Standing beneath McArthur Court following the Ducks’ exhibition win over RTU Clondica Friday night, Oregon head coach Jody Runge smiled and said she liked what she just saw.
What she saw was her team shooting an overall 50 percent from the floor. She saw senior forward Angelina Wolvert score 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and she saw senior Brianne Meharry play successfully at the small-forward position, despite the fact she’d never played that position before.
Runge also saw sophomore Kourtney Shreve confidently starting at point guard for the first time at The Pit, along with a slew of other younger players who must play key roles this season.
And, of course, Runge saw the scoreboard: 85-56 Oregon, the final, with arguably her two best players — guard Shaquala Williams and guard/forward Lindsey Dion — sitting injured on the bench.
“I haven’t ever felt like it’s a total disaster; I think obviously it’s a place where we may have to play that by committee a little bit,” Runge said of the Ducks’ lack of depth at both guard spots. “Just from the standpoint of building confidence of those young guards as sophomores.”
Oregon seemed overly anxious as it played in front of its fans for the first time since losing to UAB in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March. The Ducks launched 20 three-point shots, connecting on only five of them, and committed 17 turnovers to RTU Clondica’s 20. Each team had 16 personal fouls.
But the bright spots outweighed the good. Alyssa Fredrick, who played sporadically last season, pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and contributed six points. Guard Jamie Craighead shot 2-for-7 from the field, but dished out nine assists and had no turnovers. Center Jenny Mowe, who missed several shots from underneath the basket, claimed the Ducks’ only two blocked shots of the night.
Oregon won the rebounding battle with a decisive 46-33 edge over Riga, Latvia’s national team.
“I think we’re going to be OK, we’re just going to have to work harder, that’s what it comes down to,” Mowe said. “I think there’s going to be people stepping up, and that’s never a problem. We’ve got five seniors on this team and that’s going to help a lot.
“It’s going to be a great year. That might have been a not-so-great game, but that was our first game.”
Shreve’s shined at times during her starting debut, but also showed her inexperience. On Oregon’s fourth possession of the game, the blond-haired point guard from Albany grabbed a defensive rebound, flew downcourt and was fouled as she scored on a driving, coast-to-coast layup.
On the Ducks’ next trip down the court, Shreve again attempted to take it to the rack. This time, the 5-foot-7-inch Shreve was stuffed by RTU Clondica’s 6-foot-2-inch Selga Alksne.
“It was good to get out there and start playing,” Shreve said. “I was nervous until today, but once I got out there, I just let everything go and tried my best.”
Perhaps the brightest spot of the game for Oregon was Wolvert. Besides leading the Ducks in scoring, she was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, had five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action.
Wolvert said she is ready to lead Oregon in scoring, which the injured Williams did last season with 17.7 points per game.
“I hope I get the opportunity to be that person,” Wolvert said. “I would love to be that person, I’m definitely trying to be that person, but it depends on how the game goes.”