Here’s where it gets to be really interesting.
Two Pacific-10 Conference games are left for the Oregon women’s basketball team, including tonight’s 7 p.m. match against Washington State (2-23 overall, 0-16 Pac-10) at the Palouse.
After taking on the Cougars, the Ducks (14-11, 9-7) travel west to Seattle to face the conference’s No. 3 squad, Washington (16-9, 11-5), on Saturday.
If the Ducks are able to at least split the series, they’ll finish as they did last season, 10-8 in the Pac-10. If the Ducks sweep the weekend series, they will be 11-7 and possibly in the fourth seed for the inaugural conference tournament.
But if they lose both games, they could finish 9-9 and fall all the way to seventh.
“I think the Pac-10 is a great conference,” Washington State head coach Jenny Przekwas said. “I do believe if you’re one of the top four teams in the conference, you’re NCAA (Tournament) worthy.”
Washington State, though, may not represent much of a game for the Ducks. The Cougars are the bottom of the barrel in the conference and last won against Gonzaga on Nov. 29. That equals a 20-game losing streak.
Washington State’s last win against a conference opponent came last season when they defeated California 74-59 on Feb. 24.
Of Washington State’s six conference wins last season, five came in Pullman (including one against the Ducks). In addition, the Cougars’ only two wins this season have been at Friel Court.
The way the Ducks have been playing on the road this season, an upset could be in the works.
But it’s not that likely.
“We’ve struggled a little but on the road,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said about the team’s 4-6 record away from McArthur Court. “We haven’t found a groove on the road, and I think that comes with experience. But we have been practicing a lot better, we’ve been practicing with intensity … and that’s helped us out a lot.”
The Ducks dominated in the first game against Washington State this season, 76-47. However, the Cougars have been a thorn in Oregon’s side recently. Last season, Washington State swept Oregon, including a 77-76 barnburner at Mac Court.
“We very much respect Oregon and its coaching staff. It seems to me it’s not a mystique (about them) as it is a great basketball game,” Przekwas said.
And what about the last time Oregon visited the Palouse? The Ducks led 33-26 at the half but failed to hold off the Cougars and lost 67-64 for their first Pac-10 loss of the season.
Oregon cannot afford to have a similar breakdown.
“We want to go into that game not playing to not lose, but playing to win,” Smith said. “We go in not necessarily focusing only on Washington State, but on the standards that we have to perform to.”