Just about 50 minutes after Oregon’s 77-63 win over University of Texas, San Antonio, freshman forward Lydia Giomi emerged from the Oregon tunnel with two basketballs.
She placed them under the basket and then spent several minutes working on layups. A couple minutes into her solo shooting session, with Matthew Knight Arena workers still combing the stands for abandoned popcorn, Cristina Campisano, forward Sierra Campisano’s mom, joined in.
Christina Campisano rebounded and fed Giomi with a few looks at the basket. Giomi, who had two points and three rebounds in seven minutes of play on Sunday, left the court after 30 minutes of shooting.
The scene might have been one of the clearest examples that Oregon’s 2016-17 team isn’t looking to glide through nonconference play. Challenges lie imminently ahead when the Ducks play Michigan State, ranked No. 21 in the coaches’ poll, and No. 9 Mississippi State in consecutive games this week.
50 minutes after Oregon's win over UTSA and @Lydiagiomi is out by herself working on shooting. pic.twitter.com/iZCxwVrLzm
— Jonathan Hawthorne (@Jon_Hawthorne) November 21, 2016
After the game, head coach Kelly Graves talked about closing out games and finding ways to put the dagger in the scoreboard.
“We’re trying to get as many kids as many minutes as possible before Tuesday night, (when) it gets real,” Graves said in regards to the Michigan State game. “It gets real in a hurry against a very good team.”
That very good team advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round last year. The Spartans stand at 4-0 and stand to be Oregon’s first true test of the season. They have two players averaging double digits in scoring: Tori Jankoska (20.3 ppg) and Taya Reimer (13 ppg).
“You’re talking about two of the best teams in the country,” Graves said of Michigan State and Mississippi State. “It was good that we were able to play a lot of different players tonight. I think we’ll be well rested for Tuesday.”
The Ducks have cruised offensively in all three of their wins so far. They’ve shot a combined 44.4 percent from the field, but Graves knows the Spartans will present a different look.
“They defend like you’d think a Big Ten team defends,” he said. “They get into you and make it difficult to run your stuff. … It’s going to be a really good test for this young team.”
Sabrina Ionescu, who led the Ducks with 26 points on Sunday, said Oregon won’t make major adjustments heading into Tuesday’s game.
“I don’t think we’re going to change anything,” said Ionescu, who was 9-of-14 from the floor. “We kind of have our identity and we play with that no matter who it is.”
For Lexi Bando, who finished with 10 points against UT San Antonio (1-3), Tuesday’s game will be a good way to gauge Oregon’s young team. The Ducks in consecutive games have played all 14 available players.
“It’s going to show us where we’re at. … It’s a really, really big game for us,” Bando said.
After a day filled with basketball, Giomi didn’t shy away from finding more time to shoot. After all, Oregon has two big tests on the horizon.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne
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