A double-header for the Oregon Ducks women’s and men’s basketball teams led to a win for both teams. The day began with a 65-54 win for the women’s team over the Portland State Vikings and finished with a 71-49 win for the men’s team over the UTEP Miners.

Phillipina Kyei was a main focus of the Ducks’ offense early in the first game, as she recorded seven of the team’s first nine shot attempts, and had nine of the 12 Oregon points in the first quarter. Despite the strong play from Kyei, the rest of the Ducks were unable to get in a rhythm on offense and the score was tied at 12 at the end of the quarter.

The Vikings offense was able to stretch out the Oregon defense, leading to three quick 3-pointers from Portland State, which took its first lead of the game 15-14 early in the second quarter. A mix of stingy defense and poor shooting kept both teams close throughout the second quarter with neither team being able to gain much ground on the scoreboard. Portland State led a low-scoring affair 23-22 at halftime.

The Ducks were able to reclaim the lead quickly into the second half on a Grace VanSlooten layup that made the score 28-27 in their favor. However, turnovers and 3-point pressure from the Vikings allowed them to take back the lead with a 7-0 run to secure their biggest lead of the game. VanSlooten and Kyei scored on three-straight possessions to bring the score back even at 34 points each before a Portland State timeout. After the game resumed, the Ducks continued with their run, making it a 14-4 run to end the quarter and holding a  42-38 lead at the end of the third.

Kyei opened the fourth quarter with two straight layups to put her at 18 points on the night, a new career-high. A Chance Gray 3-pointer gave Oregon a 49-40 lead early in the final frame. Kyei continued her dominance inside. She made another layup to finish with 20 points. She also grabbed six rebounds in the quarter to give her 18, a season-high, on the day.

Gray hit three-straight 3-pointers to ice the game for the Ducks and give them their largest lead of the game at 65-50 with about a minute and a half left in the contest.

“That lid that was on the rim somehow broke,” Kelly Graves, head coach of the women’s basketball team said about their recent drought being broken. “We were able to hit a couple of threes. My goodness, it seemed like a long time since we made a couple in a game.”

The big three for Oregon once again did the brunt of the scoring. Gray, VanSlooten and Kyei scored 53 of the 65 points for the Ducks in the game.

The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team played the UTEP Miners for the second half of a Matthew Knight Arena’s double-header. A slow start for both teams offensively saw Oregon with an 8-2 advantage with just under seven minutes played in the first half. Then, a pair of 3-pointers from the Miners and a massive dunk from Zid Powell highlighted a 16-2 run that gave them a 18-10 advantage a little over halfway through the first. An aggressive trapping defense from UTEP forced nine Oregon turnovers in the first twelve minutes.

The Ducks made an adjustment and began to lock down on defense, holding the Miners scoreless for almost five minutes. Oregon was able to capitalize on the strong defensive play with a 10-0 run to take the lead with a few minutes left in the first half. Defense continued to lead to offense for the Ducks as they found an easy way to counteract the strong traps of the UTEP defense, not letting it get set. Two fastbreak baskets helped Oregon extend its lead late in the first half. The Miners made a pair of free-throws to send the game into halftime 28-25 in favor of the Ducks.

“We had a lot of turnovers, especially that first half in the halfcourt,” Dana Altman, head coach of the men’s basketball team, said. “We didn’t do a good job with their halfcourt pressure.”

The second half began with more chances in transition, and more stifling half court defense from both sides. Jackson Shelstad, fresh off of hitting a game-winning 3-pointer against Michigan, found success on Saturday on the fastbreak. He hit his third and fourth layups of the game to give him eight points, with all eight points coming in transition. Oregon was able to utilize a stretch where it made five-straight field goal attempts to go on a 9-2 run, extending the lead up to 45-36.

After a 3-pointer from UTEP, the Ducks erupted for a quick 11-0 run. A Shelstad 3-pointer followed immediately by a Kwame Evans Jr. steal and dunk in transition highlighted the run and gave Oregon a 56-39 advantage.

“I took it like a challenge,” Evans said about Altman asking him to be more physical. “He just wanted me to play a lot harder, and that’s what stuck with me. So I came out this game with a lot of intense energy and played hard.”

The defense of the Ducks turned its play up to another level during the massive run. The Miners could not get anything going to chip away at an Oregon lead that continued to grow as the Ducks kept playing aggressive offense to keep UTEP out of the game. The lead ballooned up as high as 24 as Oregon rode a 43-22 second half advantage to a massive 71-49 win.

“The second half, our defense picked up,” Altman said about the difference between the two halves. “We got some turnovers, got some transition looks.”

The Ducks were led in scoring by the 18 points of Jermaine Cousinard. He did most of his damage in the second half, scoring 15 of his points in the period. He also had a career-high five steals in the game.

The long day of basketball at Matthew Knight Arena saw both the men’s and women’s teams extend their winning streak before the next contest. The women’s team will play at home Monday against the Southern University Jaguars and the men’s team will play Tuesday at home against the Cal Baptist Lancers