Te-Hina Paopao and Taylor Mikesell combined for 43 points Sunday night as the No. 8 Oregon Ducks easily defeated the No. 15 Oregon State Beavers.
The No. 8 Oregon Ducks won comfortably in each of their first four games this season and nothing changed on Sunday night when they beat their intrastate rival, the No. 15 Oregon State Beavers, by a score of 79-59 at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.
The Ducks (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12) earned their largest margin of victory over the Beavers (3-2, 1-2 Pac-12) in 10 years.
Oregon has so many weapons but just two players did the bulk of the scoring against Oregon State — freshman Te-Hina Paopao (22 points) and junior Taylor Mikesell (21 points).
There may not be a better group of “Splash Sisters” in the country right now than the several 3-point threats that Oregon has at its disposal and Paopao and Mikesell were the ones that caught fire on Sunday.
Welcome to the rivalry
Stellar performances today from newcomers Te-Hina Paopao (22 Pts, 9-15 FG) and Taylor Mikesell (21 Pts, 8-12 FG) in their first career game vs. OSU #GoDucks @tehinapaopao12 x @TMikesell23 pic.twitter.com/z3G342tn8S
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) December 14, 2020
Mikesell came out firing with four triples on six attempts in the first quarter and finished 5-of-8 from distance. Paopao was even more efficient, with a 4-of-5 effort. Taylor Chavez (eight points) shot 2-of-3 from deep and Jaz Shelley (five points and six assists) went 1-of-3 to give the winners a total of 12 threes.
Forward Nyara Sabally — whose sister Satou, a former Duck, completed her WNBA rookie season this year — didn’t make any 3-pointers but chipped in eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Mikesell’s first triple tied the game at 5-5 and her second and third gave Oregon leads of three points and five points, respectively. Then, Paopao’s first 3-pointer made it 14-6 before Mikesell added another with six seconds left in the first, ending the frame 21-11 in favor of the Ducks.
Oregon led by double digits the rest of the way and by as many as 29. Oregon State rallied to cut its deficit to 18 late in the fourth but it was too little, too late.
To quote @GoDucksKG: ” .”
Highlights from the No. 8 Ducks’ 79-59 win at No. 15 Oregon State, extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 24 in a row. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/OmiHFF59ZX
— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) December 14, 2020
Paopao, shooting 2-of-2 from deep in the second quarter, scored 10 of her points in that frame. She and Mikesell had 15 points each at the break and Oregon led 45-24.
Chavez took over in the third, scoring all eight of her points in the quarter to help push Oregon’s lead to 67-41 entering the fourth.
For the Beavers, sophomore forward Taylor Jones scored 14 points in defeat and was joined by teammates Jelena Mitrovic (11) and Savannah Samuel (10) in double figures. Freshman guard Sasha Goforth added nine points and four assists.
Oregon State played close to even with Oregon in many team categories, but the 3-point shooting disparity made the difference. The Ducks shot 50 percent from beyond the arc while the Beavers were 3-of-19 (16 percent).
It didn’t matter that senior sharpshooter Erin Boley, Oregon’s leading scorer, was held to just four points and an 0-of-2 effort from distance. Oregon State’s leading scorer, senior sniper Aleah Goodman, also was kept in check with just seven points, though she was 2-of-5 from long range.
Next up
Oregon: TBD on Saturday, Dec. 19, at Washington Huskies
Oregon State: 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 19, at Washington State Cougars