PORTLAND – Ellyce Ironmonger painted a 17-point, 12-rebound portrait – mainly on the low post – Saturday.
But this time the canvas was Rose Garden black and red, up and over the outstretched arms and blue jerseys of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and beneath the bright lights of one of Oregon’s biggest venues.
“Even in Australia, people know about the Rose Garden,” Ironmonger said after Oregon (5-2 overall) defeated UC Santa Barbara (3-5 overall) 65-56. “So it’s great to play in an arena that hosts professional events and it is just completely different from a college arena.”
The six-foot-four-inch center showcased both strength and finesse, grabbing rebounds and angling shots past defenders down the stretch against the team that lost to No. 3 Maryland by just four points.
And Ironmonger showed resolve, blowing two layups in a sloppy first half but bouncing back to finish with game-highs in points and rebounds.
“We didn’t cave in under the pressure,” said Ironmonger, whose team missed seven layups in the opening 20 minutes. “We just kept fighting.”
With Ironmonger’s help, the Ducks remained undefeated in the annual tournament, earning their tenth consecutive victory in the Rose Garden. Oregon out-rebounded the Gauchos 37-27 and shot 28 more free throws, hitting 27 of its 35 attempts compared to UCSB’s six makes out of seven attempts at the charity stripe.
Ironmonger hit seven of her ten shots in the back-and-fourth contest. By halftime, she’d poured in 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Senior forward Kaela Chapdelaine dished a pass to Ironmonger for a layup that provided Oregon a 39-37 advantage with 10:13 remaining in the contest, sparking an eight point run by the Ducks.
Coach Bev Smith knew the native of Perth, Australia had fuel to burn, too. In fact, she said people don’t realize just how fit Ironmonger is.
“We played her 34, 36 minutes and she didn’t blink,” Smith said. “She was still very effective offensive and defensively. I think she is finding her groove within our offense, understanding where she needs to score and how she needs to score. One thing you haven’t seen yet is Ellyce is a very good outside shooter as well.”
Ironmonger wasn’t the only first-year player making an impact either.
Six-foot-two freshman forward Ellie Manou added 14 points and five boards. However, six-foot-five freshman forward Nicole Canepa contributed just four points.
But some inconsistency, Smith said, is expected on a squad with six freshmen.
“We are developing as we’d like to,” Smith said. “For a coach it is never fast enough, but skill acquisition takes time. We can’t microwave it. Time is the incubator and right now we just have to teach and have patience and keep prodding them and they will develop.
Our young post players are getting heat in the fire. They are getting battle tested against some pretty good opponents.”
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