Kirkland, Wash., native Cathrine Kraayeveld leads Oregon into this week’s homestand against the Washington schools. Kraayeveld is the team leader in scoring, rebounds and blocked shots.
After playing on the road during the past two weeks, the Oregon women’s basketball team is eager to return to McArthur Court. The only real challenge for the Ducks will be matching their impressive performance in last week’s Civil War.
With the Washington schools paying a visit this week, Oregon (10-4 overall, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference) has a chance to sweep all three Northwest opponents for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
“Certainly, we need to take care of business at home,” said Oregon head coach Bev Smith, whose team is 5-1 at Mac Court this season. “We just need to build on the Oregon State victory.”
The Ducks got back to their
winning ways with a strong
82-point outing against the Beavers. Smith said she still saw good and bad with her team’s play in Corvallis.
“We were outrebounded but we shot the ball very well,” Smith said. Oregon shot 55 percent but Oregon State had four more rebounds (34). Fortunately for Oregon, Washington owns the worst rebounding defense in the conference.
Smith said this week’s opponents aren’t similar to one another and adapting to each style will be crucial for her team, but her players still need to remember the basics.
“Washington and Washington State certainly bring different kinds of challenges for us,” Smith said. “It’s important that we focus on our principles and concepts, both offensively and defensively, and be ready to make some adjustments.”
Washington (6-10, 2-4) comes in to face Oregon tonight lugging a three-game losing streak on its back. Oregon holds a 34-33 all-time advantage in the series with the Huskies, who have won the last four contests against the Ducks, including a 95-50 stomping last year in Seattle.
“We got a pretty good beating up there so we just have to come and play like we have been playing in the last couple games,” said Oregon forward Cathrine Kraayeveld, the team’s leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots.
“I think it’s really important that our players remember that (game),” Smith said. “We had a very poor game up there in all aspects and I’m glad it’s in the back of our players’ minds. That was an aberration of our team and we’ve come a long way since then.”
This season, the Huskies have relied on the equal distribution of scoring responsibilities instead of using concentrated sources of firepower. Six players average at least seven points per game but no player averages in double digits.
“I see a very dangerous team because they’ve been in all of the games they’ve played,” Smith said. “They are nine players deep
and they are all very capable
of scoring.”
Junior guard Kayla Burt contributes a team-high 9.1 points per game for Washington — the only team in the Pac-10 without a senior on its roster.
“They are young and don’t have any real go-to players right now, but I think it’s a team that we have to pay attention to,” Smith said.
Kraayeveld is anticipating the matchup with the Huskies as she missed both opportunities last season. The Kirkland, Wash., native is second in the Pac-10 in rebounding, behind only Washington State sophomore Kate Benz.
“It’s always fun to play Washington,” Kraayeveld said. “It’s definitely a game I look forward to, but I think we have to treat it like any other game.”