Oregon senior point guard Corrie Mizusawa led the team with six assists in 26 minutes of action in the Ducks’ 63-46 victory against Portland on Friday.
The Oregon women’s basketball team used another solid defensive effort to get past Portland 63-46 Friday at McArthur Court.
The Ducks held the Pilots to 18-for-53 (34 percent) shooting for the game, and the 46 points scored by the Pilots were the lowest by a Duck opponent since California scored 43 in 2002.
“We challenged shots,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “We did all that we could to make Portland earn every point. This team understands the importance of that.”
Portland’s point total was also tied for the third-lowest in any season-opening game in Oregon history — the lowest two coming in the first two years of Oregon women’s basketball (1974-76).
The Ducks also showcased their depth as a team. Eight players saw more than 19 minutes of action with senior point guard Corrie Mizusawa leading the way with 26 minutes. The Ducks also scored 25 points off the bench compared to the Pilot’s eight. Freshman Gabrielle Richards led the Ducks in scoring off the bench, contributing eight points and nine boards for the game.
“The important part of the defensive plan is to play hard, aggressively, and to have energy,” Smith said. “To do that we need numbers and we have numbers. However, this team has so many good defensive players, we hesitate on offense. We aren’t sure when to score.”
Neither team scored in the first three minutes of the game and at the 10-minute mark, the score was 11-9 in Oregon’s favor. The Ducks were slow to get into offensive rhythm for most of the first half, until they found a spark in the last 30 seconds. Portland pulled to 23-21 with a minute to play in the first half, before back-to-back layups by Richards and senior Cathrine Kraayeveld pushed the Ducks’ lead to 27-21 at halftime.
“I don’t know what it is,” Kraayeveld said of the team’s slow starts. “But it starts with (our) five starters. We definitely need to pick it up in the first few minutes. That sets the tempo of the game.”
Kraayeveld had a game-high 14 points and added four assists.
Oregon opened the second half with the same tempo and momentum they had found just before the break. The Ducks outscored Portland 18-4 in the first six minutes — behind four three-pointers — and pushed the lead to 45-25.
For the game, Oregon went 8 for 14 (57.1 percent) from three-point range — a marked improvement from its 4-for-20 performance against Strakonice BBC last week.
Redshirt freshman Kaela Chapdelaine hit both her three-pointers during Oregon’s second-half run. Chapdelaine finished with seven points, four assists and a game-high four steals.
Mizusawa added a game-high six assists, while senior Andrea Bills was the only other Duck to record double-digits in points with 12 on 6-for-8 shooting.
The Ducks outrebounded the Pilots 38-30 for the game and held Portland without an offensive rebound in the first half.
For Portland, senior forward Jamie Medley recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.
“Right now, they are a better basketball team than we are,” Portland head coach Jim Sollars said. “They did a nice job of going to their strengths.”
