Basketball exhibition games are usually no-doubters — as in there is no doubt the stronger team will come away with the decision.
There was no doubt that the Oregon women’s basketball team would come away with its second exhibition victory of the year on Sunday. True to form, the Ducks opened the second half with a 22-5 run over 4:48 to beat NAIA Westmont College 93-68 at McArthur Court.
The win looked nothing like Oregon’s 80-point annihilation of Willamette University four days before. The Ducks held a slim halftime lead on the Warriors, 41-33, with 14 turnovers after 20 minutes. Westmont shot 41.3 percent from the field for the game (26-63) and made seven three-pointers.
“We played the first half kind of flat,” head coach Paul Westhead said. “We need to get after picking up our offense and defense, and total play. I hope I’m not saying that a week from now.”
To the naked eye, Oregon held an advantage in speed and conditioning but struggled to gain separation.
Until the second-half outburst, that is. The Ducks made six of their first seven shots out of halftime and forced five turnovers over the course of their run, including a five-second violation for Westmont off a made basket.
“To be honest, we should have came out in the first half like that,” point guard Nia Jackson said.
In the first half, the Oregon offense looked nothing like the team that scored 121 points in its first contest. Over a 10-minute, four-second stretch, the Ducks recorded just 10 points, making only three field goals.
Westhead cited “many” missed layups and inadequate defensive coverage as reasons that Westmont remained in the game for so long.
“We were not getting great speed action or play execution,” he said. “I didn’t see it as a total team flow.”
With 10:10 remaining in the first half, Oregon guard Kristi Fallin and Westmont forward Angel Blanco hit heads in a scramble for a loose ball. Fallin would not return to the game; Blanco did, and led the Warriors with 15 points in 20 minutes.
Once again, as promised, Westhead played everyone available, and used hockey-like substitutions to get different groups and young players on the floor.
“We’re really just trying to jell right now,” said Jackson, who had 11 points, seven assists and three steals for the Ducks. “We still have to work on our offense — just knowing where to go on the court. But there was a lot more energy than last game. We’re just trying to move forward in every game, get better in every game. We still have a long ways to go.”
Befitting a 93-68 win, there were plenty of positives to fall back on. Oregon grabbed 27 offensive rebounds — freshman Deanna Weaver had eight — and 56 rebounds total. The Warriors committed 30 turnovers, off which the Ducks recorded 19 steals.
Amanda Johnson had a monster performance, with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 15 rebounds. The junior forward was one of four Ducks in double-figure scoring.
“I think there were some things that didn’t happen on Wednesday night that did happen today,” Johnson said. “Transitioning back into our presses was a little quicker today. That’s something we wanted to work on. We also got more defensive rebounds today. We were able to show off the break more often than we were Wednesday night. Still, it’s clear we’re not where we want to be.”
In light of Westmont’s challenge, that probably is not a bad thing.
“This might be the very appropriate wake-up call for us,” Westhead said. “Let’s all join hands and get it done.”
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