Oregon’s showing following halftime on Tuesday night proved to be too much for Michigain State.
The Ducks put away the game in a dominant third quarter, in which Oregon scored 28 points on the 24th-ranked team against the nation.
Freshman Ruthy Hebard had another player-of-the-game performance, including going 3-of-3, scoring 10 points and bringing down an impressive eight rebounds in the third quarter alone, helping the Ducks knock off No. 24 Michigan State 88-55.
“Right from the get-go, I thought Ruthy set the tone,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “When she ran that kid down in transition early, mader her miss the lay-up, I thought that might have been the play of the game. I think that set the tone right off the bat.”
The Ducks held the visitors to eight total points in the third quarter.
“That third quarter was tremendous,” Graves said. “It was not just the starting five, it was about 10 or 11 kids who played that quarter.”
Hebard had a break-out night for Oregon in its win over CSU Bakersfield and has not looked back. The freshman went 5-of-5, with 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the big win over Michigan State.
“She gobbled up every rebound and she was finishing,” Graves said.
HIGHLIGHT | A rebound basket by Ruthy Hebard opens the second half scoring for the Ducks! #GoDucks https://t.co/yc3XaVermH
— Oregon WBB (@OregonWBB) November 23, 2016
Against the Roadrunners, Hebard scored 23, shot 8-of-9, was 7-of-7 from the line and had 10 rebounds to earn a double-double. The following game, Hebard was given the start but only managed to get five points and bring down seven rebounds.
“[Third quarter was] really exciting,” Hebard said. “We just got good looks. It felt really good. We were playing our game and what coach likes to see.”
Oregon’s offense was on fire but the defense might have won the Ducks the game, keeping the Spartans to only 32 percent shooting.
“It showed how good we can be on defense,” Bando said. “Just slowing teams down is really important and I think that’s what stopped Michigan State tonight. We got them out of what they wanted to do.”
Oregon has struggled to take games out of reach from opponents up to this point, but the Ducks denied Michigan State any chance of getting within striking distance. Thanks to their third quarter efforts, the Ducks led by 39 points going into the final 10 minutes of the game.
“They were having fun at both ends of the floor,” Graves said. “We played a complete game.”
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow
