By: Ian Sutliff
Eugene, OR-- #20 Oregon will take on the Seattle Redhawks this weekend in the second game of its season. The Lady Ducks are coming off a blowout win against Northwestern on Monday in which the team reached the triple digit mark in points. Seattle on the other hand is coming off a 36-point blowout loss in Corvallis on Thursday. While Saturday will be just the second game of the season for both teams, it may signal that the two squads are going in very different directions for the 2022-23 campaign.
Oregon:
The Ducks are a very different team than last year after a number of players have left via the transfer portal and the WNBA draft. Sedona Prince’s injury was also a big blow to this team’s regular and postseason hopes, but Oregon has a slew of newcomers that are ready to make immediate impact. Grace VanSlooten is one of those players as she showed in the season opener that she is ready to take on a big role in an offense that may be lacking another go-to forward. The freshman put up 20 in her college debut to go along with strong performances from guards Te-Hina Paopao (15 points) and Chance Gray (14 points). This is a team that likes to play small and can do so with its talented guard play with Papao, Endiya Rogers, Gray, and Jennah Isai. Against a Seattle team that shouldn’t be too much of a test, there is a good chance that all four of the aforementioned players will get a chance to shine. The Ducks shot nearly 50% from 3-point range and I expect them to continue that kind of success as they try to establish themselves from behind the arc.
Seattle:
After a tough loss to Oregon State earlier this week, it is clear that the Redhawks are still trying to figure some things out. Look no further than the fact that head coach Suzy Barcomb is in her second season and four of the five starters on Thursday were either freshmen or sophomores. It seems as if the entire team is still trying to learn how to play with each other and learn its own system. It was an alarming sign that the team shot just under 30% from the field against a Beaver team that was picked to finish in the middle of the Pac-12 in the preseason. Seattle is also going to need a lot more out of its lone upperclassmen starter Peyton Howard who only contributed six points and three assists in her team-leading 30 minutes. Taliyah Clark is another player to watch for the Redhawks on Saturday. The sophomore guard is expected to have a big impact this year as she grows into a starting role but she went 3-14 from the field and just 1-7 from three. If Seattle is to have any chance against the Ducks it will need to see contributions from its top players.
Prediction:
The Redhawks probably had about as bad a game that one could imagine on Thursday, but it will need to be almost perfect against Oregon on Saturday. It’s pretty unrealistic to count on those extremes coming in back-to-back games and the Ducks are much further ahead in terms of figuring out their own system. Seattle isn’t a very tall team which is a big plus for an Oregon team who loves using its guards to create offensive opportunities. While both teams first results of the season probably won’t mean too much in the grand scheme of things, they are worth citing in terms of Saturday’s game. Seattle will likely play better than it did in Corvallis, but the Ducks are a much stronger team and will have their way with the Redhawks on Saturday morning.
Final Score: Oregon 88 - Seattle 50