After two lopsided showings against the Arizona schools at home, Oregon will hit the road this weekend to take on USC (9-6, 4-1 Pac-12) and UCLA (7-9, 2-3 Pac-12) in Los Angeles.
The Ducks will start their road trip on Thursday night against the Trojans. USC holds a 39-17 advantage all-time against Oregon and has won the last four meetings between the teams. Oregon is 6-23 all-time in the city of Los Angeles and has won just once at the Trojans’ home arena, the Galen Center. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=236&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205363383@@
“The whole deal will be a challenge,” head coach Paul Westhead said. “You go to USC and you have Ashley Corral, who’s just an outstanding point guard, so you better deal with that. And there are other things, multiple issues. But that’s what real basketball should be.” @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/corral_ashley00.html@@
USC began conference play with a 61-53 loss to Stanford, but have been on a tear ever since. The Trojans have ripped off four consecutive victories over California, Arizona State, Arizona and UCLA to claim second place in the Pac-12. @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-baskbl/sched/usc-w-baskbl-sched.html@@
USC is powered by senior point guard Corral, who leads the team with 12.5 points and 3.2 assist per game. The program’s all-time leader in long-distance buckets, she leads the conference with 2.7 three-pointers per contest. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/wbasketball/2011-12-Stats/HTML/USC.HTM#team.ind@@
But USC’s true strength lies in numbers. The Trojans have three additional players averaging double-figures in scoring: senior guard Briana Gilbreath, sophomore forward Cassie Harberts and senior guard Jacki Gemelos. Containing all four scoring options will be a tall order for coach Westhead’s zone defense.
“Sometimes when you have a team with spread scoring it’s more difficult, in any defense — but maybe the zone a little bit (more) — to take care of and it’ll be ok,” said Westhead. “They’ll spread you and they have multiple players. It’s like any defense. If you do it and you execute well and your player believe in it, they’ll make enough good moves that will hurt the opposition.”
Oregon will attempt to carry over defensive momentum from an impressive lockdown effort last weekend against Arizona State. Though the Ducks struggled on offense in a 53-49 loss to the Sun Devils, they held Arizona State to .277 clip from the field (18 of 65). @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=236&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205361181@@
Shutting down the perimeter will be a key factor for the Ducks’ defense in Los Angeles. Oregon has already allowed an opponent to knock down at least 10 three-pointers in a game nine times this season. So far, the Ducks have allowed 178 long-distance shots as opponents shoot 36.6 percent from three-point range, last in the Pac-12.
Getting Oregon’s trademark fastbreak offense humming will be another concern. In conference play, USC ranks second in points allowed per game (54.6) and also leads the league in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a .325 conversion rate.
“(Scoring is) what we say we do and we’re not doing it,” said Westhead. “We’re certainly not doing it well with any degree of repetition, although we had 87 points against Arizona. So it’s more, ‘who shows up?’”
Fortunately for Oregon, UCLA is having a hard time keeping its opponents down on offense. The Bruins rank first in the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage defense (.211), second-to-last in rebounding (36.2 per game) and defensive rebounding (24.40 per game).
UCLA has lost three of its last four games, though the lone victory came against an Arizona State squad that was able to beat Oregon on the road last Saturday. @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-baskbl/sched/ucla-w-baskbl-sched.html@@
The Bruins are anchored on offense by 6-foot-1 senior guard Rebekah Gardner, who’s averaging 15.0 points and 6 rebounds per game. The team also has a dangerous inside presence in junior forward Markel Walker. She is averaging 12 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in five contents in Pac-12 play. @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/ucla-w-baskbl-mtt.html@@ @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/wbasketball/2011-12-Stats/HTML/UCLA.HTM@@