3 takeaways from Oregon women’s basketball exhibition win over Southern Oregon

Coming out firing before petering out to a near standstill ending, the Oregon women’s basketball team broke in its new-look roster Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena in an exhibition 76-55 win over Southern Oregon.

The Ducks rode Chance Gray’s hot hand in the first half and built up a massive lead before their group of mostly freshmen struggled in their first game action in the fourth quarter.

Here are takeaways from the Ducks’ first unofficial women’s hoops action of the season.

Chance Gray, Peyton Scott look the part as new lead guards

Gone are Oregon’s top two scorers on the wing in Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao from a year ago. Though the Ducks have admitted they will miss the scoring punch both provided, in their first game action of 2023 both Gray and Miami of Ohio transfer Peyton Scott looked the part as the primary ballhandlers in the starting unit.

Gray scored all 17 of her game-high points in the first half, taking advantage of each and every opening to score and shooting 6 of 11 from the field and making three shots from deep. Her partner at point, Scott, scored 14 points in her Ducks debut, making a pair of treys and swiping away four steals.

“Peyton, I thought played great,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “We’re going to need her, it’s a long season … She’s going to have to log a lot of minutes for us, but she did great. We lost some scoring in the backcourt, but I think she’s going to give us – between her and Sofia (Bell) and Chance in a more important role – I think we’re going to be able to make up for those losses.”

The pair consistently sought their own shot on the perimeter, with Scott showcasing a pull-up midrange game and Gray showing improvement with her outside shot.

That will be a key development for the Ducks as they search for offensive consistency in the early season.

Oregon's defensive potential is there

Not particularly known for their defensive prowess in the past, the Ducks will heavily rely on a lineup that wants to defend in 2023.

A lot of that starts with its perimeter players in Gray, Scott, and newcomer Bell, who are all more than willing defenders.

“I thought we looked pretty good,” Graves said. “I thought we did some really good things tonight, especially defensively… Sofia can be an elite defender, Chance can be an elite defender. (Phillipina Kyei) has gotten better at it … Grace (VanSlooten) is long and athletic, and Peyton is tough as nails. That starting unit will be pretty good defensively.”

The Ducks had nine steals as a team, and 11 blocked shots, led by Kennedy Basham’s four and Kyei’s three. Oregon held Southern Oregon to just 31.3% shooting in the first half – when the starters were still playing.

Extra perimeter work for Grace VanSlooten seems to have paid off

The sophomore told media earlier this week that she was aiming to make at least 500 shots every day from the outside, and that extra work on the perimeter seems to have paid off, in limited run against Southern Oregon.

VanSlooten made 2 of 3 of her 3-pointers, and 5 of 10 of her shots from the field for 13 points in just 21 minutes. As a freshman, VanSlooten took just one 3-pointer in 32 games.

Though it looks like she’ll still mostly be operating in the post as a four, VanSlooten’s perimeter skills will help open up the floor for other shooters, and 6-foot-8 center Kyei in the middle if she can consistently knock down outside shots.

“This is definitely newer,” VanSlooten said earlier this week. “I love playing out there and I’ve always wanted to, it was just this offseason that I had to really lock in and focus on making that jump to be able to play out there in the Pac-12. That’s what I did and I’m really excited to see how it goes.”

The Ducks officially open the season Nov. 6 against Northern Arizona back at Matthew Knight Arena.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women's basketball debuts new-look roster in exhibition win