Cougars Beat Sloppy Ducks in Women’s Basketball 75-59

Washington State beat Oregon today in Women’s Basketball 75-59. In a sloppy game Oregon could not shoot to save their lives, and suffered from poor effort defensively. Lexi Bando (19 points) and Ruthy Hebard (14 points, 8 rebounds) led the way for Oregon in the loss. Washington State was paced by Chanelle Molina (20 points on 8-14 shooting) and Alexys Swedelund (16 points.) Oregon finished the game shooting 36.5% and were outscored in the paint 34-24.

Maite Cazorla returned from injury to start the game, but that didn’t prevent the Cougars from getting the early lead. In a sloppy first quarter replete with fouls and turnovers only Bando stood out, scoring Oregon’s first 5 points and finishing the quarter with 8. Washington State finished the quarter up by 2, 18-16, behind Molina and Pinelopi Pavlopoulou.

Things did not improve in the second quarter, as Oregon’s defense just fell apart. The lead grew to 10 by the 5 minute mark, but Oregon was able to get it down to 7 on a pair of free throws by Hebard. The half ended with the Cougars leading 41-34. Bando added 6 in the quarter, finishing the half with 14 points on .400/.500/.666 shooting, and Hebard tallied 7 points on 3 shots. As a team Oregon shot 38.5% from the floor for the half. Molina and Pavlopoulou both scored 9 in the half with excellent efficiency.

The Lady Ducks were able to get the lead down to 3 early in the third on a pair of layups by Hebard and Justine Hall, but Swedelund notched back to back 3 pointers early in the third to get the lead up to 8, and the Ducks had no answer. The uninspired play and lack of defense continued into the second half after that, and Oregon trailed by 15 points to end the quarter down 61-46. Hebard led the way for Oregon with 4 points in the quarter.

Oregon could not make up ground in the fourth quarter. Swedelund opened the scoring with a 3 which was answered by a 3 from Bando and a layup from Mar’Shay Moore. Molina scored the next 7 points for the Cougars, pushing the lead up to 18. Oregon could never recover, and finished up on the wrong side of a 16 point deficit 75-59.

Up next, Oregon travels to Stanford to take on the Cardinal on January 6th at 8 PM.