Oregon vs. Wyoming, 3rd Round WNIT Preview
CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Oregon coach Bev Smith says few, if any, of her players have been to Wyoming. So she's excited about visiting the Cowboy State and playing in an arena where women's basketball this season is averaging more than 2,500 fans per game.
"We hear it's a fantastic venue to play in," Smith said, then paused. "Maybe not for the opposing team."
When the Ducks (17-13) visit Laramie on Thursday night to take on Wyoming (23-9) in the third round of the WNIT, they'll be trying to do what only one other team has done this season -- escape the Arena-Auditorium with a win.
"We know they've only lost one game at home all this year, and they're tough," Smith said.
But also familiar.
Although Wyoming and Oregon haven't played this year, they play similar styles:
- Both run a motion offense geared toward allowing players to create their own shots.
- Both prefer a low-scoring, half-court game instead of a frenetic, pressing, 94-foot attack. Wyoming averages 65.4 points per game, while Oregon averages 62.8.
- Both bring a variety of scorers. Forward Eleanor Haring (12.7 points per game) is the only Duck who averages double-digit scoring, but five other players average 6 points or better. Nine players average at least 15 minutes per game.
Wyoming, too, has six players scoring 6 points or more per game, led by Hanna Zavecz with 13.5 points per game, Justyna Podziemska with 12.9 and Jodi Bolerjack with 11.6 ppg. Eight players average at least 10 minutes.
-- Both rely heavily on their outside game. As a team, the Cowgirls are hitting better than 36 percent of their 3-point tries, averaging more than seven 3-pointers per game. Oregon averages 37 percent from the arc, hitting almost six 3-pointers per game.
"They play the way we would like to play, putting it honestly," Smith said. "They run a very good motion offense. They're very smart players, and they read each other well. And (Wyoming coach Joe Legerski) does a very good job of running an offense that takes advantage of his personnel."
"I think they're very similar to us," Legerski said, before pointing out one major difference -- Oregon's size.
Up front, the Ducks have 6-foot-6 center Jessie Shetters and 6-3 Carolyn Ganes, both taller than anyone the Cowgirls start.
"We don't have anybody who matches up with Ganes and Shetters," Legerski said, pointing out that Missouri's star post player, EeTisha Riddle, had 31 points and 12 rebounds against the Cowgirls in the WNIT's second round.
Of course, the Cowgirls won that game 73-67 to advance and play Oregon -- and they did it largely because of their 3-point shooting.
Legerski said that would be a key against Oregon, too -- both executing the perimeter game on offense, and shutting down Oregon's outside game on defense.
"Their motion offense will be difficult to defend," Legerski said. "They really like to get out and shoot the basketball. It's going to come down to who's shooting the best from the perimeter."
