Friday, March 17
Eugene, OR
7:00 PM
University of Oregon
18-14,7-11Pac-12
96
vs
57
North Dakota State
18-12,12-6Summit League
1
2
3
4
F
North Dakota St.
15
7
17
18
57
Oregon
19
22
29
26
96
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Veteran Guards Lead WNIT Victory
03/17/23 | Women's Basketball
Te-Hina Paopao kept up her hot shooting and Endyia Rogers notched a triple-double in Friday's win over North Dakota State.
EUGENE, Ore. — Te-Hina Paopao kept up her hot shooting, Endyia Rogers recorded a triple-double and the Oregon women's basketball team advanced in the WNIT on Friday, as the Ducks beat North Dakota State, 96-57, before 2,703 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
Paopao made six three-pointers to give her 34 over her last six games, on the way to a game-high 24 points. That led six Ducks who scored in double figures, including Rogers, who had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for her first career triple-double.
"I thought we played great," said UO coach Kelly Graves, whose team broke the game open with a 16-0 run in the second quarter. "I thought we really set the tone defensively. We were good tonight defensively, forced them into some turnovers, were able to get out in transition — especially in that second quarter. And then it just kind of kept going."
Chance Gray added 16 points for the Ducks, and fellow freshman Grace VanSlooten returned to the starting lineup for the first time in a month and had 12 points with eight rebounds. Seniors Ahlise Hurst and Taya Hanson combined for 21 points with five three-pointers, with Hanson's two fourth-quarter threes providing the last two assists Rogers needed for her triple-double.
Five days after the disappointment of being one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament field, the Ducks made an emphatic statement in their WNIT opener. They moved on to face Rice in the second round in Matthew Knight Arena on Monday.
"We're making the most of our opportunities," Rogers said. "We're still getting to play. There's people that just got knocked out today and they're going home, so we're just making the most of our opportunity and going as far as we can."
How It Happened: VanSlooten took and made Oregon's first shot of the night, a welcome sight as she returns to health following an injury. She scored again moments later for a 6-0 lead, and Paopao's first three-pointer got the UO lead to 10-3. After the Bison closed within 14-11, Hurst set up Kyei for a basket and then made a three-pointer on Oregon's next trip to make it 19-11. The Ducks were up 19-15 after one quarter.
At that point the UO women had five turnovers, but they cleaned up their play and only had six the rest of the night. It was 23-19 in the second when the Ducks went on a 16-0 run, including threes by both Rogers and Paopao. Gray scored off a turnover to cap the run for a 39-19 lead, and it was 41-22 at halftime.
The third quarter featured four more three-pointers from Paopao, the last giving the Ducks their biggest lead to that point, 68-37. The lead remained 31 entering the fourth, at 68-37.
"It was a fun game tonight," Paopao said. "My teammates were finding me, so that just told me they trusted me to shoot the shot, so I did and it went it. I was just really happy about that."
Entering the fourth, about the only drama left was whether Rogers would get her triple double. She had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists entering the period, and quickly got two rebounds for the double-double.
After getting another assist, Rogers went to the bench with 7:26 to play. She returned with 3:36 left, and the crowd fully aware of the potential achievement at hand. The Ducks didn't make them wait long, with Hanson needing a little over 90 seconds after Rogers entered to take two passes from her and knock down threes to clinch the triple-double.
"Thankful for that opportunity and that moment," Rogers said. "Shoutout to my teammates for letting me get my last two (assists), but I'm very happy I was able to do that."
Notable: The Ducks played without freshman Kennedy Basham, who is being treated for concussion symptoms. … Oregon improved to 8-0 in its WNIT opener over the years. … The triple-double by Rogers was the first for the UO women since Sabrina Ionescu had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists against Stanford on Feb. 24, 2020. … Paopao is 34-of-51 on three-pointers over the last six games, or 66.7 percent.
Quotable:
UO coach Kelly Graves on the atmosphere Friday night
"I thought the crowd was really good. I didn't know what to expect crowd-wise tonight, because softball's playing and they're really good, and with lacrosse playing tonight. So there were other options, and it was really good to see our faithful out — and they were treated to a really good game. We haven't had a game like this in a long time."
UO coach Kelly Graves on the what-ifs of not making the NCAA Tournament
"I can't play that game right now. … And I think our kids, I was really proud of them tonight. Our kids were excited. We were ready. We didn't play the 'we got snubbed' card. We just kind of came in and played loose, played really hard, and then the shots started falling. So nah, can't play that game. You know, the longer you stay in the tournament, you kind of forget which tournament you're in exactly. You just know that, hey, we won. We're going to prepare for the next opponent, and if we can win that, we'll prepare again. So once you're into it, I think you kind of lose sight of all that stuff."
