Oregon Hoping to Bounce Back from Brutal Trip to Desert With Road Matchup Against Washington State

The Ducks need a shot in the arm after a debilitating weekend of losses in Arizona.

Author:
Graham Metzker
Publish date:
Feb 8, 2022 11:55 PM EST

The No. 24-ranked Oregon Ducks will march up to Pullman for a matchup with the Washington State Cougars as their four-game road trip continues.

Oregon is halfway through its penultimate road trip of the regular season, and there has been plenty of turbulence already. The Ducks got burnt badly on their trip through the desert, falling to both Arizona and Arizona State.

Before the back-to-back losses, the Ducks had scored at least 50 points in every game this season. They failed to hit the 50-point mark in both losses in the Grand Canyon State this past weekend.

For Washington State, Oregon’s misfortune couldn’t come at a better time. In the Pac-12 standings, WSU is just one game behind third-place Oregon with a conference record of 6-4 – and the two teams both hold a 14-7 overall record on the season.

Oregon WBB vs. Arizona State (2/1/22)

The Ducks defeated the Sun Devils 72-58 behind Nyara Sabally's 22 points.

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The Cougars fumbled their opportunity to close the gap when they lost to Utah 72-66 on Sunday. Before the loss in Salt Lake City, however, WSU was on a strong four-game winning streak – including back-to-back wins against arch rival Washington.

Sophomore sensation Charlisse Leger-Walker was on a tear for the Cougars over their winning spree. She averaged 19 points over the four games, including a career-high 30 points against Colorado.

Washington State has leaned heavily on the Leger-Walker sisters this season. Charlisse Leger-Walker is second in the Pac-12 in points per game with 17.2 PPG, while big sister Krystal Leger-Walker is second in the Pac-12 in assists per game with 4.6 APG.

It will be a star-studded backcourt matchup on Wednesday at the Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. The creative Leger-Walker sisters will have their hands full with the sharp-shooting duo of Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, Paopao has not been as sharp as her team needs. The sophomore point guard had a combined field goal shooting line of 5-for-17 over the last two games. It’s a surprising decline from Paopao, who was crucial in Oregon’s big wins against Arizona and Connecticut less than a month ago.

Paopao seemed hesitant to shoot against a dominant Arizona paint defense, going 2-for-5 from the field. Against Arizona State, she tried to force the ball up too much as evidenced by her shocking 2-of-13 field goal shooting in the game.

Oregon should be able to get back in the groove against a Washington State offense ranking second-to-last in the Pac-12 in scoring, averaging 61.2 points a game. Oregon dropped down to third in the conference in scoring at 72.4 points per game thanks to back-to-back games with scoring totals below 50.

It’s a crucial time for Kelly Graves and this iteration of the Ducks. Eight games remain in the regular season, and the Ducks are still figuring themselves out.

“This may be our lowest point,” said Graves after the Arizona State loss. “Sometimes you can’t get better until they have that low point, so hopefully we’ll use this to get better.”

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