The rebuild continues but the losing streak does not.
Oregon women’s basketball’s (9-7, 1-3 Pac-12) grabbed its first win of conference play in convincing fashion with the Ducks’ 65-53 victory over Arizona State (8-8, 0-3 Pac-12).
It was a much-needed win for Oregon which began conference play with a grueling road trip against teams that are a combined 38-3. Friday’s matchup looked to be a contest, but Chance Gray’s 22 points proved to be too much for the Sun Devils to overcome.
Both teams began the game trading baskets with neither squad leading by more than four in the first quarter of action, ASU led by two at the end of the first quarter.
Then Grace VanSlooten caught fire — propelling the Ducks on a 10-0 run at the start of the second quarter, Oregon took a five-point lead, one it would not relinquish.
“I thought Grace was great, she carried us in that first half no doubt,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “Grace had a heck of a game, I thought defensively she was pretty good, it was one of her better performances.”
“I thought the game kind of just came to me,” VanSlooten said. “And I lucked out, I was hitting those shots.”
Entering the game as two of the Pac-12’s worst three-point shooting teams, Oregon went just 2-14 from long range while the Sun Devils converted on seven of 18 attempts to keep them competitive as they trailed by just four at the half.
The second half belonged to Gray who added fourteen points as well as a pair of three-pointers to put the Ducks ahead 19 with under five minutes to go.
Oregon controlled the interior throughout. Center Phillipina Kyei led the team with 14 rebounds tallying her 10th double-double of the season. VanSlooten and freshman Sofia Bell added 11 and eight rebounds respectively, ASU’s leading rebounder had just six.
“We need all five on the board,” Graves said. “We are getting better on the boards… the last several games we are starting to get a little bit better.”
Although held pointless, Bell added stout defense on the perimeter as the Sun Devils were held scoreless until the 5:43 mark in the third quarter.
“She’s our best defender, she can defend a lot of different spots, a lot of different players,” Graves said. “She just needs to see a few go in… I have so much trust in her, that’s why she plays as much as she does and she impacts the game defensively.”
The Duck’s defense continues to be a strength in 2024. ASU’s leading scorer Jayln Brown was held to just 11 points.
“We let them get a couple threes late in the second half,” Graves said. “But otherwise we really put the clamps down.”
Oregon will remain home to take on the University of Arizona Sunday afternoon at 12:00 pm.