Up Next: The Ducks host Rice in the second round of the WNIT on Monday at 6 p.m.
Paopao made six three-pointers to give her 34 over her last six games, on the way to a game-high 24 points. That led six Ducks who scored in double figures, including Rogers, who had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for her first career triple-double.
"I thought we played great," said UO coach Kelly Graves, whose team broke the game open with a 16-0 run in the second quarter. "I thought we really set the tone defensively. We were good tonight defensively, forced them into some turnovers, were able to get out in transition — especially in that second quarter. And then it just kind of kept going."
Chance Gray added 16 points for the Ducks, and fellow freshman Grace VanSlooten returned to the starting lineup for the first time in a month and had 12 points with eight rebounds. Seniors Ahlise Hurst and Taya Hanson combined for 21 points with five three-pointers, with Hanson's two fourth-quarter threes providing the last two assists Rogers needed for her triple-double.
Five days after the disappointment of being one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament field, the Ducks made an emphatic statement in their WNIT opener. They moved on to face Rice in the second round in Matthew Knight Arena on Monday.
"We're making the most of our opportunities," Rogers said. "We're still getting to play. There's people that just got knocked out today and they're going home, so we're just making the most of our opportunity and going as far as we can."
How It Happened: VanSlooten took and made Oregon's first shot of the night, a welcome sight as she returns to health following an injury. She scored again moments later for a 6-0 lead, and Paopao's first three-pointer got the UO lead to 10-3. After the Bison closed within 14-11, Hurst set up Kyei for a basket and then made a three-pointer on Oregon's next trip to make it 19-11. The Ducks were up 19-15 after one quarter.
At that point the UO women had five turnovers, but they cleaned up their play and only had six the rest of the night. It was 23-19 in the second when the Ducks went on a 16-0 run, including threes by both Rogers and Paopao. Gray scored off a turnover to cap the run for a 39-19 lead, and it was 41-22 at halftime.
The third quarter featured four more three-pointers from Paopao, the last giving the Ducks their biggest lead to that point, 68-37. The lead remained 31 entering the fourth, at 68-37.
"It was a fun game tonight," Paopao said. "My teammates were finding me, so that just told me they trusted me to shoot the shot, so I did and it went it. I was just really happy about that."
Entering the fourth, about the only drama left was whether Rogers would get her triple double. She had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists entering the period, and quickly got two rebounds for the double-double.
After getting another assist, Rogers went to the bench with 7:26 to play. She returned with 3:36 left, and the crowd fully aware of the potential achievement at hand. The Ducks didn't make them wait long, with Hanson needing a little over 90 seconds after Rogers entered to take two passes from her and knock down threes to clinch the triple-double.
"Thankful for that opportunity and that moment," Rogers said. "Shoutout to my teammates for letting me get my last two (assists), but I'm very happy I was able to do that."
Notable: The Ducks played without freshman Kennedy Basham, who is being treated for concussion symptoms. … Oregon improved to 8-0 in its WNIT opener over the years. … The triple-double by Rogers was the first for the UO women since Sabrina Ionescu had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists against Stanford on Feb. 24, 2020. … Paopao is 34-of-51 on three-pointers over the last six games, or 66.7 percent.
Quotable:
UO coach Kelly Graves on the atmosphere Friday night
"I thought the crowd was really good. I didn't know what to expect crowd-wise tonight, because softball's playing and they're really good, and with lacrosse playing tonight. So there were other options, and it was really good to see our faithful out — and they were treated to a really good game. We haven't had a game like this in a long time."
UO coach Kelly Graves on the what-ifs of not making the NCAA Tournament
"I can't play that game right now. … And I think our kids, I was really proud of them tonight. Our kids were excited. We were ready. We didn't play the 'we got snubbed' card. We just kind of came in and played loose, played really hard, and then the shots started falling. So nah, can't play that game. You know, the longer you stay in the tournament, you kind of forget which tournament you're in exactly. You just know that, hey, we won. We're going to prepare for the next opponent, and if we can win that, we'll prepare again. So once you're into it, I think you kind of lose sight of all that stuff."
Up Next: The Ducks host Rice in the second round of the WNIT on Monday at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
NDSU
Oregon
FG%
.354
.567
3FG%
.278
.500
FT%
.600
.700
RB
29
42
TO
13
11
STL
3
9
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
9
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballKelly Graves | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Deja Kelly, Peyton Scott & Phillipina Kyei | Selection Sunday
Monday, March 17
Peyton Scott & Ari Long: "A good, competitive basketball game."
Thursday, February 27
Kelly Graves: "We've played really well."
Thursday, February 27
