University of Oregon
4-0
Clemson
1-4
Petersen's Big Night Helps Ducks Take Care of Clemson
11/25/15 | Women's Basketball
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Tigers (1-4) gave Oregon (4-0) all it could handle in the opening minutes using tenacious defense to get in the Ducks' passing lanes and disrupt the offense. That changed when Jillian Alleyne and Lexi Bando got going and the duo scored 14 of UO's 16 first-quarter points.
In the second quarter, the Ducks made their move as Kat Cooper hit a three to spark a 14-2 run. Maite Cazorla and Petersen also knocked down shots from behind the arc and Alleyne was a force on the boards, collecting six of her 12 rebounds in the second quarter alone. For the night, Alleyne finished with her 20th straight and 73rd career double-double, scoring 18 points to go along with her 12 rebounds.
Petersen continued her hot shooting in the third quarter, hitting a three and then adding a jumper late to put the Ducks up 11. However, the Tigers wouldn't go away and used some early fourth quarter momentum to cut Oregon's lead to six.
But, right on cue, Petersen hit back-to-back buckets, forcing a Clemson timeout with eight minutes to play. That break did little to stifle UO's offense as Petersen added another two-pointer right out of the time-out to get Oregon's lead back to 14.
"Lexi had a couple of big baskets when we needed it," head coach Kelly Graves said. "That's what fifth-year seniors are supposed to do for you. Her and Jillian both stepped up late so it was nice to see that."
"First of all, I just really wanted to win," Petersen added. "Second of all, I have what Coach calls a 'bad habit' of waiting until the second half to get going, so hopefully in the future I can put together a completed good game, but tonight I just tried to do whatever I could."
Down the stretch, Alleyne added four points off two free-throws and a lay-up while Cazorla also sunk two from the foul line. The clutch play from the two starters kept the Ducks out in front and put the game out of reach for Clemson.
NOTABLE: Jillian Alleyne's 20 straight double-doubles is just one shy of her own Oregon and Pac-12 record of 21 consecutive, set between her sophomore and junior seasons…Alleyne and Jacinta Vandenberg had 20 of Oregon's 29 total rebounds…Lexi Petersen scored 15 of her team-high 20 points in the second half…She had all 14 of her points at North Carolina in the second half … Maite Cazorla tallied five assists to lead the team. For the season, the freshman has 29 assists to 10 turnovers for a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio … One of the differences in the game was the three-point disparity. The Ducks knocked down eight threes while Clemson had just one, which came in the second quarter.
UP NEXT: The Ducks will resume play after Thanksgiving when they host North Dakota at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
