PORTLAND – The education continues for the freshmen of the Oregon women’s basketball team.
In many ways, the lessons the Ducks have learned are starting to sink in. Oregon cut down on turnovers, kept UC-Santa Barbara off the offensive boards and consistently went to the free-throw line Saturday in the Ducks’ 65-56 win Saturday in the Papé Jam against the Gauchos at the Rose Garden.
Ellyce Ironmonger gave Oregon a second consecutive game with dependable scoring in the low post. She had 17 points against UCSB and 18 in Oregon ‘s last game, again making up for the funk of leading scorer Nicole Canepa.
“I think she’s just finding her groove within our offense, understanding where she needs to score, how she needs to score and one thing you haven’t seen yet is that Ellyce is a very good outside shooter as well but she’s done such a good job offensively in the low block we’ve kept her there,” coach Bev Smith said.
Canepa played just 20 minutes Saturday, partly because of the play of Ironmonger and Ellie Manou, said Smith. Manou came off the bench for 14 points and five rebounds. Canepa stayed out of foul trouble, but put up three shots – making two – and scored four points, off her average of 9.9 points going into the game.
“She is someone who (teams) are really looking to not let get the ball, so she’s denied a lot and so I think she’s really forcing things and pushing things and trying to stretch things right now when I just need her to go back to the basics and we will get that done in the next couple weeks as we get ready for conference,” Smith said.
Oregon trailed 35-30 on a Jessica Wilson lay-up, and kicked off a 21-5 Ducks run that left them with a 51-40 lead. The stretch featured points by Manou and gave Oregon firm control of the game’s outcome.
Guard Taylor Lilley, one week after scoring 19 points in the Ducks’ last game, provided an offensive burst in the second half with nine points. Her three-pointer on a drive and pitch by guard Kaela Chapdelaine gave the Ducks a 43-37 advantage.
“Taylor obviously is a very marked opponent these days – she’s covered like a dirty shirt and so we just ask her to try to get different reads – take the ball to the hoop, set up other people and she did a great job of that,” Smith said.
UCSB pressured Oregon’s guards, and the Ducks managed it effectively with just six turnovers in the first half. The effectiveness of taking care of the basketball paired with the team’s struggles at finishing near the basket with at least five missed lay-ups.
Oregon shot 29.6 percent in the opening frame.
“One of things I liked about the first half … is we didn’t get on our heels,” Smith said. “We handled their pressure very well in terms of getting into some offensive things.”
UCSB post Jenna Green, the Gauchos’ second leading scorer at 11.5 points a game, sat out with back problems. Chisa Ononiwu led three Gauchos in double figure scoring with 16 points. Wilson had 12 and Kat Suderman 10.