For the first time in the brief history of the Pacific-10 Conference Women’s Tournament, the Oregon women’s basketball team is
expected to win.
On Saturday, the second-seeded Ducks will take on the winner of the game between
seventh-seeded Washington (13-15 overall,
9-9 Pac-10) and 10th-seeded Oregon State
(6-22, 1-17) in the 2005 Pac-10 Women’s
Basketball Tournament at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
With a win, Oregon (19-8, 12-6) will
win 20 games in a season for the first time since 2001-02, the first year Bev Smith was head coach. During that year, the Ducks won 15 games in the regular season and added seven more in the postseason — which
included a Women’s National Invitation
Tournament championship.
Also with a tournament win, the
Ducks will secure themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Smith’s tenure.
But for now, the Ducks will have to wait
on the winner of tonight’s game to have
a chance at advancing in the Pac-10
Tournament for only the second time in its four-year history.
“We’re in really good shape for this
week,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “We’re coming off a very tough loss against Stanford. It was a psychological game for us. But we’re healthy and we have Cathrine (Kraayeveld) back. So knock on wood,
everyone is healthy.”
Oregon’s offensive certainly begins with Kraayeveld, the senior from Kirkland, Wash., who is the Ducks’ leading scorer and
rebounder. The 6-foot-4 forward is averaging 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Kraayeveld, who was just named to
the All-Pac-10 Women’s basketball team,
is coming of an infection in her elbow,
which has led to a string of sub-par
performances of late. In the Ducks’ 76-45
loss against Stanford, Kraayeveld was held scoreless for the first time in her career as a starter at Oregon.
However, she rebounded against California on Saturday, leading the Ducks with 14 points, four assists and three steals to secure the No. 2 seed.
“Our strength on offensive is absolutely
inside,” Smith said. “And I know the last half of the Pac-10, teams did a good job trying to limit that, and that’s what we are looking
forward to in the postseason, to get the
ball inside.”
Kraayeveld is joined by fellow post player and fellow All-Pac-10 player Andrea Bills.
The senior received her first All-Pac-10 honor along with Kraayeveld on Thursday. Bills is
averaging 11.4 points per game, which ranks 10th in the conference. Bills also ranks fourth in
rebounding, pulling down seven boards per game.
In addition to Kraayeveld and Bills receiving All-Pac-10 honors, freshman Kristen Forristall was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.
What makes Oregon dangerous
is the play of senior Brandi
Davis. Davis, who replaced injured shooting guard Chelsea
Wagner
midseason, gives the Ducks a potent outside weapon and an outlet for Kraayeveld and Bills when they get doubled inside.
Davis is fifth in the conference in three-pointers made with 45. Since Oregon’s game against UCLA last month, Davis has won Pac-10 Player of the Week twice and led the team in scoring four times in nine games.
Whomever the Ducks face on
Saturday, the matchup will mark the third time this year the teams will face each other.
“Your team has to be playing at its highest (to face a team the third time around),” Washington head coach June Daugherty said. “You have to improve every time out, and that’s what we will focus on
this week.”
Against Washington, the Ducks split the season series, winning
86-77 at McArthur Court in January and losing last month to the Huskies 81-57 in Seattle.
The Huskies are winners of
four out of their last five, including the victory over the Ducks.
Washington finished the regular
season with a 64-60 win at Arizona.
Oregon swept the season series against Oregon State, winning by an average of 17.5 points. Oregon State senior Shannon Howell is third in the
conference in scoring with 14.8 points per game.
“You’re looking at a new
season with new story lines to be written,” Smith said. “This year,
given the competitive nature of
the Pac-10, it’s going to be a great tournament with some great games to be played.”
Tipoff for Saturday’s game is set for 1:15 p.m.
Ducks vie for 20-win season at tourney
Daily Emerald
March 3, 2005
Oregon senior Brandi Davis is averaging 10.1 points and is 10th in the Pac-10 in three-point percentage this season.
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