WNIT: Oregon Ducks Season Ends With Loss To South Dakota
The Oregon Women’s Basketball team watched their season come to an end on Wednesday night against a hot shooting South Dakota team that was not willing to let the game get away.
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Kelly Graves has done an amazing job in his second season with the Oregon Ducks. The team was just two wins away from setting a new all-time win mark. They played through the adversity of losing their start player in Jillian Alleyene and when the post season reset the stat sheet they won more games then they lost making it all the way to the Final Four of the WNIT be defeating some solid competition including Long Beach State, Fresno State and UTEP. The season came to an end against South Dakota in a blowout.
Jacinta Vandenberg lead with 17 points. Lexi Bando finished with 15. Maite Cazorla finished with 7 points but dished out 8 assists to her team mates, one a no look pass in the second quarter to Jacinta Vandenberg that led to two points. The Oregon Ducks shot just 40 percent from the field for the game.
The Oregon Ducks were down early, but were unable to overcome a 12 point deficit for most of the game. Oregon could not defend the perimeter as South Dakota shot over 71 percent from three point range and 54 percent from the field. It was a barrage all night that there would not be an answer for. It was an 88-54 loss, but the sticking point for this season will be 24 wins and 11 losses. This is a team that has made progress over the last two seasons with Kelly Graves at the helm.
Two seasons ago the Oregon Ducks finished 16-16, last season they finished 13-17. To go to 24-11 without your Star Player down the stretch is an accomplishment to be proud of. Fans had the opportunity to have a small glance at what this team will be about for next season and players had a valuable chemistry building ‘on court’ experience to build on.
I love this team! Thank you Ducks for a most memorable & rewarding journey! pic.twitter.com/jAlX9F8177
— Kelly Graves (@GoDucksKG) March 31, 2016
This team has no reason to hang their heads. They were noticed this season. They are primed to make a big statement in 2016-17 with Maite Cazorla leading the charge. One aspect I want to mention is attendance this season. While it was better than last year, it should continue to grow with this team. The Oregon Women’s Basketball team is still looking for crowds similar to what they saw at UTEP and South Dakota.
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I believe if they compete and win next season they have a shot at pulling similar attendance numbers at Matthew Knight Arena.