The Oregon women’s basketball team visits Arizona today looking to regain its footing following consecutive losses in Los Angeles last weekend.
Oregon’s first stop is Tucson and against Arizona. The Ducks broke a six-game losing streak in the McKale Center last season and have already edged the Wildcats, 59-53, at home.
But that was against a shorthanded Arizona team coming off a loss to Oregon State in which the Wildcats finished the game with just two players on the court.
The road trip also starts the second half of Pacific-10 Conference play for Oregon.
Arizona is coming off a 74-59 loss at Washington last weekend. The Wildcats surrendered a 19-4 second half run that proved the difference in the Huskies’ win.
Ashley Whisonant had a game-high 20 points and seven assists for Arizona, while Amina Njonkou contributed 15 points.
The Wildcats are 7-13 overall and 1-8 in the Pac-10. Oregon is even at 10-10 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-10.
Arizona is averaging 64.4 points a game and shooting 41.3 percent from the field. They are below 30 percent from three-point range at 26.3 percent and are shooting just 65.1 percent from the free throw line.
Oregon has been dealing with a variety of injuries recently, whether it’s forward Ellie Manou’s foot or point guard Tamika Nurse’s sprained left shoulder. The injuries have provided the opportunity for Tatianna Thomas to get more on-court experience, but the Ducks are looking for a return to health.
Nurse, who injured her shoulder against UCLA, played through the pain against USC and alleviated the workload on guard Micaela Cocks. The Ducks, who pressed Cocks into playing 36 minutes, were also without guard Nia Jackson, who has a quad strain, for both games.
Guard Taylor Lilley is leading the Ducks in scoring at 12.6 points per game. Ellyce Ironmonger, Micaela Cocks and Kaela Chapdelaine are each averaging seven points a game. Chapdelaine is grabbing a team-high 6.3 rebounds a game.
The road trip ends two straight weekends on the road for Oregon and three trips in the last four weeks. The Ducks make their return to McArthur Court next week for games with the Bay Area schools.
Super Bowl weekend
Oregon flew to Tucson on Wednesday and play today in the McKale Center. They’ll then travel toward, Tempe, Ariz., on Friday, but with Super Bowl XLII taking place in Glendale, Ariz., the Ducks will have to stop for the night in Casa Grande, which is about 44 miles from Tempe.
The Ducks will play in Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday at 10 a.m. and return to Eugene in time for the kickoff of the Super Bowl.
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