Thursday night had all the makings of a trap game for Oregon women’s basketball, as the team returned home after completing a big upset last weekend. The Ducks, on a high after defeating then-No. 22 North Carolina 79-77 at Chapel Hill, hosted Hampton at Matthew Knight Arena.
It was a lackluster start for Oregon (2-0), as it struggled to hit shots that are usually automatic and turned the ball over through several unforced errors. Eventually the home team was able to shake off the threat of suffering an upset of its own, sinking the winless Pirates 86-51.
“I thought we didn’t come out with a lot of intensity early in the game for whatever reason,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said. “As you learn and get better, the intensity has to be there no matter who the opponent is.”
Leading Oregon was Jillian Alleyne, who finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Jacinta Vandenberg collected 12 points, five rebounds and five assists and Kat Cooper who finished with a team-high 16 points.
“Hampton is a really good team, conference champs in their league,” Cooper said. “We knew we had to play up to what they were playing.”
It was a slow start to the game. Neither side could break things open early. The offense was stagnant for the Ducks as they settled for tough perimeter shots instead of working the ball through the progression. Eventually they found success by feeding the ball down low to their star, Alleyne, who answered the call en route to claiming the all-time rebound record in program history.
“It was a good feeling, and a great win for the team,” Alleyne said. “I just do what I do best.”
But most telling for the outlook of the team was that Oregon was able to pull away from Hampton as its star sat on the bench. With Alleyne subbed out, the Ducks went on a 6-0 run to take a 24-14 lead in the second quarter. It shows the depth that Graves has been able to gather, as the Ducks can comfortably take Alleyne out of the game without it feeling like a concession of defeat.
The newcomers looked good in their regular season debut in Eugene. Six-foot-five transfer center Vandenberg served as the passing focal point of the offense, working the ball around to her teammates, while fellow transfer Cooper looked comfortable camping out behind the three-point line.
“We’ve got a lot of depth on our bench, which speaks to our personality,” Alleyne said. “Everywhere we have someone who can fill in if there is foul trouble or whatever the case may be.”
Most impressive was Maite Cazorla, a true freshman from Las Palmas, Spain. Getting the nod as the starting point guard, Cazorla ran the offense with ease. She had a good sense for when to speed things up and when to ease up and allow her teammates to catch up with the play. She finished with 10 points and five assists, while only turning it over one time.
At halftime the Ducks’ lead had blossomed to 38-18, and things got worse for the Pirates in the third. Graves continued to go to the bench, getting valuable playing time for his players and finding fresh legs that could continue the high pace.
Hampton kept fighting, led by Malia Tate-DeFreitas with 16 points, but they could never close the gap as Oregon coasted to the victory.
“It was a good win in a lot of ways,” Graves said.
Up next for the Ducks is UC Santa Barbara, which marks the start of a favorable stretch of nine home games. Tipoff is scheduled for Sunday at noon.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur