LOS ANGELES â?” The Oregon women’s basketball team placed itself in an early hole to start Pacific-10 Conference play with consecutive losses to USC and UCLA Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
USC coach Mark Trakh and point guard Camille LeNoir both emphasized winning at home, and the Trojans came through with a 72-48 win. Oregon lost both games last season at the Los Angeles schools before returning the favor in Eugene, including an 81-59 win against USC (8-3, 2-0).
“We wanted to show them that we are not that same team as we were when we lost to them up there,” LeNoir said.
“Nobody can beat them up there. (Thursday’s loss is) not indicative of them at all; they’re really a good basketball team,” Trakh said.
Jump in competition
Differences between Oregon’s (8-3, 0-2 Pac-10) non-conference competition and Pac-10 opponents showed with the consecutive blowout defeats. Oregon’s non-conference opponents have a combined record of 34-56.
“We can play against some mid-majors fairly well, but we are not in a mid-major conference. We are in the Pac-10,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said. “You can look at our schedule and well maybe you should have played a harder schedule.
“As coaches, you try to do what’s best for your team and we thought building confidence was important. Now we got to resurrect that confidence.”
Oregon had five blowouts and two other wins decided by more than 10 points. The lone ranked opponent, then No. 21 Temple, beat Oregon 51-46 in the Women Sports Foundation Classic to open the season. Oregon beat another opponent, St. Mary’s, 68-67 on a last second three-pointer by forward Carolyn Ganes.
Down but not out
Cicely Oaks took a knee to the stomach with 8 minutes left on a charge by USC guard Eshaya Murphy. Lying on the ground for several minutes, the Portland native stood up and walked gingerly to Oregon’s bench.
Oaks said she lost her breath momentarily, but is OK. She added that she has never felt the sensation of a full-speed collision before.
“I’ve never felt anything like that in my life,” Oaks said. “I was just dazed.”
She’s made two consecutive starts to start conference play, and Smith said she liked Oaks’ defense against UCLA and USC. Oaks scored six points with two rebounds and zero turnovers in 28 minutes.
“I really don’t care how much I play as long as we win,” Oaks said. “On defense, that’s what I do. I like to play defense, so if that’s what’s going to get me on the floor, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Nursing time
Oregon guard Tamika Nurse played a team high 29 minutes against USC.
Although Nurse struggled offensively at times, Smith said she liked Nurse’s defense matching up against USC point guard LeNoir. The fleet footed Nurse kept up with LeNoir and UCLA point guard Nikki Blue Tuesday night.
“She, defensively, did very well, Smith said. “She matched their athleticism with LeNoir and Hagiya at the point – obviously, she’s got a lot of things to learn in terms of being able to pass the ball and deal with the ball in pressure.”
Nurse had five points, three assists, one steal and five turnovers.
“Playing time is never going to be a negative for anybody,” Nurse said. “I’m just trying to do my part.”
