Taking a look at performances:
On defense, we held their star guards Rogers and PaoPao to 5/28 shooting, 1/7 from three. Rogers is their elite three level guard, and it was mostly Lepolo, a freshman, guarding that senior. And she nearly shut her down. It may go under the radar as most fans focus on our lack of offensive production, but Lepolo's defense has steadily improved all year to the point that she gets the toughest perimeter assignments.
We gave up 23 offensive rebounds, which seems like it might be some kind of negative record. Of course, when you hold a team to 25% there are going to be lots of rebounding opportunities. Oregon missed 60 shots and got 38% of them back. They did only convert them into 14 second chance points. Our interior defense was awesome thank to the team's 13 blocks, yielding a paltry 20 points in the paint, half of them by Kyei.
On offense, give Lepolo credit for 6 assists to 1 turnover, after a very bad assists night against Oregon State. The coaches have told her that she must shoot threes when she is left open, and she did attempt it 5 times, making one. The attempts are moving in the right direction.
Jones had a solid if not spectacular game, going only 3/11 and uncharacteristically only 2/6 from the free throw line. Her 16 rebounds were critical, however, given that we were losing the rebounding battle. She did have 4 assists, one spectacular, and 4 turnovers, one spectacular.
Jump scored from three levels--2/6 from three, two layups on back door cuts, and a couple of mid range jumpers. She had to defend speedier guards and did a creditable job. So, like Jones, a solid game.
From the bench, Bosgana, Nivar, and Demetre made useful contributions--none more than Demetre when she made 3 consecutive treys in the third quarter to stop Oregon's momentum after it had closed the gap. I agree with Chimera that Bosgana "makes things happen." She had a couple of assists and made one three, although she was just 1/6 from three point range. One of these game I hope to see Nivar start scoring the way she is capable, but with 11 minutes and 2 points, she was important mainly for her defense and ball handling. The two points were beautiful though, on a fast break and a clever layup.
Finally, Brink, with her triple double. She deserves all the accolades that are being heaped on her. Keeping the fouls down and blocking 10 shots is amazing. She also only was awarded 2 freethrows in the game, possibly because she was shooting from the midrange more than she was banging in the paint. She does need to improve that midrange shooting. She sank a couple from the free throw line or elbow area, but missed a bunch of others. When playing against the zone or sagging defenses, these are going to be the shots that are left uncontested for her, and she can open up the paint to drive if she starts making those jump shots more reliably.
On defense, we held their star guards Rogers and PaoPao to 5/28 shooting, 1/7 from three. Rogers is their elite three level guard, and it was mostly Lepolo, a freshman, guarding that senior. And she nearly shut her down. It may go under the radar as most fans focus on our lack of offensive production, but Lepolo's defense has steadily improved all year to the point that she gets the toughest perimeter assignments.
We gave up 23 offensive rebounds, which seems like it might be some kind of negative record. Of course, when you hold a team to 25% there are going to be lots of rebounding opportunities. Oregon missed 60 shots and got 38% of them back. They did only convert them into 14 second chance points. Our interior defense was awesome thank to the team's 13 blocks, yielding a paltry 20 points in the paint, half of them by Kyei.
On offense, give Lepolo credit for 6 assists to 1 turnover, after a very bad assists night against Oregon State. The coaches have told her that she must shoot threes when she is left open, and she did attempt it 5 times, making one. The attempts are moving in the right direction.
Jones had a solid if not spectacular game, going only 3/11 and uncharacteristically only 2/6 from the free throw line. Her 16 rebounds were critical, however, given that we were losing the rebounding battle. She did have 4 assists, one spectacular, and 4 turnovers, one spectacular.
Jump scored from three levels--2/6 from three, two layups on back door cuts, and a couple of mid range jumpers. She had to defend speedier guards and did a creditable job. So, like Jones, a solid game.
From the bench, Bosgana, Nivar, and Demetre made useful contributions--none more than Demetre when she made 3 consecutive treys in the third quarter to stop Oregon's momentum after it had closed the gap. I agree with Chimera that Bosgana "makes things happen." She had a couple of assists and made one three, although she was just 1/6 from three point range. One of these game I hope to see Nivar start scoring the way she is capable, but with 11 minutes and 2 points, she was important mainly for her defense and ball handling. The two points were beautiful though, on a fast break and a clever layup.
Finally, Brink, with her triple double. She deserves all the accolades that are being heaped on her. Keeping the fouls down and blocking 10 shots is amazing. She also only was awarded 2 freethrows in the game, possibly because she was shooting from the midrange more than she was banging in the paint. She does need to improve that midrange shooting. She sank a couple from the free throw line or elbow area, but missed a bunch of others. When playing against the zone or sagging defenses, these are going to be the shots that are left uncontested for her, and she can open up the paint to drive if she starts making those jump shots more reliably.