Oregon’s women’s basketball team concluded their exhibition schedule with a win over Corban University by a score of 105-66.
Although Corban stuck with the Ducks for most of the first half, Oregon held the lead throughout the half and went to the locker room with a 52-39 advantage.
Head coach Paul Westhead thought the team struggled in the first half, especially compared to the last game. “I felt we were just okay in the first half, a little slow on the hop,” Westhead said. “Some things were better and some things weren’t, I thought we played at a quicker pace in the last game for 40 minutes. … I looked down the court and saw some tired players. The good thing was they didn’t give it up after they got tired.”
Senior starting point guard Lauren Stanulis had a triple double with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. Westhead, who wasn’t happy with Stanulis’ pace in the first half, said he was impressed how she immediately responded. “The point guard is like our quarterback. They set the game pace. So when she responded to that after the timeout, she certainly played really well.”
“It is my first ever triple double,” Stanulis said. “I was just trying to push the ball, especially after the first half when we were slow. We needed to find a spark and that is my job to get the ball and go. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you are going that slow until someone tells you. … It was a good learning experience because now I am going to focus on that every game. There should never be a game where anyone of us come out slow.”
Last season, the women averaged 7.7 3-pointers per game, first in the Pac-12 and ninth nationally. The squad lived up to this against Corban, shooting 45 percent from the arc. Sophomore Jordan Loera led the team in three pointers, shooting 5 for 9.
Lexi Peterson was the high scorer with 23 points. In addition, freshman Jillian Alleyne was an enforcer in the paint with 16 points and 14 boards.
“It’s been exciting, this was just another good test for us to see what the season is like. We have been preparing all fall,” said Stanulis.
Turning point. In the later end of the first half, the Ducks went on an 11-0 run which helped them extend their lead going into halftime. Although, it was their play from the start of the second half that really displayed their domination, Oregon outscored Corban 21-5 (which included a 14-0 run) to take an 86-52 advantage with just under eight minutes left in the game.  The squad’s biggest lead was 40 points, which occurred with less than five minutes left in the game.
On the horizon. The Ducks went 2-0 in their preseason exhibition games and start regular season play this Sunday against Saint Mary’s at 2 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena.