With 33 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s season-opening exhibition game against Strakonice, Corrie Mizusawa gave fans a glimpse of what the future may hold for the Oregon women’s basketball team.
With the Ducks ahead by nine, the junior point guard drove to the basket and delivered a no-look pass to junior center Andrea Bills for an easy score, capping an 80-69 win in front of 3,030 fans at McArthur Court.
Mizusawa, who sat out last season after transferring from Saint Mary’s, dished out 15 assists and was the catalyst for many Oregon baskets.
“I think Corrie is someone who really looks to establish a tone and sets a tone for us both defensively and offensively,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “Offensively she can look after the ball for us. She can get us into position to make some great offensive plays.”
Oregon’s offense had momentary flashes of brilliance, but was inconsistent at best. Mizusawa said the Ducks need more movement in their half-court offense to be successful.
“I thought we were a little stagnant on offense,” Mizusawa said. “We were all watching the ball and we could’ve done a lot more movement in terms of screening and cutting.”
Senior forward Cathrine Kraayeveld led Oregon with 20 points on 8 of 16 shooting. Junior guard Brandi Davis and Bills each added 16 points.
Oregon found success from long range, connecting on 6 of 15 three-pointers. Davis finished 4 of 6 behind the arc, her final three giving the Ducks their largest lead of the night, 69-53, with a little more than eight minutes remaining.
Along with offensive execution, Smith has said prior to the game that defense and rebounding are vital to Oregon’s success. The Ducks contended almost everything in the paint when they were able to set up defensively, but were often guilty of getting burned in transition.
“We didn’t do a good a very good job in their semi-transition,” Smith said. “(Strakonice is) certainly a European team that runs very well, that passes very well, that plays off of each other very well, and I think we learned some things tonight about ourselves in terms of awareness.”
Oregon out-rebounded Strakonice, 42-33. The Ducks utilized their size and strength inside as the visitors from the Czech Republic simply lacked the muscle to bang with Oregon. The Ducks finished with 32 points in the paint, compared to 18 for Strakonice.
Kraayeveld and Bills finished with a game-high nine rebounds each while sophomore forward Carolyn Ganes grabbed five.
Oregon jumped out to an 11-3 lead after five minutes, including a 9-0 run to open the game. Strakonice responded with a 12-2 run to grab its only lead of the game, 15-13.
After falling behind by two, the Ducks built a 35-20 lead with just under eight minutes to go in the first half. Strakonice got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Vendula Mackova led Strakonice with 20 points and eight rebounds. Jitka Musilova finished with 18 points while Blanka Petrovicka added nine.
Despite some sloppiness, Kraayeveld said she’s happy with the Oregon’s performance. She added that practice time should cure any problems.
“It’s our first game,” Kraayeveld said. “I think we did a pretty good job of trying to adjust and push ourselves through our mistakes.”