Ducks Corral Mustangs 102-93
Rick Morgan
Senior forward Jasmin Holliday'a 24 points led the Ducks to a 102-93 opening game win over the Mustangs of Cal Poly at Matthew Knight Arena Sunday afternoon.
Amanda Johnson's 19 rebounds fueled Oregon's fast break and five players posted double figures on the score sheet.
"My experience as a coach first game you have two goals," said head coach Paul Westhead. "No one gets hurt and you win. Everything after that is a bonus or something you really need to work on. We need to work on a lot of things but we got a win, and no one got hurt."
"I liked the offensive play of Jasmine Holliday. She got out and ran the break for us and got what looked like easy baskets but were the result of fast break. She's much, much more confident in her offensive game this year . she's acting like it's easy. I'm very pleased with her performance and her steadiness."
What's to work on?
"Got a long list...," Westhead continues, "for starters we can't allow anybody to get 20 offensive rebounds. We have to do a much better job on our defensive rebounding. Our pursuit of the missed shot - a couple of times the ball was available and like three or four people are just kind of like ?I thought you had it'. You need all five to go get it.
In addition to her 18 points, senior point guard Nia Jackson handed out five assists and appears to have found a new outside outlet in freshman Jordan Loera. The new kid has a nice touch for three's from the right wing, hitting for 12 points on three of eight from outside the arc and one of two from just inside.
Johnson and Holliday could have a field day inside this season if Loera proves consistent from the wing.
"There are learning a lot," said Holliday of the Loera and the newcomers. "I think they are doing really good.
Did the old hands see any first game jitters from the youngsters?
"I think in the beginning, the pressure that Cal Poly brought defensively was kind of in your face a little bit," said Johnson. "I think dealing with that was a little bit abrupt for them but I think that as the game wore on they were able to kind of settle down and get in the groove and make some good plays for us."
Off the bench, guard Laura Stanulis gave Westhead 16 solid minutes, dishing out 8 assists, making both her threes, and getting to the free throw line 8 times on her way to 13 points.
Individually, no one could hold a candle to the Mustangs' Jonae Ervin. Scorching the net for 33 points, Ervin hit 11 of her 13 shots including all five from the next zipcode.
Ervin's sharpshooting kept Cal Poly nipping at Oregon's heels but Oregon's balance was too much down the stretch.
"I told them with about six minutes to go, I said ?I told you - you were going to be in a game, and you're in one'," Westhead said.
After seeing their lead slip to five at 77-72, the Ducks got eight of the next nine points scored to push the lead to 12 and held on from there.
Next action for the Ducks is Friday when they host Illinois. Tip is set for 7:00pm.
