Takeaways From Oregon's Convincing Win Over the UCLA Bruins

The Ducks got another great night out of their Big three, but also saw other pieces contribute.

Author:
Joe Zochert
Publish date:
Feb 16, 2022 11:14 PM EST

The Oregon Ducks (17-8, 10-4 Pac-12) beat the UCLA Bruins (11-10, 6-7 Pac-12) in a 67-53 win after losing to in-state rival Oregon State last weekend. The Ducks had an uneven performance on Wednesday, but the win keeps them near the top of the Pac-12 standings.

Here are five takeaways from Oregon's victory.

Player of the Game

Te-Hina Paopao did most of her damage in the first half. The sophomore contributed five points and two steals in the opening quarter. Paopao continued in the second quarter with five points and five rebounds.

Paopao was quiet in the second half with only five points due to picking up three fouls. She finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals for the game.

Te-Hina Paopao vs. UCLA

Te-Hina Paopao UCLA Dribble — Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Getting to the lead

Oregon won the first quarter 20-9 with great defense and three-point shooting. The Ducks forced six turnovers which led to 11 points. This was their best opening quarter since stomping on the Washington State Cougars 83-30. The Ducks deployed a mixture of zone, press defense and man-to-man which had the Bruins rattled. This lead proved to be critical as the Bruins got within striking distance in the second half.

Charisma Osborne’s scoring streak

It was a tale of two halves defending the UCLA junior. Heading into Wednesday's game, Osborne was the No. 2 scorer in the Pac-12 at 17.5 points per contest this year. She reached double figures in all but one of those outings. The Ducks kept her cold to start as Osborne only managed five points in the first half, which helped Oregon gain a comfortable 40-20 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, Osborne started with a four-point play and poured in 11 points to bring her team to a 54-44 deficit at the end of the third. She added five more points in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit. Osborne finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.

Live or Die by the Three

The Ducks were red hot Wednesday, shooting at a 50% clip (6-12) from the three-point line in the first half. They're ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in that category, knocking down 31.3% of their threes on the season. In the second half, Oregon regressed to their mean, going just 2-6 from the perimeter.

The Bruins were ice cold and looked lost on offense in the first half. For the game, UCLA shot 3-18 from the three-point line, which is an anemic 16.7%. Based on their shooting today, you probably couldn’t tell that they lead the Pac-12 in three point percentage at 38.7%.

The Ducks escaped with a win as they caught the Bruins on a rare off night shooting the rock.

Oregon’s Big 3 got some help

The Ducks got two players to step up and prevent them from blowing a 20-point lead. Sedona Prince and Phillipina Kyei chipped in some valuable minutes off the bench.

Prince had one of her best games so far this season--impacting the game with great communication, patrolling the paint on defense and staying active on the glass. She's shown her importance to the team as her and Nyra Sabally could give teams nightmares with their tag team dominance.

Sedona Prince vs. UCLA

Sedona Prince UCLA — Scott Boldt/Ducks Digest

Head Coach Kelly Graves made a brilliant move by starting Kyei in the final quarter. Kyei contributed two points and two rebounds, but the most impressive part of her night was an energizing block that helped swing momentum back to the Ducks after a lackluster third quarter.

Even though the trio of Sabally, Rogers and Paopao combined for 43 points, it will be important for the Ducks to get help from their bench in order to find success in the postseason.

What’s Ahead

The UCLA Bruins will go back home to face the Colorado Buffaloes this Friday. Then, they'll have their last home game of the season against the Utah Utes on Sunday.

Oregon will face off against the California Golden Bears at Matthew Knight Arena on Friday. After California, Oregon will finish their four-game homestand against the No. 2-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Sunday.