University of Oregon
10-11, 3-7P12
USC
11-10, 3-7P12
Ducks Beat USC to Complete First Sweep of L.A. Schools Since 2007
02/03/15 | Women's Basketball
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon women's basketball team continued to show signs of progress Monday, building on the first conference home victory of the Kelly Graves era by completing the first sweep of USC and UCLA since 2007, with a 63-57 victory over the Women of Troy in Matthew Knight Arena.
How It Happened: Against a USC team that had struggled to score during a four-game losing streak, the Ducks wanted to deny the Women of Troy their strengths: offensive rebounds and points in transition off turnovers. In the first half, however, Oregon allowed 10 offensive rebounds, and USC scored 10 points off seven UO turnovers in building a 25-23 halftime lead.
The second half was an entirely different story. USC got hot for a brief spell, hitting five straight shots to protect what at that point was a 42-39 lead. The Ducks then turned up the pressure defensively, putting together a 15-2 run by forcing three straight turnovers and denying the Women of Troy any more second-chance points until late in the game.
Lexi Petersen put the Ducks up for good with free throws that made it 46-44. Oregon pushed the lead to double digits at 59-48 on two free throws apiece by Jillian Alleyne and Katelyn Loper, with each set of free throws preceded by an Alleyne defensive rebound. The Women of Troy hit a couple of late threes to make the final score a bit deceiving, but the Ducks hung out despite allowing 16 offensive boards and turning it over 17 times.
Who Stood Out: Alleyne posted her 60th career double-double, following her monster performance in Saturday's win over UCLA with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Loper added 12 points, making all six of her free-throw attempts as the Ducks hit 19-of-23 as a team. Drea Toler scored 11, while Petersen and Lexi Bando added nine each.
What It Means: The Ducks (10-11, 3-7 Pac-12) received more validation that Graves' defensive appraoch can help them overcome their lack of size and occasional offensive inconsistency. They also ended a nine-game losing streak to USC (11-10, 3-7).
Quotable: "We've been practicing well, and now we've got something to build on. Two in a row is pretty special, for where we're at and where we've been." -- Graves
"If you'd have told me those numbers (16 offensive rebounds allowed and 17 turnovers), I'd have said, 'Oh, we're losing by 20.' But our team has been a team that's going to fight, no matter how much we're down by. This team is just so different than last year. We have bigger fight. We're more close-knit, and with the 11 players we have, we have to be." -- Alleyne
Up Next: The Ducks play at Washington State on Friday (5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
