Despite the recent five-game slump — which ended in Saturday’s 64-60 overtime victory against Washington — the Oregon women’s hoops team still has a shot at an NCAA Tournament berth.
And while the cliché of “one game at a time” still holds true, the Ducks (13-10 overall, 6-7 Pacific-10 Conference) know they must essentially win their final five games to make an eighth consecutive trip to the Big Dance.
“I don’t think that’s in the back of our minds; it’s in the front of our minds. We want to go to the tournament,” head coach Jody Runge said. “That’s where we have our focus.”
The Ducks currently sit in sixth place in the conference, one-and-a-half games behind California (7-5, 11-11) and two games behind fourth-place Arizona (8-5, 18-7). Last season, four Pac-10 teams made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
“We haven’t given that up,” junior guard Jamie Craighead said. “I think we can still do it. I know we can make a strong case with our preseason.”
If the Ducks fail to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, Runge has said she would rather not go to the WNIT. But, after Saturday’s win over Washington, she said she would ask the team members what they wanted to do if that circumstance came up.

Stealin’ the spotlight
Sophomore point guard Alissa Edwards will start Friday at UCLA. The original starter, sophomore Kourtney Shreve, has been battling through a shooting slump of late, limiting her confidence and playing time.
“I think right now it’s just being so young,” Craighead said of Shreve. “She’s in a position that she’s never been in before. But I know we’re going to do our best this week in practice to get her going because we need her. She’ll come around.”
In 31 minutes against the Huskies, Edwards was 4 of 7 from the floor, all coming in the final 12 minutes of regulation or in overtime. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists.
“I know I’m going to get about 20 minutes and share the playing time,” Edwards said. “So when I get in there I just have to play my best and make my shots.”
“It’s very difficult not to start Alissa Edwards right now because she’s done such a tremendous job,” Runge said. “Not only defensively, which is the main reason she’s playing more, but now she’s shooting the ball well.”

A halftime horror
The Ducks are 1-6 this season when trailing at the half. They picked their first win against Washington after trailing 22-23 at the half.

The Wolves are howling
Senior forward Angelina Wolvert had one of her best weekends in an Oregon uniform last week. She recorded her first double-double of the season against Washington State last Thursday, tallying a career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds. Then, against the Huskies, she grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
“I think her and Bri [senior Brianne Meharry] have really tried to hold this thing together, but we haven’t been able to put a lineup together with all five people doing the team thing,” Runge said.

From way downtown
Craighead is closing in on the school record for the most three-point field goals in a season. Missy Croshaw owns the school record with 70 during the 1993-94 season, and Craighead already has 63 this year.
She is also third on the all-time list for career threes with 91. The school record is 189, also held by Croshaw.
Additionally, Craighead is third in the Pac-10 with a .447 mark from behind the three-point arc and third in three-pointers per game (2.7.)

Mind over matter?
Senior forward Lindsey Dion’s courageous play against the Huskies guided the Ducks to victory — even though she wasn’t supposed to play in the game because of her sprained left ankle.
“To watch Lindsey Dion play on an ankle that’s obviously very, very painful — it’s hard to look at that and not be inspired,” Runge said.
Her status for this weekend is still day-to-day, depending on how the ankle feels.
“It’s just depends on how much pain she can tolerate,” Runge said. “She’s not at risk of re-injuring it; she’s just in a lot of pain. Not that Lindsey can’t handle the pain, but when her body won’t activate it … it’s not even mind over matter.”