It was 18 days between games for the Oregon women’s basketball game and in many ways, it showed.
But the Ducks’ size seemed to intimidate the Coyotes in the first half and Oregon was able to cruise to a 67-47 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Next up on the docket will be Georgia, the 3-seed in the Alamo Region.
The Bulldogs advanced with a 67-53 win over 14-seed Drexel.
While the final score seemed decisive, the Ducks will have plenty to work on before Wednesday’s game. Oregon committed 23 turnovers. But for Oregon, the miscues didn’t affect them too much as South Dakota’s offensive game was no where to be found.
The Coyotes scored just nine first half points and missed 25 straight shots. They were almost completely shut out in the second quarter, but one free throw saved South Dakota from a goose egg.
Oregon, however, wasn’t much up to the task of scoring the ball as the Ducks just held a 34-9 lead at halftime. The Ducks were hot out of the gate and held a commanding 25-8 lead after one quarter of play. But they just scored nine points in the second 10 minutes of action.
South Dakota found its bearings after the break and actually outscored Oregon 38-33 in the second half.
Erin Boley led the Ducks with 22 points and Nyara Sabally added 17 points. Sedona Prince poured in 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Ducks did shoot 60 percent from the field, but they just put up 45 shots for the entire game. On the other side, South Dakota put up 65 shots, making just 17 for 26 percent from the field.
Hannah Sjerven led the Coyotes with 17 points and Liv Korngable added 15.
Oregon will face the Bulldogs at 12 PST Wednesday on ESPN2 with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.