Victoria Kenyon spun toward the baseline. She drove to the hoop and layed the basketball off the glass.
A short time later, the forward stepped out and calmly sank a mid-range jump shot. On the defensive end, Kenyon helped clean up the boards for the Oregon women’s basketball team.
The glimpse of what Kenyon brings came courtesy of a game last fall at Portland. In that game, a 78-74 Oregon loss, the redshirt freshman saw her first extended playing of the season and responded with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, four assists and three rebounds.
Kenyon continued to build on that early season performance, and now with three games left in Pacific-10 Conference play, the native of Queensland, Australia has made a steady impact off the bench and in the starting lineup.
“I’ve always been taught that finishing the game is more important than starting the game, but definitely being given the opportunity to start … is something that I cherish,” Kenyon said.
As her fellow frontline players Ellie Manou and Nicole Canepa have dealt with nagging injuries, Kenyon has remained healthy and averages 3.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.7 minutes a game through last weekend.
The 6-foot-2 Kenyon gives Oregon an athletic presence who can match-up with the Pac-10’s bigger players on defense, and who can attack the basket or step out for mid-range jumpers on offense.
Assistant coach Phil Brown says Kenyon has made steady progress since she arrived midway through last season. She helped with numbers in practices after the losses of Gabrielle Richards and Kristen Forristall before the season left the Ducks shorthanded.
Oregon soccer star Nicole Garbin stepped in, but when Kenyon arrived, it gave the Ducks a promising player who was able to start transitioning to the Division I level during her redshirt year and gain an understanding of the level of competition in the Pac-10.
Kenyon says she also acclimated herself to school and Oregon’s training routine.
She follows in the footsteps of fellow Australians and former Ducks Richards and Eleanor Haring. She plays alongside Australians Manou and Ellyce Ironmonger.
Brown’s known Kenyon’s game for a while. He spent 20 years at the Australian Institute of Sport, and while Kenyon never played for AIS, she played for the Under-20 Queensland Women’s team that reached gold at the Australian National Championships.
Kenyon had been looking forward to this season as her opportunity to step onto the court and contribute.
“Being able to play is fantastic,” she said. “Being able to actually use the moves you’ve been practicing for the last six months is great. I’m really enjoying it.”
Kenyon appeared in Oregon’s season opener, then fell out of the Ducks’ rotation. She sat out four consecutive games before playing 15 minutes during Long Beach State’s visit and making her presence felt against Portland.
Teammates offered encouragement, but mostly it was Kenyon staying positive, guard Taylor Lilley said.
“That was on her own,” she said. “It was hard for her at first, but she stayed mentally strong and she got through it.”
And Kenyon says remained confident.
“I kept believing in myself,” she said. “Kept pushing myself hard in training and putting in the extra work.”
Brown says her absence on the court was a combination of having several young posts and making sure Kenyon was ready.
“The learning curve isn’t linear,” Brown said. “The learning curve has dips and ups and downs. She’s had her ups and downs just as all the freshmen have.”
Brown says areas Kenyon needs to improve include decision making, poise and adjusting to the tempo of the Pac-10. Occasionally, Kenyon has rushed and it’s led to traveling calls or bad passes, he said.
“At other times she has shown a lot of poise when she slowed herself down, when she’s played on-balance and made some really great decisions and executed the skills of the game very very well,” Brown said.
She has made progress with her mid-range jumper and ability to put the ball on the floor, he said.
“I think that’s her game,” Brown said. “Playing from the high post area, where she can use her speed against a bigger, smaller defender or step out against a bigger player and shoot that perimeter shot is something that I think she can continue to cultivate.”
He says she can continue to work on her ability to play with her back to the basket in the post, but is working in a hook shot and shot fake.
Lilley has seen the progress in her friend’s game.
“She works on her game outside of practice,” Lilley said. “She is a strong player – physically strong – and defends the post players very well.”
In a trying season featuring a seven-game losing streak, Lilley’s noticed Kenyon’s positive outlook.
“She’s very personable, very outgoing,” Lilley said. “I think that kind of shows on the court.”
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Big-time presence
Daily Emerald
February 21, 2008
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