Mallory Heyer impresses in Oregon women's debut vs. Hawaii
· Yahoo Sports
It didn't take long for Mallory Heyer to make a splash, or several, in Oregon women's basketball's 87-54 win over Hawaii on Nov. 2 at Matthew Knight Arena.
The fifth-year transfer from Minnesota arrived in Eugene halfway through the season last year, but sat it out while practicing with the team. In the Ducks' (1-0) season opener Monday afternoon, Heyer scored 16 points in the first half and showcased disciplined versatility in the dominant win.
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"We expect that from Mallory," coach Kelly Graves said. "She’s been shooting the heck out of it pretty, much all fall."
Heyer didn't score in the second half but continued to impact the game on the boards and defensively, totaling seven rebounds, a steal and a block in her Duck debut.
At 6-foot-1, Heyer is undersized for a forward and plays alongside a fellow undersized forward in 6-foot Ehis Etute. The junior Etute contributed 15 points and 14 rebounds after a slow start in a promising opener for Oregon's frontcourt.
"We’re working on spacing the floor and hitting outside shots and opening up the inside, eventually, too," Heyer said. "Just doing whatever the defense gives us."
Heyer will continue to be a big factor in Oregon's offense moving forward, Graves said, as she looks to slot into a role occupied by Mia Jacobs a year ago as a pick-and-pop rebounder.
"She’s one of our better 3-point shooters," Graves said of Heyer. "She kind of cooled off a little bit, but she’s able to stretch the defense … when teams have to stay on Avary Cain and stay on Mallory, that gives Katie (Fiso) a lot of room to operate with the ball and gives Ehis some freedom to make plays inside."
Oregon happy with 3-point shot selection in debut win
Graves mentioned after Oregon's exhibition win against Bushnell the Ducks are aiming to get off around 30 3-point shot attempts per game.
The Ducks hit that number and then some in a back-and-forth and fast-paced game. At one point the Ducks were well on pace for more than 40 3-point shot attempts and knocking them down at a decent clip.
The well eventually dried up, especially in the second half, and the Ducks finished 11 for 32 on 3-point attempts. Oregon eclipsed 30 3-pointers in a game just four times and averaged 19.4 per game a year ago. In the Graves era, Oregon's single-season high for 3-point attempts per game is 23.8.
"I thought we got a little stagnant offensively," Graves said. "We’re at our best when we’re moving the ball, but I think we had some players dribbling a little bit too much, always calling for ball screens.
"I liked our shots. I think a lot of those are going to fall in the future if we continue to get those shots."
Katie Fiso, who scored 14 points and dished out nine assists, mostly to shooters, said while she doesn't have a number in her head for how many Oregon should take a game, her focus is on making the "right read."
"It’s game-to-game, making the right read," Fiso said. "It's playing basketball at the end of the day."
Kelly Graves takes good and bad with dealing with Hawaii size
Oregon's coach has known since the summer the Ducks would be undersized against just about every team they face.
He admitted as much, again, Monday.
While the Ducks' pace was up to par and they often operated at the tempo they wanted, their size already posed significant problems against the Rainbow Wahine (0-1). Forward Ritorya Tamilo was the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-5 and routinely sent back Oregon shots and scored over the head of smaller UO players.
"We’re not a big team," Graves said. "We’re going to have to get used to those kinds of players. I thought we did a better job in the second half of trying to bring (Tamilo) away from the basket."
Tamilo finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven crushing blocks, but had six of those rejections in the first half.
Fiso said she was "grateful" Oregon played a quality post this early in the season, because it won't be the last time that happens.
The Ducks take on Washington State at Matthew Knight Arena for their next game Friday.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Mallory Heyer impresses in Oregon women's debut vs. Hawaii