The Oregon women’s basketball team
begins the second half of its Pacific-10
Conference schedule tonight against a UCLA team that will be without the services of its leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore Noelle Quinn.
“For us, it has been a tough situation,” UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. “She does so many things for our team. The
last few games we have had people step up and we are just going to look forward to other people to contribute.”
Which is exactly what the Bruins (12-6 overall, 6-3 Pac-10) are getting as they look for their third straight victory at Mac Court.
Stepping up for the Bruins has been
forward Lindsey Plummer, who is now averaging 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Lately, much of the emphasis for Oregon (12-6, 5-4) has been its propensity for
committing turnovers, especially on the road. In their last meeting with UCLA, the Ducks turned the ball over 20 times en route to a
70-54 loss.
But that was at Pauley Pavilion. “I don’t
really believe that the home court advantage has anything to do with turnovers,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “I think it’s just something that we have to get
mentally ready for.”
Creating turnovers is not the
only thing the Bruins do well.
In the teams’ last meeting, UCLA
held Oregon to a season-low in
both points (54) and shooting
percentage (33).
“(Offensively) I think our focus is the same in terms of we have to
get good shots and get the ball
inside,” Smith said. “Obviously you have to take care of the ball and look after the ball, and UCLA is a team that will run different things
at you — they’ll trap out of their man-to-man (defense), trap out
of the zone. So you have to make some adjustments.”
UCLA’s pressure defense is spearheaded by the combination of
junior guard Nikki Blue and fellow junior Lisa Willis. The duo has recorded 107 steals between them. In addition, Blue and Willis are
averaging 13.2 and 15.2 points per game, respectively.
“UCLA is certainly guard dominating and you have to be ready to deal with them and not let their inside game surprise you,” Smith said.
For Oregon, the duo of seniors Cathrine Kraayeveld and Andrea Bills will be important factors. Bills is coming off a 2-of-6 shooting, four-point performance against the Bruins earlier this month.
Kraayeveld and Bills are the
only two Ducks to average double figures in points for the season. With the loss of junior Chelsea Wagner for the rest of the year,
the Ducks will need consistent
scoring from the likes of freshmen Kaela Chapdelaine, Gabrielle Richards, and Kristen Forristall to help shoulder the load.
“It’s a big opportunity for us,” Bills said. “It’s kinda the feeling
on our team that we are starting
the Pac-10 all over again. We just have to play really hard and want
to win.”

[email protected]