Never before has a current Oregon player lost to another Northwest school, and the Ducks would like to keep it that way through the weekend.
The Oregon women’s basketball team (10-3 overall, 3-0 Pacific-10 Conference) faces Washington (10-4, 3-1) tonight at 7 p.m., followed by Washington State (7-7, 2-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The No. 18 Ducks ride a six-game winning streak into Seattle, while the Huskies’ three-game win streak was snapped by No. 19 Arizona last weekend.
Oregon head coach Jody Runge expects “a very intense challenge” from Washington, which the Ducks came from behind to beat last February.
“When you beat a team that many times and there are seniors on that team who have never beat Oregon, they have lots of desire to beat us,” Runge said.
The Huskies are led by senior guard Megan Franza, who is scoring 13.4 points per game. Franza finished second in scoring in the Pac-10 last season with 17.2 points each outing.
Ducks shooting guard Jamie Craighead has had a hot hand lately, draining 10 of 13 shots in her team’s first conference homestand against California and Stanford last weekend. Forward Angelina Wolvert leads Oregon in scoring with 13.5 points per game.
In the last meeting between the Northwest rivals, the Ducks trailed by eight with three minutes remaining. However, Craighead broke Franza’s nose with her elbow while swinging the ball above her head, sending Washington’s bloodied star to the locker room. Oregon proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to win the game, capped by Wolvert’s low-post shot with 11 seconds to go.
The Ducks are braced for another hard-fought battle this time around.
“I hope I don’t get an elbow or anything,” Craighead said, jokingly. “The Washington schools for me, it’s a lot of fun because I get to go home and I wanted to go there. I wanted to go there, but I ended up coming here, but I respect them as a program.
“To go up there and beat them is a good feeling. It’s fun, because it’s good competition. It’s not dirty competition.”