There are no punch cards or time clocks in McArthur Court. There is no need for a lunch pail when the food can be catered or delivered by the local pizza shop. Heavy equipment is not a necessity, even though the task of defending a
6-foot-3 center can often be a difficult one.
But there is an aura about Andrea Bills that makes every basketball game feel more like a fast-paced construction job site rather than a sporting event.
“She is the quintessential blue-collar worker,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “Whether she is injured or sick, she has a great sense of what it takes to get it done on the court.”
In her four years at Oregon, Bills has performed with great merit. She has not missed a single game in her collegiate career, and tonight she will take part in her 116th contest as a Duck – and her 97th consecutive start.
For those reasons, the Moreno Valley, Calif., native is the definition of dependability.
“I’ve just been blessed to not have anything happen that would cause me to sit out,” Bills said. “Even if I am sick, I always try to push through it just because I know that my team needs me and I’m valuable to the team.”
The 6-foot-3 Bills has followed through on her proclamation despite suffering from chronic plantar fasciitis in her left foot for the past few years.
“It was basically where the tissue on the bottom of your heels tears and it feels like you’re walking on needles,” Bills said. “The last three years were kind of painful running up and down the floor.
“I have orthotics, which I got last summer. They have really helped out because I haven’t experienced those pains.”
Teammate and fellow senior Cathrine Kraayeveld, who is part of Oregon’s 1,000- point club along with Bills, said every player deserves time off, but Bills is not one to settle down or sit out.
“There have been times where she’s been tired or injured and she didn’t really have a choice but to push through it,” Kraayeveld said. “There were times last year when I wasn’t playing where she had to play because she needed to be out there for the team.”
Bills’ value was exemplified last season when she was called upon to single-handedly take control of Oregon’s frontcourt after Kraayeveld suffered a season-ending knee injury.
“She was our go-to player last year,” Smith said. “She believes that she can achieve.”
Bills led the Ducks in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage, blocked shots and recorded double-digits in points for a team-high 19 games.
“Basically, I took on the opportunity to carry the team on my back and tried to do as well as I could,” Bills said. “By the end of the season, I was pretty worn out, but I don’t think I showed it one day. That’s something that helps my teammates out because if they don’t see me showing it, then they push as hard as I do.”
That determination and those results didn’t go unnoticed by her teammates or coaches.
“They showed that they appreciated (my efforts) by nominating me,” Bills said. “I was most valuable player of our team and I continue to get respect from each and every one of them day in and day out.”
Bills also earned Honorable Mention honors from the Pacific-10 Conference last season and has picked up right where she left off, averaging more points per game, working with a better shooting percentage and blocking more shots.
Even now, Smith said Bills can revive the team when its on the verge of breaking down.
“She’s what we need when the going gets tough and she can do what the team needs her to do to win. She has a ‘team-first’ mentality,” Smith said. “She commands the ball offensively and we rely on her – she’s a focus for us.”
Opposing teams will testify that Bills is a focus for them as well.
“By being the second leading scorer on the team, coaches have to look at me and try to adjust,” said Bills, who’s faced a double-team or two in her day. She said she likes being a spotlight player of another team’s advanced scouting report.
“Drea’s a very intelligent basketball player,” Smith said, adding that Bills is perfectly comfortable playing defense outside against a point guard if she has to. “She’s a player that coaches dream about coaching. The intangibles that Drea does sometimes go unnoticed.”
Bills comes across as a quiet person who just takes care of business, but Kraayeveld described her as caring and supportive.
“She’s kind of quiet, but she’s got a goofy side and a funny side,” Kraayeveld said. “She definitely makes her presence known up on the court.”
Off the court, Bills enjoys watching scary movies and watching her friends freak out.
“I think I’m a thrill-seeker,” she said. “I would probably be the one that lives to the end and tries to save other people and make it to the end of the movie just because that’s my personality.”
And that’s also how she operates on the court – unfazed and reliable.
Hopefully, the Ducks won’t be frightened by the Arizona schools this weekend, when Bills and teammates Kraayeveld and Corrie Mizusawa will be recognized during Oregon’s final homestand of the season. Bills will look to add to her 1,121 career points and 767 career rebounds and maybe take the first three-point field goal attempt of her career before the whistle blows one last time at Mac Court and she clocks out.
“A three-pointer – that would be nice,” Bills said. “One for one.”
Smith agrees – as long as it’s
well executed.
“She knows her strengths and plays to those every game,” Smith said. “She has a very keen sense of right and wrong.”

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