For some Oregon basketball players, the highlights of the regular season are the annual contests against rival Oregon State.
Twice a season, fans are afforded an opportunity to watch the state’s powerhouses duke it out, once at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis and another time at McArthur Court in Eugene.
For the players, it’s a chance to take on former teammates or players they’ve played against in high school. It also gives them a chance to be in the spotlight.
Kayla Steen is no different — except in the sense that she’s getting the chance to play in only one Civil War contest this season instead of the usual two.
Steen, a junior transfer from Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, has had back problems plague her for most of the season. And for most of the season, she’s played through the pain.
Except, of course, when the Ducks took on the Beavers on Jan. 18 in Corvallis.

“I was really, really disappointed I had to miss the first Civil War game I could have played in,” Steen said. “I’m pumped coming into this next Oregon State game. I’ve heard a lot of things about the Civil War game, and I’m really excited to come out and help the team in any way I can.”
The Ducks lost that game, 67-51, in what was the team’s third-straight loss. Steen dressed for the contest but never played.
 
Coming into the season, Steen was a virtual unknown to Oregon fans.
Late last season, she was contacted by head coach Bev Smith and the rest of the Duck program. She was being recruited, albeit late, to a Division I program in one of the nation’s top conferences, the Pacific-10.
So it was a natural choice for Steen to come down to Eugene and end her collegiate career as a Duck.
“I knew I wanted to be close to home and I knew I wanted to play for a great program,” she said. “When the opportunity came up — which was fairly late in the season that I was even contacted by UO — it was kind of one of those things I never thought would ever happen. It was something you couldn’t pass up. You had to take advantage of it.”
It wasn’t as though the Ducks were going to be short at the guard position. Oregon had All-America candidate Shaquala Williams at point guard, program stalwart Alissa Edwards assuming a starting position and, overall, six full-time players at the position.

Steen was one of those six who had to fight for playing time.
“I think the expectation we had for her was that she was going to be an experienced player,” Smith said. “Defensively, she can handle her own. Offensively, we saw her as a real good shooter and we still do see her as a shooter.”
Then, Oregon’s world seemed to come crashing down. Williams was dismissed from the team for good Dec. 9, just two days after the Ducks — minus Williams — had pulled off a come-from-behind victory over BYU in Portland.
The landscape of the team changed dramatically. Edwards moved primarily to the point, opening up the shooting-guard position.
“As a team, and I know it and the rest of the team knows it, you’ve got to step up and take what you have and work with it,” Steen said in regards to the early season controversy. “It was, like I said, detrimental to the team, and for a second, it was like ‘Oh man, what are we going to do?’ But you’ve got to practice the next day. You build from it, and you work from what you have.”
Coincidentally, shooting guard is the position that Steen feels most comfortable at and played at for most of last season with Clackamas.
“It’s nice to have another guard,” Edwards said. “At first, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we have so many guards.’ But so much has happened. It’s just nice to have another body on the team because we’re down to nine people.”
Steen has started eight of the 16 games since Williams’ departure. In Pac-10 play, she is averaging 5.1 points per game, has dished out 27 assists and is credited with 11 steals. From the charity stripe, she has been solid, hitting on 22-of-26 free throws in conference play and at a little more than 80 percent on the season.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” Steen said. “It’s a good experience. In the last couple of weeks, I think I’ve been struggling a bit, but I’ve been working hard to try and get back into the swing of things and play like I normally can and the coaches want me to.”
 
Since her senior season at St. Mary’s Academy, according to Steen, she’s had a problem with her lower back. However, until this season, it had not been that big of a problem.
“It’s not something I want to use an excuse,” she said. “I think it’s more of a mental aspect than a physical aspect that whether or not I’m letting my back take over.”
A self-described hard-worker, Steen has yet to have surgery to take care of the problem. She has seen more than just the Oregon doctors — as suggested by the Ducks’ team doctor, Dr. Bob Crist — and has decided to evaluate the problem at the end of the season.
Still, Steen, who has been described by Smith as a “warrior,” has not let the problem get to her — at least not visibly.
“When she steps on the court, it’s kind of like the back injury goes to the back of her mind and it’s game time, and who cares what kind of pain she’s in?” Edwards said. “We really don’t notice it when she’s playing.”
Entering Saturday’s Civil War contest — slated to start at noon at McArthur Court — Steen is going to have to put that back pain deep into her mind.
With Oregon (9-13 overall, 5-8 Pac-10) battling to get out of eighth place in the conference standings, Steen is going to need to be her usual self. Of course, that means bringing her hard-work mentality.
Of course, she also suggested some ways for her to help.
“Well, I’m going to hit a 3-pointer, which I haven’t done in a long time, for sure,” she said. “I’m just going to play really hard and things are going to fall. My shot’s going to fall if I’m feeling confident. I’m just going to go out and play as hard as I can, and hopefully it’s something that will be contagious and we’re going to come out with a big win.”