Three seconds is just a short amount of time to most.
For the Oregon women’s basketball team, it was an eternity.
But then again, it’s just 3.3 seconds. Right?
“We can’t let those last 3.3 seconds define our game,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “We need to learn from those last 3.3 seconds, and there is a lot of emotion with people out on the floor who did that for the first time.”
But despite losing to No. 6 Stanford on Nicole Powell’s last-second free throws Saturday, the Ducks have coped well, and, in hindsight, it appears more of a confidence-builder than anything.
“We just gelled together and proved to ourselves that we can play with the best,” senior Kourtney Shreve said. “We don’t give up with the team that we are; that was huge for us. And we know it was a positive experience.”
It was an emotional experience for the team as well.
“Afterward, I was real upset,” freshman Carolyn Ganes said. “And you just think of a million things you could have done differently.”
Through the aftermath of the experience, there was initial heartbreak, but the Ducks don’t stay down for long. Oregon said it feels the experience taught that the team is now capable and is finally realizing its true potential.

Injury updates
Sophomore Kedzie Gunderson was without her protective face mask Saturday night in the Stanford game.
Gunderson has worn the mask in every game because of the broken nose she suffered at Montana on Dec. 19. Ironically, since beginning to wear the mask on Dec. 22, she has gone 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from 3-point land. Prior to wearing the mask, she was 3-of-13 for 23 percent.
“She’s ready to go,” Smith said. “She feels free and loose, and she can play like that. Let’s take the mask and get rid of it.”
Sophomore Andrea Bills also is injured and is suffering from plantar facitis, an ailment in her left foot. Although it is a painful matter, Bills is not expected to miss any games because of the injury.
Junior Kayla Steen has been nursing a chronic back problem and received an injection Tuesday, which caused her to miss practice, yet she is expected to play this weekend.

Post representing

for Oregon
Oregon’s post players have been doing more than their part in helping keep Oregon in the running, as both starters rank in the top-10 in individual statistics categories for the Pacific-10 Conference.
Bills has the strongest influence, as she is tied for ninth in the rebounding standings. She has brought down 95 rebounds in her 15 games, averaging 6.3 per game.
She has hit 65-of-130 for exactly .500, good enough to place her in 10th place in the field goal percentage category. And Bills currently holds fifth place in the blocks category, totaling 15 thus far this season.
Ganes has had a strong influence from the free-throw line. She has gone 31-of-37 in her 15 games to lead all Oregon players. Ganes, who hits 83 percent of her shots,
is in second place in the Pac-10
in shooting.
Senior Alissa Edwards has made her mark, as she is in fourth place in both the steals category, accounting for 32 in her 15 games, and in 3-point field goal percentage, where she has gone 19-of-43 for 44 percent.