Now that’s more like it.
A day after losing its first home opener in 25 years, the Oregon women’s basketball team rebounded — literally — to defeat Miami of Ohio 83-65 in front of 3,846 fans at McArthur Court on Sunday.
In a 75-57 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday, the Ducks (1-1 overall) were oversized in the paint and it showed in the final stats, where Oregon was outrebounded 38-26. On Sunday, though, three Ducks tallied five rebounds each en route to a 37-31 advantage on the boards.
“It was better, but it can be better,” first-year head coach Bev Smith said of the rebounding. “We made some good adjustments from (Saturday) … but there are a million things we need to focus on.”
The Ducks shot just 1-of-16 from three-point land Saturday, but were 7-of-19 against the Redhawks on Sunday. After missing all seven of her shots Saturday, senior guard Jamie Craighead, the team’s top returning scorer from last season, was 4-for-4 on threes Sunday and scored 16 points.
“We can’t live and die on (three pointers), but it’s hard for our team not to shoot when we have such great shooters,” Smith said.
Junior guard Shaquala Williams scored 16 points, with the team shooting 50 percent from the floor against Miami.
“Defensively, we were all on the same page (Sunday) and we did a good job of making them take tough shots,” Williams said. “We weren’t going at 150 miles per hour, which is what it felt like (Saturday).”
Oregon led the Redhawks 45-41 at the half, but a three-pointer by Miami’s Heather Cusick cut the lead to one. In the next 16 minutes, though, Miami would hit just four field goals, giving way to a 24-point Oregon lead on a Kedzie Gunderson jumper with 4:43 to play.
“It’s good to get a win,” Williams said, “but it’s nicer that we’re together with a sense of cohesiveness.”
In a game that Williams described as “ugly,” the Ducks had 25 turnovers and gave up 20 offensive rebounds to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday.
A bucket by senior Edniesha Curry gave Oregon a 34-33 lead early in the second half, but the Phoenix dominated the rest of the game with a balanced offensive attack, which had five players score in double figures.
“The way their offense looks is how our offense is supposed to look,” Williams said of the Phoenix’s inside-out game.
Oregon travels to Portland on Tuesday to take on the Pilots for a 7 p.m. tip-off.