After a second-round exit in last year's March Madness tournament, the Oregon Ducks returned to Matthew Knight Arena in an exhibition game versus the Western Oregon Wolves. The Kelly Graves-led Ducks came back into MKA after the heartbreaking loss in last year's tournament, but showed no signs of fatigue with a 113-36 win over the Wolves, highlighted by standout junior forward Sarah Rambus.
Rambus was the clear star for this Oregon team, finishing with 28 points, which led the Ducks in their win. Rambus just wouldn't be denied from inside, as if she did miss, she would grab her own rebound and still finish.
“Sarah has grown a lot upstairs mentally, and I'm really proud of her,” Graves said of Rambus. “She can really run the floor, she has really improved all offseason.”
It shows, as Rambus finished with eight rebounds and an assist to go with her game-high in points.
It wasn't just Rambus, though the whole team in this game showed that they could score, and it does not matter who is starting or who's on the floor; everyone can score. You have to be able to do this, as this newly revamped offense for the Ducks focuses on 3-point shooting and constant movement, and hustle.
“We have really good depth,” Graves said. “We have strength in numbers and I'm really excited to coach this group for that reason… We have a lot of weapons.”
You need to have this when you play this fast-paced style of offense.
The Ducks came into the game with a clear game plan, and that was to outpace the Wolves. From the tip, it was as if the starting gun went off, and Oregon was the sprinter, moving up and down the court quickly, creating easy layups and open shots. The Ducks were a very one-dimensional team last year, with a lot of points coming from inside, but after the graduation of big-time 6-foot-8 forward Phillipina Kyei, a big concern was how this team would look after her departure.
Looking at this season's roster, the tallest player on the team would be the 6-foot-4 Amina Muhammad. Although this team is smaller, where they lack in size, they very much make up for it in shooting and hustle. As this fast-paced offense and Stellar defense as the Ducks made sure to emphasize how much pride they take in their defense, and it showed, only holding the Wolves to 36 points. Oregon was too much to handle, and Western Oregon just couldn't keep up as coach Graves called it “A good Brand of basketball.”
The Ducks are full steam ahead going into the season opener on Monday, Nov. 3, versus West Georgia, as they look to carry this momentum to start the season off strong and make a run for the Big Ten championship this year. They look to do so on the back of Rambus and the newly revamped style of play from this team.