At the end of Oregon’s women’s basketball game on Friday, Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” began blaring as if it were a message to the team who had just suffered a 99-77 loss to No. 9 Washington.
The loss started the Ducks’ conference play on a sour note, yet Oregon has a long way to go this season. Next weekend they will have to face No. 13 Stanford and Cal.
The Ducks sorely missed point guards Sabrina Ionescu (thumb) and Maite Cazorla (foot) who both didn’t suit up for the Ducks.
“I just wish we were a little healthier,” head coach Kelly Graves said before the game. “Now you’ve suddenly got a back court that hasn’t logged a lot of minutes.”
A year ago, Cazorla was the one responsible for shutting down Washington’s second-leading scorer Kelsey Plum. Her defensive play was missed as Plum racked up 44 points, 22 in each half, shooting 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
“When you lose two of your key ball handlers and playmakers, it makes things a little disjointed,” said Graves.
Both Oregon’s offensive and defensive play suffered, particularly the team’s 3-point shooting. Washington, which leads the Pac-12 in 3-pointers made, shot 10-of-21, including a 5-of-5 performance from Heather Corral.
Oregon, on the other hand, went 3-of-5. For a team that relies on 3-pointers, the Ducks weren’t attempting many shots from the 3-point range.
Before the game, Graves said that defensively the team was “going to have to be at our best.” Yet that did not happen.
“The bottom line is, we didn’t guard them,” Graves said. “At this level, you’ve got to guard a lot better than we did tonight.”
When playing a team as offensively gifted as Washington, which leads the Pac-12 in scoring offense and scoring margin, the Ducks couldn’t afford to give up any unnecessary points. Oregon committed too many fouls against their rivals, tallying 20 to Washington’s 13. Plum shot 13-of-15 of her free throw attempts.
The bright spot of the game for the Ducks was Ruthy Hebard, who led the team in points, finishing the game with 25 points, shooting 11-of-14 and 3-of-3 on free-throws.
Oregon has a day to rest and reflect before the Ducks finish their homestead against Washington State (5-8) on Sunday.
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03