The Ducks put an unequivocal end to their two-game losing streak.
Katie Fiso had 17 points and six assists, Mia Jacobs had 16 points and six rebounds, and Oregon got its first conference win of the season Jan. 1 with an 87-54 women’s basketball victory against Northwestern at Matthew Knight Arena.
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The Ducks (13-3, 1-2 Big Ten) had lost back-to-back games to Stanford and No. 8 Michigan before torching the Wildcats (6-8, 0-3) in front of 4,195.
Northwestern hung with Oregon early, as the Ducks led just 20-19 after the first quarter. But they scored the first 12 points of the second quarter, part of a 17-2 run that boosted their lead to 37-21 and the rout was on.
Oregon shot 52% from the field (31 of 60) and made 10 3-pointers on 16 attempts. The Ducks also made 15 of 17 free throws one game after missing nearly that many when they went 20 of 34 from the line Monday night in a double-overtime loss to the Wolverines.
“I told the team after that it’s the mark of a good basketball team, a team with character, to be able to bounce back after a tough loss,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “I though tonight we made a statement, and I was really proud of the way we played. … This was a good win. Good bounce-back.”
Oregon’s Katie Fiso, center, had 17 points and six assists Jan. 1 in the Ducks’ 87-54 home win against Northwestern.
What’s next for Oregon women’s basketball?
The Ducks will head to L.A. for a game against No. 16 USC at 7 p.m. Jan. 6 at Galen Center. The Trojans are 10-3 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. They have a game against No. 4 UCLA on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.
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The Trojans are playing the season without star guard JuJu Watkins, who is recovering from a knee injury.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How Oregon women’s basketball got its first Big Ten win
