The Oregon women’s basketball team never played a ranked opponent over the course of its non-conference schedule. Opening Pacific-10 Conference play on the road against the Arizona schools was expected to be a reality check.
The result was, perhaps, more harsh than initially expected.
Arizona downed the Ducks, 109-94, by shooting 64.8 percent from the floor last week. Arizona State followed that game up by holding Oregon to its lowest point total of the season in an 86-67 victory.
“We played pretty well in spots. Both halves, we were competitive,” head coach Paul Westhead said of the defeats. “We were not able to sustain the 40-minute run.”
When the Ducks (9-4, 0-2 Pac-10) are thrown off their preferred run-and-gun pace, Westhead has seen breakdowns in the team’s offense. His press-and-run scheme is so intertwined that when the offense suffers and scoring dips, the press and half-court defense show less bite.
“We definitely have a lot to improve on. Speed-wise, in the press, rebounding … there are a lot of possibilities,” senior forward Nicole Canepa said of the breakdowns. “We’re just really scraping the surface right now in that there’s so much we can do. We just have to really commit (to the system).”
The secret to improvement? Running faster, of course.
Specifically, running faster than the other team.
“I think it’s, when teams know they’re going to play us, I think they’re like, ‘They think they can run? We can run, too!’” junior forward Jasmin Holliday said. “They’re keeping up with us. We’re trying to run with them.”
Oregon still has issues incorporating its newcomers — four of them, including starting shooting guard Ashley Buis, average more than eight minutes a game — and the difficult conference schedule offers no breaks.
“They learned what Pac-10 (conference play) is really all about,” Holliday said. “In preseason, we had a couple less-competitive games. In the Pac-10, it’s like everyone’s competitive. Everyone’s good.”
Holliday hopes to lead by example, after stepping into a starter’s role this season following the graduation of Micaela Cocks. To date, she has averaged 9.4 points a game while shooting 48.0 percent from the field, both improvements over last season.
“I just have to get on the court and I can’t take it slow,” Holliday said in regard to her previous role, as Westhead’s sixth woman last season. “Coming off the bench last year, I got to watch Mic and I could see what she’s doing, what’s working, what wasn’t. Now I’ve got some experimenting to do with myself and doing that for the players that come in for me. Hopefully they’re looking up to me, saying, ‘OK, Jas did that right, or that wrong.’ They can go in and make adjustments.”
Starting for the Ducks has imbued Holliday with an added sense of confidence in her game, particularly in her outside shot. She attempted just 12 three-pointers last season, making five; this season, she is 5 for 8 from beyond the arc.
“Coach (Westhead) has mentioned that my shot looked a lot better since he saw it a year ago,” Holliday said.
“I’m trying to be the next Taylor Lilley,” she adds with a laugh.
With or without the real Lilley — who played last season with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury — the Ducks must step up their running game against Washington State today and Washington on Saturday, the last hurrah for McArthur Court as a basketball venue.
“My hope is that our players will not leave one ounce of energy left,” Westhead said, “because if it’s left it will be left forever.”
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