University of Oregon
21-10
Long Beach State
24-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach State | 25 | 13 | 21 | 17 | 76 |
| Oregon | 19 | 27 | 18 | 20 | 84 |
03/18/16 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon women's basketball team drained 14 three-pointers as they won 84-76 over Long Beach State Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena in the opening round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED: LBSU (24-9) jumped out to a 9-2 lead early as the Ducks struggled to find their offense. After an Oregon timeout at the 6:48 mark, the Ducks (21-10) forced back-to-back turnovers and Lexi Petersen drained a three to help UO stay in the game and trail the 49ers just 25-19 at the break.
Oregon came out in the second quarter and knocked down back-to-back buckets from beyond the arc the game up for the first time since it was 0-0. A lay-up by Liz Brenner at the 8:06 mark gave UO its first lead of the game and then the Ducks went on a 10-2 run to jump out to a 39-31 lead. Petersen continued to be lights out from behind the three-point line as the senior drained six three's in the first half to lead all scorers with 18 points and put the Ducks up 46-38 at halftime.
A three-pointer from Kat Cooper to open the third quarter stretched the lead to 11 but Long Beach State would ride the hot hand of Raven Benton to stay in the game. Benton scored the final four points of the third quarter as Oregon held on to the 64-59 lead.
The Ducks opened the fourth quarter up on a 14-4 run to stretch the lead to 15 with 4:38 to play. That lead ballooned to 19 when Lexi Bando and Kat Cooper sunk two straight three's. The Beach, however, managed to cut the lead to 10 with 1:18 to play, but never got within striking distance as the final LBSU bucket came with a second to play.
WHO STOOD OUT: Lexi Petersen surpassed her career-high in three-pointers as she was 6-for-10 from behind the arc. She also went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to lead the Ducks with 22 points. Behind her, four Oregon players had 13 points each as Jacinta Vandenberg, Maite Cazorla, Lexi Bando and Kat Cooper helped balance out the score sheet. Cazorla also added eight assists. As a team, UO was 14-for-30 from three-point range, good for 46.7 percent.
UP NEXT: The Ducks will host the winner of Fresno State and Santa Clara on Monday night at 6 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena.
