It was a big night for Oregon's young bigs.
In the Ducks' 64-45 women's basketball victory over Washington State at McArthur Court on Thursday, freshman post players Nicole Canepa, Ellie Manou, Ellyce Ironmonger and Victoria Kenyon had the best collective Pac-10 Conference performance of their brief careers, combining for 36 points and 22 rebounds, and adding four assists and five steals.
It was a timely effort, as those four Ducks combined to shoot 17-of-31, or .548, while the rest of the Ducks were 8-of-31, or .258.
With the starters, the 6-foot-4 Ironmonger and 6-1 Kenyon, showing the way, the four Oregon post players scored the Ducks' first 22 points, but it was the effort of Canepa and Manou off the bench that solidified the bigs' big day.
The 6-5 Canepa, who has been slowed by a sprained ankle suffered Dec. 19, scored in double digits for the first time in a Pac-10 contest with a game-high 12 points, on 6-of-9 from the field, her highest scoring effort since 14 points against Long Beach State on Nov. 29.
The 6-3 Manou, battling a soft tissue injury in her left foot — she wears a protective boot except for practices and games — had six points and a game-high nine rebounds as the Ducks outrebounded the Cougars, 46-32.
"I think being young, it's taken us awhile to get used to it,” Manou said. "In practice, we've been going so hard at each other, it's been crazy. Us bigs have practically been killing each other, and that's what it's going to be like in the Pac-10, too.
"I think from us doing it in training we're able to reproduce that in games, and you saw tonight we were able to cope with it. ...
"We're determined and we don't give up. We'll play our hardest for the moments that we're on the floor. We are freshmen, and we do make mistakes, but we do try our hardest and just try to do the most for the team, whether that's setting screens or getting rebounds."
Canepa said her ankle, injured on the opening tip in the Tulsa game, has felt better in the last couple of weeks, but that she's been hesitant in games, failing to score more than four points in any of the four previous games in which she played since the injury.
Thursday night, she scored eight consecutive Oregon points in the first half, including two jump shots in the key and a layin on an assist by Oregon guard Taylor Lilley, keying a 10-3 Oregon run that pushed the Ducks to a 20-9 lead.
"I felt much more comfortable out on the floor, and I felt that together as a team I was working with them and we were reading each other,” Canepa said. "It was me getting back into the flow, and as a team we were all working well together today.
"We were finding the open spots, sealing and getting open for the passes.”
Washington State coach June Daugherty said the Cougars' matchup zone, focused on stopping Lilley, created openings that the Oregon post players exploited.
"Obviously they're young, but they're talented, and I thought them pounding us on the glass and high-low was very effective for Oregon,” Daugherty said. "Unfortunately we didn't have an answer, and that's something that was a little disappointing, because we've gotten better against big front lines, but tonight I think we got worn down a little bit by their size and by their numbers.”