MidValleySports.Com

By Tony Solorzano

Los Angeles – Seven first half three-point shots from freshman Jasmine Davis lifted the Huskies as they knocked off the Oregon Ducks, 72-56, to open the first day of the Pacific Life Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Wednesday afternoon at
USC’s Galen Center.

“Our team effort today was terrific, especially the transition,” said Huskies head coach Kevin McGuff after the game. “We had a lot of energy on the boards and I think those two areas were the difference in the game.”

The Ducks took an early 6-5 lead on two three-pointers from Amanda Johnson and Jasmin Holliday with 16:26 left in the half, but the Huskies answered with a 15-4 run over the next four minutes. They closed out the last three minutes with an 8-2 run, making the halftime score 41-22 in favor of the Huskies.

Davis, a freshman from Valley Christian in San Jose, led all scorers with 23 points in the game, primarily on her three-point shooting. She came off the bench four minutes into the first half and began draining her shots, missing only two of
her first six shots before being subbed out with seven minutes left.

She re-entered the game two minutes later and finished of the half with three straight threes before missing her final attempt with one minute left. The seven three pointers were not only a career high for Davis but also equaled Loree
Payne’s mark set in 2002 against Michigan.

Holliday led the Ducks in scoring with 17, Amanda Love had 11 and Johnson contributed 10 in the loss, they were the only Ducks in double figures.

The Huskies move on to face top-seeded Stanford Thursday afternoon at noon. This will be the first time both teams have met in tournament play in the 10 previous tournaments held by the then PAC-10. Stanford won their regular season meeting
65-47 at Maples Pavilion.