Forgive sophomore center Ellie Manou if she was startled. During an interview, men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent approached her from the side and appreciatively patted her on the shoulders on his way to the locker room.
“Good job. You guys are playing well,” Kent called out.
So well, in fact, that the women’s basketball team is presently the best on campus. After sweeping the Washington schools on the road for the first time in nearly a decade, the Ducks (7-9, 4-2 Pacific-10 Conference) find themselves fourth in the Pac-10, winners of four of their last five games and three consecutive road games.
“We have a lot of energy right now and we’re just feeling really good overall,” junior guard Taylor Lilley said. “Everything seems to be flowing well. I think we’re feeling pretty confident.”
The confidence is consistent from the starters on down. Junior forward Lindsey Saffold, a junior-college transfer, was called upon by Oregon head coach Bev Smith to start against Washington State in place of Manou after Manou fouled out in six minutes against the Huskies. Saffold, who’s averaging 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds on the year, responded with six points, four rebounds and a block in 23 minutes.
“It took me a while, but I’m getting more comfortable (with the team), more relaxed,” Saffold said. “I’m focusing on defense and letting the offensive game come to me.”
“I think with our team back to almost what we envisioned it in September, I think we have a flow,” Smith said. “We’ve got our scorers back, and our role players can now play roles and they’re comfortable.”
The Ducks’ confidence will serve them well heading into an especially difficult weekend. The conference’s top two teams, No. 11 Stanford (13-4, 4-1) and No. 8 Cal (14-2, 5-0), arrive at McArthur Court looking for an edge over the other, as the Golden Bears beat the Cardinal, 57-54, Saturday at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. The Cardinal’s five-game winning streak snapped with that loss, and the Golden Bears head to Corvallis with a six-game winning streak in tow.
“Going into these next two games, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Lilley said.
On top of that, Oregon has to conserve a portion of its energy for a non-conference home game Monday against Portland. The Ducks were initially scheduled to play the Pilots on Monday, Dec. 22, but the game was rescheduled due to inclement weather.
“That is a bit tough, but we’ll look after ourselves,” Manou said of the schedule. “The UP game is as important as any other game.”
“I think our players are aware of what’s coming, but we’re going to prepare as we always have,” Smith said. “When we get through the weekend, we’ll have to sit down and evaluate our fatigue level.”
Two weeks ago, Oregon saw a two-game win streak snapped in a disappointing effort against Arizona State. Stanford is a different animal compared to the Sun Devils, and the Ducks haven’t beaten the Cardinal on their home court since 2004, but the players see the opportunity for what it is.
“Stanford is beatable. Cal did it,” Manou said. “(We need to) put our best foot forward and see what we can do.”
[email protected]