University of Oregon
22-10
Fresno State
22-12
Ducks Soar Past Fresno State, 84-59
03/22/16 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE – The Oregon women's basketball team used a hot shooting night from behind to arc to defeat Fresno State 84-59 Monday night at Matthew Knight Arena and advance to the third round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
How It Happened: All five Oregon starters got on the scoreboard in the opening frame, led by Kat Cooper, who drained three triples for nine points in the first 10 minutes. Cooper hit back-to-back threes to give Oregon a 21-9 lead, it's largest of the period, with 2:29 to go. Oregon shot 8-of-12 in the first quarter to lead the Bulldogs, 24-15.
Lexi Petersen laid in a transition bucket seconds before the halftime buzzer to put the Ducks up 44-36 on the Bulldogs at the break. Oregon remained hot from three in the second quarter, finishing the half with an 8-of-13 mark from long range.
Oregon assisted on 10 of its 15 first-half baskets and led despite all 44 of its points coming from its starting five.
Oregon poured it on after the break, outscoring the Bulldogs 31-11 in the third quarter. Cazorla scored 11 points in the quarter to lead the Ducks, who hit another five treys on only seven attempts in the period. Leading 75-59 with 10 minutes to play, the Ducks were able to coast to the finish line.
Who Stood Out: Cazorla added 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Ducks to the win. Cooper went 4-of-8 from long range, finishing with 13 points. Jacinta Vandenberg finished two points away from a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, along with five assists to tie her career high. Petersen contributed 19 points and six rebounds. Lexi Bando scored 15 points, thanks to a 4-of-6 tally from three-point range.
Quotable – Head Coach Kelly Graves: “I'm really proud of our team tonight. I thought we played really hard… Obviously we shot the heck out of it tonight but I think that came from really good execution. I thought that, the third quarter especially, when we broke it open, that's as good of basketball as I've ever gotten to coach.”
Notable: The Ducks shot an efficient 65 percent (13-of-20) from behind the arc tonight, second only this season to their 68.4 percenteage (13-of-19) in the win over Portland.
Up Next: With the win, the Ducks advance to the WNIT's third round where they will host Utah at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Matthew Knight Arena.
