Ahlise Hurst finally knocked down some three-pointers, five of them in all, and Oregon cruised on the Bayou.
Hurst had 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting behind the arc and Phillipina Kyei had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 21 Oregon in a 83-46 win over Southern at F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Monday as part of the Pac-12/SWAC legacy series.
“It’s always good when it’s a good shooting night,” Hurst said on UO’s postgame radio show.
Both teams shot 5 of 12 from the field in the first quarter but Oregon took an 18-11 lead thanks to going 6 of 10 at the free throw line in the frame.
Hurst made three three-pointers in the second and Chance Gray scored eight of her 12 points before the break for Oregon, which expanded its lead to 38-24 at the half.
“I thought our execution was a heck of a lot better in that second half,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said on the postgame radio show. “We had eight turnovers in the first half, three of which were illegal screens. But we took care of the ball a little bit better.”
Endyia Rogers scored all of her 14 points in the third quarter as the Ducks pulled away with an 18-0 run to open the quarter.
“I think Endyia was a big part of that,” Graves said. “She was almost (missing in action) in the first half. I don’t know where she was exactly; physically she was here. But that second half she really took off and it was good to see and I think we followed suit.”
Te-Hina Paopao had nine points, seven rebounds and five of Oregon’s 21 assists on 29 baskets.
Oregon (3-0) kept it up in the fourth, closing 9 of 14 from the field with two more threes by Hurst.
Aleighyah Fontenot and Raven White each scored eight points for Southern (0-3).
Oregon has a week off until it hosts Southern Utah on Nov. 21 at Matthew Knight Arena.
