Bay Area bigwigs
Oregon’s most recent opponents, Stanford and California, moved up to No. 2 and No. 4 in the nation, respectively, in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cardinal replaces Oklahoma as the nation’s No.2 team, after the Sooners were upset by then-No. 11 Texas A&M on Monday in College Station, Tex.
Historically, the Ducks have had a much easier time against Cal and hold a 38-20 series lead as a result. With Saturday’s win, the Cardinal holds a 38-8 series lead over Oregon, with the Ducks’ last win coming at McArthur Court on Dec. 29, 2004. Oregon has never completed a sweep of the Bay Area schools in the Ducks’ history.
Competition brewing?
As promised, Oregon head coach Bev Smith made a lineup change in between the Cal and Stanford games. Against Stanford, Smith benched sophomore forward Ellie Manou, who scored 10 points but didn’t grab a rebound from the center position, in favor of sophomore center Nicole Canepa, making her fifth start of the season and first of the conference season after missing 11 games with a sprained ankle. Canepa scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in 10 minutes; Manou scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds in 27 minutes.
Manou has been benched in this manner before. On Jan. 15, against Washington, Manou recorded the maximum of five fouls – in addition to eight points – in six minutes in a 75-55 win. She was benched in favor of junior forward Lindsey Saffold for Oregon’s Jan. 17 contest against Washington State, a 57-41 Oregon win.
The starting position is still generally considered Manou’s to lose, but Canepa and Saffold could push her if Smith sees something she doesn’t like.
The numbers don’t add up
At 5-10 in Pacific-10 Conference play (9-17 overall), the Ducks rank seventh in the conference standings, a game behind next week’s opponent, Oregon State. Their rankings within conference statistics indicate that their record may be aberrational.
Oregon is ninth in the Pac-10 in scoring offense (57.0 points per game) and ninth in scoring margin (-8.9 points). The Ducks also have the poorest rebounding in the conference (32.0 per game, including a league-worst 9.85 offensive rebounds per game) and the poorest turnover margin (-3.65 per game).
Gaynor misses Tuesday practice
Freshman point guard Darriel Gaynor was held out of yesterday’s practice for unspecified reasons. Her status is uncertain for Saturday’s game against Oregon State.
Gaynor has played in 23 games thus far this season, with one start. She is averaging 1.4 points in 11.0 minutes per game.
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