Oregon takes three-game to winning streak to El Paso in WNIT quarterfinals
The Oregon women’s basketball team hasn’t played in Texas since 2007.
After rattling off three straight WNIT wins, the Ducks (23-10) have advanced to the quarterfinals and will visit University of Texas El Paso in El Paso on Monday night for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
It’ll be just the second-ever meeting between UTEP and Oregon. The two teams played in 1994 in a 80-70 Oregon win in Eugene.
Oregon is coming off a 73-63 win over Utah in Eugene,where it held the visiting Utes to 3-of-23 from 3-point range. Lexi Bando led the Ducks in scoring with 34 points. After the win, Oregon head coach Kelly Graves spoke to his team’s effort.
“I thought tonight we played with as much poise as we have all year — in any game,” Graves told reporters after the game.
Graves credited forward Jacinta Vandenberg as “a key to the tournament” after the Ducks lost the Pac-12’s co-player of the year, Jillian Alleyne, to an ACL injury.
Vandenberg has averaged 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, and fifth-year senior Lexi Petersen has scored 18.3 points per game in the last three Oregon wins.
“We’ve adjusted and played kind of a different game,” Graves said. “It’s working and they’re starting to believe. I think that was a big part of it: mental. Now we’re seeing and believing. That can go a long way.”
UTEP (29-4), the Conference USA regular season champion, advanced to the quarterfinal round after a 79-71 win against TCU on March 24. Before a crowd of 7,024, the Miners erased a 12-point deficit with a 41-12 run. The win tied the program’s record for most wins in a season.
In the win, UTEP had three scorers lead the way: guard Starr Breedlove (21 points, eight assists), guard Cameasha Turner (20 points) and guard Jenzel Nash (20 points, seven rebounds).
After the victory, UTEP coach Keitha Adams praised the raucous environment in her postgame press conference.
“El Paso, the city, has rejuvenated this team,” Adams said. “Coming out and having this kind of fan support has put the gas in their tank. They’re loving it now. They love this element.”
Against TCU, the Miners shot 50 percent from the field to extend their school-record home winning streak to 19 games. They’re 8-2 in their last 10 games and — like the Ducks — winners of three in a row.
“Our preparation is better. We still have a bad taste in our mouth from the conference tournament,” Turner said after the win over TCU. “I kind of think we’re peaking at the right time.”
In playing at UTEP, the Ducks will likely see the largest opposing crowd of the season. Oregon played before 4,462 fans in Corvallis on Jan. 8 earlier this season.
“We have some young kids who are getting some valuable minutes and producing,” Graves said. “Just for their psyche and the off-season inspiration, it can be big for them.
I think this is a valuable experience for us. On top of that, we’re winning and having some success.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
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