All five of Strakonice’s starters made at least one three-point shot.
Center Vendula Mackova sunk 4 of 6 attempts.
The Ducks gave 18 looks and allowed eight three-pointers in their first game of the season on Wednesday.
“One thing we need to work on is defensive transition,” point guard Corrie Mizusawa said. “I think that’s where they scored a lot of their points. They were shooting three’s on us. Half-court, I thought we did a great job in terms of stopping them initially.”
After five straight missed shots and a 9-0 Oregon lead, Strakonice’s next three shot attempts were good from behind the line.
Oregon slipped up inside a few times as well, giving the Basketball Travelers an open lane to the basket for an easy layup or quick jump shot.
“I think we did all right (defensively),” forward Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “I think we could have done a little bit better job. Our communication fell through a little bit.
“I don’t think our defense was that bad, just the communication part of it. We didn’t talk toward the end of the shot clock. We were good (about communicating) at the beginning, and I think we just kind of let it down a little bit. I think we still went hard.”
The Ducks gave up four fast-break points — all in the second half — and 16 points off turnovers.
“We were a little tired, and we’re going to have to make sure we pick it up,” forward Kedzie Gunderson said.
They also blocked four shots — two by Kraayeveld, one by center Andrea Bills and one by Gunderson.
“We’ve got a lot to work on,” Gunderson said. “I think our defensive transition is our biggest thing. I think (they got open looks from) our transitions and over-rotating.”
The Ducks had eight steals, an improvement on their 6.75 steals per game average from 2002-03.
Oregon also had the typical opening-game rust that appeared throughout the game, missing a pick on a pass through the paint or running too far and leaving a Strakonice player wide open on transition.
“Defensively we were OK, but I thought transition was the biggest thing for us,” guard Brandi Davis said. “Just us getting back and making sure they didn’t get too many easy layups. I think that’s something we’re definitely going to work on in practice.”
On the boards, Oregon out-rebounded the traveling team, 25-23, defensively, with the Ducks’ two tallest starters — 6-foot-4-inch Kraayeveld and the 6-foot-3-inch Bills — leading the way. Each had six defensive rebounds and nine total.
The players were happy to be facing a new set of players — women that they weren’t completely sure what to expect from.
“I think this game was good for us,” Kraayeveld said.
General sentiment from the team was that the defense needs work, but it’s actually running pretty well.
“Overall, I think our defense was better than last year,” Gunderson said.
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