The first Oregon made shot of the game against No. 11 Stanford was a sigh of relief for Lexi Bando — or at least a metaphorical one.
The Cardinal had been stifling the Duck frontcourt with a zone defense, leaving the sophomore guard alone at the top of the arc. With the shot clock ticking down she dribbled once, took a step back to create extra space, and sent the ball flying a foot behind the line. The shot swished through the net as the crowd applauded.
Coming into the night’s action, Bando had suffered through a rough stretch, struggling to score since conference play began. In fact, the points against the Cardinal were her first since she mustered just two against USC back on January 4.
“It wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said of Bando’s struggles. “I was a shooter back in the day — set shooter, not jump shooter — and sometimes it comes and goes.”
Oregon State held Bando scoreless in a double header that preceded the Stanford game, forcing her into shooting a combined 0-8 from the field. She struggled to make an impact in either.
“I just think I needed to be more aggressive,” Bando said. “My other teammates were stepping up and I am proud of them. I was hurting the team.”
Against Stanford the inability to score that had been plaguing her during the slump seemed to be gone, as she played with a renewed confidence and passion that seemed to be missing. She flew around on offense and defense, making shots and keeping the rest of the team involved.
She finished with 15 points on 5-7 shooting from three-point land.
“She did a great job of executing on a couple of sets, got herself open,” Graves said. “Shot with confidence tonight, had that little bit of swagger that we are used to seeing.”
Bando didn’t force any shots against the Cardinal, with all of her looks coming in the flow of the offense. She was willing to pass up the initial chance in order to generate a better shot for a teammate. That kind of patience is something she struggled with earlier in Pac-12 play.
She even recorded a blocked shot in transition that brought the 2,030 fans in the crowd roaring to their feet.
“It was nice to see her have a really good game tonight,” Graves said with a smile.
With 4:04 left in the third Bando made her biggest play of the night. With the shot clock again ticking down on the Ducks, she shook free from her defender to nail another three from the top of the key.
On the ensuing possession she pump faked in the corner and drove three steps toward the hoop before whipping it out to freshman teammate Maite Cazorla. Cazorla nailed the shot, and as Bando ran back she threw her fist and yelled in celebration.
That was one of the last celebrations Bando had, as despite how well she played it’s hard not to be disappointed by the loss — hard to celebrate individual accolades while the team fails to complete the upset.
But through it all Bando was back on the court after the game and her media obligations were over. She spent time speaking with fans, taking photos and even broke out some dance moves for a video. She had turned in a great performance and suffered through a loss, all the while looking ahead to the next game.
“We are almost there, we are,” Bando said. “Good thing we have another game Sunday so we can get right back on the horse.”
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur