It took Jamie Craighead five games to find her rhythm, but once she did, St. John’s and Kansas never stood a chance.
With wins over the Red Storm and the Jayhawks, the Oregon women’s basketball team took the championship in the 2001 Jayhawk Classic, defeating Kansas 67-60 in Lawrence, Kan., on Saturday.
The Ducks (4-3 overall) established their defensive tempo early against Kansas, allowing Craighead and company to take over offensively.
Craighead nailed 2-of-4 three-point attempts against Kansas (3-4), a night after hitting 6-of-7 against St. John’s (2-5). Craighead led Oregon with 33 points in the two games and was named to the all-tournament team.
“(Craighead) has had the best two practices this week than she’s had all year,” head coach Bev Smith said. “In her expression, she looked relaxed and really knew her place on this team. She shot real well but also contributed in other ways.”
Also leading the way was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, junior Shaquala Williams. After contributing 12 points in the Ducks’ first win of the weekend, she helped Oregon with two steals and 13 points against the Jayhawks. She was 10-for-20 from the field in Oregon’s two wins, and shot 3-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc.
“Shaquala did a great job running our offense and creating some offense for us,” Smith said after Williams dished out a career-high eight assists against the Red Storm.
Despite the Ducks’ strong shooting in the second-half, Kansas turned out to be a resilient squad. Down 51-45 in the second half, KC Hilgenkamp hit a jumper that pulled the Jayhawks within four. But a steal and a layup by Oregon senior Edniesha Curry deflated the Jayhawks’ momentum, allowing the Ducks to pull out to a 10-point lead, 61-51, with only 2:27 left.
“Kansas wouldn’t die. They kept fighting back,” Williams said. “It was a good test for us on the road, and this will make us a better team.”
Senior forward Alyssa Fredrick led Oregon with 15 points and eight rebounds against the Jayhawks. The Ducks were outrebounded by Kansas 31-29 but held the advantage in second chance points, 11-5.
On Friday, the Ducks jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead in the first half against St. John’s, and saw it balloon to 47-18 by the end of the first half. Oregon opened the game by hitting four straight treys, two each by Craighead and Curry.
“We played a really good first half,” Smith said. “We kept our intensity throughout the game even though we led by a large margin. We lived up to our standards tonight.”
Craighead nailed her first six three-pointers en route to her game-high 20 points. As a team, Oregon was 7-of-12 from three-point range against the Red Storm in the first half, while St. John’s shot 36 percent from the field.
Although the Ducks were outscored 34-28 in the second half, Oregon’s 29-point lead that resulted from their play in the first half was more than enough to get them the win, 75-52.
Oregon was 29-of-60 from the field in the game, but more important, they kept their hot shooting from beyond the arc alive. They were 11-of-23 against the Red Storm, with Curry and Williams chipping in with two of their own and freshman Kedzie Gunderson contributing with one as well.
After their win against Kansas, the Ducks have their first two-game winning streak of the season and are beginning to finally gel as a team. They return to Eugene to face Utah on Saturday at McArthur Court.
“We’re starting to click and really get a rhythm — both defensively and offensively,” Williams said.