The way the Oregon women’s basketball team played in the first half Thursday, it seemed like a scrimmage was taking place inside McArthur Court.
The crowd of 2,515 was almost completely silent as Stanford’s potent lineup relied on the hot hand of guard Candice Wiggins to take a commanding 46-12 halftime lead.
Coupled with Oregon’s lack of first half energy, even a second half surge wasn’t enough to make a difference in a 72-43 Stanford rout that matched the score of the men’s basketball game.
Nicole Canepa was the lone Duck in double-figure scoring with 12 points and often was the lone player in the opening frame to show any aggressiveness, outside of senior guard Kaela Chapdelaine.
Wiggins broke Stanford’s school all-time points record held by Kate Starbird last week and continued her attack on the Cardinal’s record books with 25 points Thursday – 15 coming in the first half.
The lack of intensity by Oregon at the beginning left players frustrated and coach Bev Smith looking for answers.
“You’re very nervous, but at the same time we know we can’t be afraid to go at them,” Canepa said.
Stanford opened the game on a 23-2 run and Oregon took until the 9:36 mark of the first half to score its second bucket on a lay-up from Chapdelaine. Canepa followed with consecutive lay-ups, but that was all the life Oregon showed until halftime.
“Hands down it started with our defense,” Wiggins said. “We were able to get a lot of confidence on offense through that.”
Oregon emerged in the second half and in the first seven minutes the Ducks cut Stanford’s 36-point lead to 23. Chapdelaine had two three-pointers and Tamika Nurse hit another in the 19-6 Oregon run, but Stanford’s balanced attack helped the Cardinal build the lead back up to 31 with 9:06 left.
“We had built too big a lead and a lot of players were able to play and contribute,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Besides Wiggins, Kayla Pedersen had 17 points and Jayne Appel had 12 for the Cardinal.
Outside of Canepa’s double digit output, Chapdelaine had eight points and Ellie Manou had six for Oregon.
The lack of urgency is troubling for Chapdelaine, who is going through her final season as a Duck.
“We weren’t on the front foot,” Chapdelaine said. “We didn’t penetrate like we meant it. We didn’t go at them.”
Out again
Guard Nia Jackson had targeted this weekend to return from a quad strain that had sidelined her the last four games.
Jackson participated in an individual workout Monday and twisted her left knee and strained her anterior cruciate ligament. There’s swelling and until it subsides, she’s going to remain sidelined, Smith said.
“If we get the (swelling) down she can be on the floor, but that’s not going to happen this weekend,” Smith said.
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