It was just nice to get out onto the floor … and let the fans see our new kids,” guard Kaela Chapdelaine said. “They did well.”
Freshman Ellyce Ironmonger showcased her array of low post moves and an efficient mid-range game with 21 points on 9 of 11 shooting. Nicole Canepa, a fellow first year post, had nine points and nine rebounds. Ellie Manou rounded out the trio with a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds.
“I was so nervous it wasn’t funny,” Ironmonger said. “I didn’t think I would actually score. I’ve been working on finishing (a lot) so it was good to actually see a result from it.”
Micaela Cocks, who is expected to provide more scoring this season, had 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting, including four three-pointers. Point guard Tamika Nurse’s efficient stat line included 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
“I think we have a long ways to go,” coach Bev Smith said. “Generally, even without looking at the statistics, my impressions were we have an understanding of how we want to play offensively and defensively.”
Smith singled out Western Oregon’s 14 offensive rebounds.
“That’s just something that we absolutely can’t allow,” she said. “We could could have some excuses for that just in a little smaller (Western Oregon) team for our big girls but we just got tired in the second half and didn’t really execute our rebounding the way we we needed to because you can see once we do get some boards we can run and we can get the ball down the floor.”
In one example, Lilley grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled the length of the court and layed it in.
Oregon next plays Sunday in a 1 p.m. exhibition game against Love & Basketball at McArthur Court.
[email protected]
Ducks roll over Western Oregon for season’s first win
Daily Emerald
November 1, 2007
0
More to Discover