Oregon is hard to find for a mediocre team, and if three fall for the ducks, they’re not a matchup for unranked teams.
Sydney Parrish scored 17 points on four three-point points and Erin Boley had 13 points and eight rebounds as Oregon No. 13 at the Galen Center scored a 72-48 win over USC for the tenth consecutive time on Sunday afternoon.
The win brought the Ducks (13-6, 10-6 Pac-12) a three-game defeat that took fourth place and a goodbye in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.
Oregon coach Kelly Graves said the Ducks had a live contact scrimmage on Saturday, something he’s never done between games, and the spirited nature of that practice carried over to the game.
“Our kids loved it and we played so damn well and I think that carried over today,” said Graves. “I thought we needed it. We had to see some success. Our children played hard. It was the best that we spoke offensively and defensively all year long. I think we needed it, we needed to have better taste in our mouths after that last game (at UCLA). “
With Taylor Chavez (five points, three rebounds) on the grid, Parrish came off the bench and was 5 of 9 off the field, including 4 of 6 of three and 3 of 4 on the foul line. The freshman also had three assists in his career, citing the intensity of Saturday’s fight as bringing the team together after a failure at UCLA on Friday.
“We fought, everyone was talking, everyone was throwing themselves on loose balls, we didn’t care if someone dived and was injured,” said Parrish. “We followed up on each other and it really helped. In the end it was a draw and we fought. It was really, really good, and we haven’t seen each other like this for a long time. We knew we had it in us and we brought it into play today. “
Taylor Mikesell scored all seven points in a 21-16 first quarter for UO and Parrish had eight of them in the second when the Ducks took the 39-25 lead at halftime.
Oregon shot 12 of 28 behind the bow and hit a season high, including 8 of 15 in the first half.
“I thought the first five minutes really set the tone for the rest of the game. Then, when we went into hiding, I thought our children continued to play hard. It wasn’t just a group, I thought everyone did. I think there were some ownership issues after the last game tonight that we were embarrassed about and we took that to heart. I think we showed real character. “
Alissa Pili had 14 points and six rebounds for USC (10-10, 8-9 Pac-12).
Boley was 5 out of 10 out of the field, including 2 out of 5 out of three. The senior adjusted her production against USC earlier in the season and was a bit shy of a career high at rebounds.
“She’s more than just that shooter,” said Graves. “She was aggressive. That was the main thing. She got the ball trying to drive, she posted. She does a lot of it on her own, we didn’t necessarily ask her to. I think she realizes that she has to give us more and she did. “
UO received 11 points from Nyara Sabally and Sedona Prince, who had nine in the fourth quarter.
