'A great way to start': Oregon advances to second round of the WNIT with 39-point win

Kelly Graves insisted on Wednesday that his Oregon women’s basketball team had gotten over the disappointment of not making the NCAA Tournament.

Friday, the Ducks backed up their coach’s assertion by playing one of their best games of the season.

Endyia Rogers had a triple-double, Te-Hina Paopao had 24 points, and six players scored in double figures as Oregon dominated North Dakota State in a 96-57 victory to open the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

A crowd of 2,703 was on hand in Matthew Knight Arena to see the Ducks (18-14) score their third-most points this season while making 13 3-pointers and shooting 57% from the field.

Up next is a second-round game against Rice at 6 p.m. Monday in Matthew Knight Arena.

“We haven’t had a game like this in a long time,” Graves said. “It’s been a while since we kind of just sit back and watch the team play well. So yeah, this was a great way to start.”

Rogers records first triple-double for Ducks since Sabrina Ionescu

Rogers had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to record her first career triple-double and the first for an Oregon player since Sabrina Ionescu recorded her NCAA-record 26th on Feb. 24, 2020.

“That’s pretty cool,” Graves said. “Endyia was on her game tonight.”

Rogers did most of her work in the final three quarters after ending the first with no points, no assists, one rebound and three turnovers.

Rogers had eight assists heading into final three minutes when she found Taya Hanson in front of the Oregon bench for a 3-pointer with 2:58 to play.

Next time down the court, Rogers again passed to Hanson in the opposite corner for another 3-pointer and her 10th assist. She added one more good measure with 1:13 to play with a pass to Phillipina Kyei for a layup.

“Thankful for that opportunity and that moment,” Rogers said. “Shoutout to my teammates for letting me get my last two, but I’m very happy I was able to do that.”

Paopao scores 24 points for Oregon

Paopao picked up where she left off two weeks ago when she exited the Pac-12 Tournament averaging 21.4 points in her last five games.

In just her second career postseason game, the junior guard was 9-for-11 from the field with six 3-pointers on seven attempts. She also had seven rebounds and four assists.

“It was a fun game tonight,” Paopao said. “My teammates were finding me, so that just told me they trusted me to shoot the shot so and I did and it went it. I just really happy about that."

'We're just a different team when the ball's moving'

Chance Gray also scored 16, Grace VanSlooten had 12 points and eight rebounds, Ahlise Hurst had 11 points and Hanson scored 10. Kyei also had nine points and seven rebounds.

The Ducks finished with 26 assists on 38 made baskets.

“We’re just a different team when the ball’s moving, when the ball’s not sticking, we get everybody involved, and we’re making shots,” Graves said. “We obviously shot it really well tonight, so that makes a big difference.”

The Ducks led the entire game but really put the score out of reach with an 18-3 run to end the first half — including a 16-0 stretch that began with Oregon up 23-19 near the mid point of the second quarter.

Rogers and Paopao each had seven points during that run as the Ducks took a 41-22 lead into halftime.

Paopao continued pushing Oregon forward with 14 points in the third quarter as the Ducks’ lead grew to 70-39.

“We really emphasized moving the ball, getting down hill and pushing each other, so it was really nice to see what we executed in practice into the game,” Paopao said.

North Dakota State started the game 1-for-8 from the field and then made just one of its last nine shots in the first half. Overall, the Bison were 9-for-32 (28%) in the first half.

They shot better in the second half, but by then it was too late.

“North Dakota State’s a really good team,” Graves said. “I saw them a bunch of times on film coming in and I thought we made them look, certainly not as good as they really are, but again gotta credit the entire defense.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

Up Next

WNIT second round: Oregon vs. Rice

6 p.m., Monday at Matthew Knight Arena. TV: TBA. Radio: TBA

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks open WNIT with first-round rout of North Dakota State