The Oregon women hosted the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine yesterday afternoon, and cruised to an easy 87-54 win.
While the Ducks had a relatively easy time of it, Hawai'i did present some problems for Oregon, especially with 6-5 Jr. C Ritorya Tamilo. It is simply a fact that, like last year, the Ducks are a short team and will have to make whatever adjustments they can when 6-0 post player Ehis Etute is having to cover a much taller player in the post. Oregon made adjustments at halftime, as Tamilo scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half. Oh, and you're going to have issues shooting inside against her.
The Rainbow warriors enjoyed a lead for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game before Oregon went on a 22-2 run, and Hawai'i never got closer than 12 points (just after halftime) the rest of the way.
In spite of the score outcome, the Ducks didn't shoot as well as they could have, especially in the first half. The exception was Mallory Heyer , who hit all 16 of her points in the first half.
With a 60-43 lead at the end of the third period, Kelly Graves rotated in the freshmen: Brooklynn Haywood , Kennedy Holman , Emilia Krstevski and La'u Pele Falatea . Haywood was brought in at points earlier in the game, but all four saw some good playing time in the fourth quarter and helped the Ducks to outshoot Hawai'i 16-11 in the fourth quarter.
"I thought they did a great job at the end of the game, when we had all four freshmen at the same time," said Mallory Heyer, after the game. "That's just going to be good for the growth of them and the growth of our team, to get them minutes and opportunities to keep improving."
The Rainbow Wahine shot 36%, led by Bailey Flavell with 24 points. Ritorya Tamilo scored 14 points with 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Hawai'i had issues all game with Oregon's defense, and I'm sure they would have liked to turn the ball over less than the 23 T/Os they finished the game with.
Oregon shot 39% (34% on 3s), led by Mallory Heyer with 16 points. Ehis Etute had her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Katie Fiso and Ari Long each had 14 points, with Long shooting 4-6 from beyond the arc and leading the Ducks with 6 steals. Fiso was great at the point – 9 assists with just one turnover.
Oregon picked up 25 points off the bench, led by Brooklynn Haywood with nine points.
Here is what head coach Kelly Graves has to say after the match:
Mallory Heyer and Katie Fiso also spoke after the game.
The competition will pick up this coming Friday, when Oregon women's basketball hosts the Washington State Cougars . WSU will be looking to bounce back from a season-opening loss at Cal yesterday. Oregon vs. Washington State will be Friday at 7:00 pm PT and can be seen on B1G+.
