For Oregon coach Kelly Graves, “postseason play is postseason play.”
All five Oregon starters scored in double-digits to help the Ducks beat Long Beach State 84-76 in the first round of WNIT play at Matthew Knight Arena Thursday.
Lexi Petersen led the Oregon (21-10) offensive charge with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Oregon used a big second quarter attack to put LBSU away and punch its ticket to face the winner of Fresno State and Santa Clara on Monday.
“They played really hard and they played really feisty,” Petersen said. “We were just able to respond in the second quarter.”
Long Beach had a better start to the game, leading by seven points at 21-14 with 6:58 left in the first quarter. Oregon closed the deficit to 25-19 after the first quarter.
With the score leveled at 29-29 with 7:51 in the second, the Ducks rattled off a 10-2 run via buckets from Jacinta Vandenberg, Petersen, Bando and Cazorla to take a 39-31 lead at halftime.
“We really turned it in the second quarter,” Graves said. “Played with a lot more intensity and shot the ball well.”
The Ducks outscored the 49ers 27-13 in the second quarter to take a 46-38 halftime lead. Petersen had 18 points at the break, going 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Oregon had more turnovers at the half (11-7), but was 57.1 percent from the field while LBSU shot 50 percent.
“We don’t really run anything new, but everyone has stepped up their abilities and is doing a little more,” Petersen said. “At least this game, we were able to spread out and hit some threes.”
Oregon benefited from another strong effort from Vandenberg, who had 13 points and six rebounds. She’s come on for the Ducks without Jillian Alleyne in the lineup.
“I’ve tried to look to score more often and give the outside shooters more room,” Vandenberg said.
Graves said he likes what he sees from his 6-foot-5 forward. He points to a 17-foot jumper she made in the second half as evidence for a jump in confidence.
“Now we’ve got that threat that they have to honor inside,” Graves said. “It allows our shooters some freedom to spot up and shoot, doing what we do best.”
The Beach closed to within three points at 56-53 in the third quarter before Oregon scored five straight points. The Ducks led 64-59 after three quarters.
Oregon expanded its lead to 84-65 with 3:06 left to play after a pair of 3-pointers from Bando and Kat Cooper.
Graves said the win is a confidence booster because it snaps a three-game losing streak without Alleyne.
“Now we’ve proven that, yeah, we can win without Jill in the lineup,” Graves said. “That’s huge for our players.”
Bando had her largest scoring production since Feb. 19. She played in limited minutes in the final Pac-12 trip of the season in the Bay Area after a sickness.
“Her illness really just wiped her out,” Graves said. “This was the first game it looked like she got her feet underneath her. That’s great. That’s a kid that can light it up in a hurry.”
The Ducks committed 20 turnovers compared to LBSU’s 13. Graves attributes that to rust after taking a week off following the Pac-12 Tournament.
“Hopefully we’ll clean those up next game,” Graves said.
 
The Ducks play the winner of Santa Clara and Fresno State on Monday, 6 p.m. in Eugene.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne