All year, the focus for the Oregon women’s basketball team has been on rebounding.
On Thursday night, the Ducks crashed the boards.
After getting outrebounded by 18 in the first meeting of the year in Los Angeles, Oregon stayed even with Southern California, the second-best rebounding team in the Pacific-10 Conference, and pulled out a 75-65 victory at McArthur Court on Thursday.
“Down there we got slaughtered on the boards,” Oregon guard Shaquala Williams said. “That was a big focal point tonight. We wanted to outrebound them and we tied them, but that’s better than being outrebounded.”
Freshman center Andrea Bills, making the first start of her career, led the way for the Ducks with a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Bill made the start to counter USC’s Ebony Hoffman, a 6-foot-2 forward who torched the Ducks for 27 points and 11 rebounds in the Trojans 83-73 win on Dec. 22.
The adjustment worked to near perfection.
After picking up two quick fouls, Hoffman went to the bench at the 16:44 mark of the first half and did not return until 3:45. Hoffman finished the first half 1-for-6 from the floor with just one rebound.
“Considering that she had (27) against us the first time we played, we did talk a little bit about her this week,” said a sarcastic Bev Smith, Oregon’s head coach, of Hoffman. “She’s a heck of a player. But I thought Andrea Bills did a great job of making her take tough shots.”
Oregon had a 39-28 lead into the break on the strength of a 22-17 edge on rebounds.
“It was excruciating sitting there on the bench knowing that my team needed me,” Hoffman said. “They basically got in my head. I made some bad decisions (on the fouls).”
Bills said getting Hoffman out of the game early and making a stronger effort on the boards were key.
“We talked about not letting her get established,” Bills said.
By the second half, USC got back into a rhythm — somewhat — and turned a 16-point first-half deficit into just a four-point Oregon lead midway through the second half. But it wasn’t enough.
Oregon went on a 13-5 run late to secure the win.
Hoffman finished the game 5-of-15 for 13 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore forward Cathrine Kraayeveld added 11 points and nine rebounds to balance Oregon’s offensive punch. Senior post Alyssa Fredrick gave the Ducks a spark in the second half, contributing seven points and four rebounds.
“We wanted to play 40 minutes with a lot of effort … and it showed,” said senior guard Edniesha Curry, who finished with 14 points, five assists and five rebounds. “It’s been awhile since we’ve had a good team effort like this.”
Oregon hosts UCLA on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Bruins are the last in the Pac-10 in rebounding defense, allowing opponents nearly 47 boards per game.
“Rebounding is always a focus for us,” Kraayeveld said. “We know we can rebound if we really want to. We will get it if we go hard.”
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