The change had to happen sooner or later.
The circumstances surrounding it, however, are less than encouraging. We do not yet know if Nia Jackson will be fully cleared to play against UCLA.
Nevertheless, Oregon women’s basketball coach Paul Westhead was proactive. He had a lineup to set against Washington State and had just come off a brutal 14-point overtime loss at Washington. Jackson was kept out of the game against the Cougars due to knee injuries.
Westhead took out Victoria Kenyon, Ashley Buis and Jasmin Holliday and gave starts to Tatianna Thomas, Deanna Weaver and Danielle Love. (Ariel Thomas filled in admirably for Jackson, with 19 points.) The Ducks came out with some energy but ultimately fell to the Cougars, 96-90.
The week before, Oregon players had expressed concerns about complacency and satisfaction. Two tough opponents, Stanford and Cal, outclassed them on their home floor as they showed little fight at the end of games.
Kenyon, Buis, Holliday, Jackson and Amanda Johnson had started every game this season before the Washington State contest. Oregon is now 12-10, 3-8 in Pacific-10 Conference play; the Ducks were not pushing the pace consistently and defensive pressure was applied erratically. The Golden Bears, in particular, forced turnovers in the backcourt and created easy scoring opportunities for themselves.
The lineup was the last line of defense against complacency, and it had to be changed soon. To Westhead’s credit, he injected some fresher legs. (And freshmen legs — Weaver, Love and Thomas all started their first games as Ducks against Washington State).
Holliday had scored four, two, two, 10, four, and zero points in the six games prior to the Wazzu game. Her athleticism and speed is valuable, but not when the effort is lacking. She needs a wake-up call.
Buis had scored three, two, zero, four, two and 16 points in those six games. Her double-digit point effort against USC was the first of its kind in Pac-10 play this season. The junior-college transfer, touted for her outside shooting before the season, is shooting 28.6 percent from the field in conference games.
Kenyon had scored a combined 34 points in those six games, but her true measure of value comes more from defense and rebounding. Her performances on the glass: two, one, one, eight, three and one rebounds. In three of the games, she collected four or more fouls, including four in 13:09 in the first half against Cal. Kenyon needs extra rest.
A curveball was thrown into the proceedings on Saturday when Weaver left the Washington State game after just three minutes due to an ankle injury. It has yet to be determined if she’ll miss much time, but her athleticism and skills made her the sixth woman for many of Oregon’s games this season.
Getting Kristi Fallin back from her ankle injury, suffered against Cal, helps Westhead out tremendously. Fallin had been starting to find her stroke before the injury, with a big game against Oregon State on January 23 (17 points, 5-for-6 three-point shooting). She returned against the Cougars to the tune of 13 points (4-for-9 three-point shooting) in 19 minutes off the bench.
The Ducks’ season effectively rides on the next five games: a homestand against the Los Angeles schools, the Civil War at Oregon State and a Bay Area road trip that has been most unkind in recent history.
Compounding the difficulty is the fact that, while Oregon was falling short of a comeback attempt in Pullman, Wash., on Saturday, Oregon State pulled off a shocking upset of Washington in Seattle. The Beavers are 1-10 in conference (8-14 overall) but the message is clear: The bottom is catching up to the Ducks, now alone in ninth place in the standings.
Westhead’s squad has not played fast, played hard or finished well since the Civil War to open women’s basketball games at Knight Arena. With this lineup change, Oregon may find the key to springing itself from the Pac-10 cellar.
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