The Oregon women’s basketball team has lost nine straight conference games on the road, starting Dec. 20 in Los Angeles.
Breaking that streak must wait until next season, but opportunities for revenge start today when USC visits McArthur Court at 7 p.m. and UCLA comes Saturday at 3 p.m.
Oregon (14-12 overall, 5-11 Pacific-10 Conference) finds itself in the unusual position of spoiler. Both USC (16-9, 10-6) and UCLA (15-10, 10-6) are seeking wins to bolster NCAA Tournament hopes as they head into the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament March 3-6 in San Jose, Calif.
Oregon is trying to position itself for a run through the tournament and an improbable NCAA berth. If not, the Women’s NIT awaits Oregon so long as it gains another win and secures a winning overall record.
Currently, the Ducks sit in eighth place in the Pac-10 standings.
Eliminated from moving into sixth place, Oregon is fighting with rival Oregon State for seventh place. Either way, Oregon is locked into the first round of Pac-10 Tournament, meaning it has to win four consecutive games at HP Pavilion to make the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.
Oregon is counting on the return of shooting guard Chelsea Wagner today.
Wagner missed both games in Washington last weekend after she got a concussion two weeks ago against Arizona State. Her presence and the return to health of senior guard Brandi Davis should replenish Oregon’s outside shooting.
“With my career coming to an end here, it just made it seem even longer,” Wagner said of her time off. “I’m really excited.”
Wagner, a Springfield native, will close out her five-year career before family and friends. She is Oregon’s second-leading scorer at 9.6 per game with a team-high 51 three-pointers on 44 percent shooting from long distance.
“The fact that this is the last two times I get to play (at McArthur) court that just speaks for itself,” Wagner said.
Davis earned her fifth year at Oregon – fourth playing basketball – by graduating last spring after coming to Eugene as a partial qualifier academically in 2001-02. She is second in three-pointers made (35) behind Wagner. Davis needs only 13 points to reach 1,000 for her Oregon career.
Oregon’s two other seniors, Kedzie Gunderson and Yadili Okwumabua, give Oregon a distiaveraging five points to go with 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Okwumabua has spelled Oregon post players in stretches.
The final games for Oregon seniors at McArthur Court come after USC and UCLA faced off in its rivalry game last week. USC narrowly edged UCLA 77-73, sweeping the season series between the two schools.
USC is on a two-game winning streak, but has lost four of its last seven games. The Trojans utilize the versatile games of forward Eshaya Murphy, point guard Camille LeNoir and center Chloe Kerr. The trio average 17, 13 and 9.4 points, respectively.
The Trojans used a 13-0 run to take a 41-17 halftime lead and another 13-0 run in the second half to make it 66-35 in USC’s eventual 72-48 route of Oregon on Dec. 22.
“Instead of them attacking, we have to be the aggressors,” Wagner said. “We have to be the ones that make the first move.”
Since that first matchup, injuries have sidelined Jamie Funn, Brynn Cameron and Simone Jelks. Cameron led USC in scoring last season at 9.8 points per game, but was saddled with hip problems this year.
The biggest factors in slowing down USC centers on Oregon’s ability to shoot good shots and control the tempo, Smith said.
“They are good in the full court,” Smith said. “I think we do as we’ve always done and try not to give them any transition scores out of the full court.”
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