Oregon defense was very impressive in the second half, especially against Slocum who was playing at a high level. I know Ionescu was top dog, but Sabaly was unconscious from 3, and Cazorla made up in defense for her poor shooting night. Really good game; defense was almost as exciting as the offense.. Oregon State brought it tonight. Too bad PAC 12 plays too late for us East Coasters. Would like to see Anigwe in the next game but I need my beauty sleep.
I really thought the OSU defense kept Oregon from getting any kind of rhythm for the entire game and for most of the first half thought the Beavers would win. I believe Oregon is at its best when the scoring is more balanced and Ionescu doesn't have do as much as she had to offensively, but OSU took that away pretty handily. I also think Grymek bothered Hebard quite a bit and did more than her part offensively, especially early. You'd think a team that has made a living out of pick and rolls would be able to do a better job defending them, but I suppose it's sort of like pressing teams not necessarily being very good about handling the same. That said, I do think Oregon cleaned things up a bit defensively in the second half.
Slocum is really a handful one on one, but in my view from the stands Oregon State was (mostly) a better team when she wasn't on the floor. She can certainly score on anyone, but, as a point guard, she didn't seem to do as much as one would expect to make her teammates successful and I was never really worried that she would take the game over late. But maybe that's just me.
Finally, if the game will give Oregon State confidence for next Monday, I also think one could argue (I would) that it's as much a plus for Oregon. A bigger margin/easier game might have given the team a false sense of safety going into Corvallis. But they can hardly have that after tonight.