Oregon center Andrea Bills, seen here against Portland, says her team will focus on rebounding this weekend. The senior is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.
A highly anticipated sequel between the women of Oregon and George Washington will take place during the Papé Jam at the Rose Garden on Saturday.
The Ducks (4-0) are one of only two undefeated teams in the Pacific-10 Conference, and they go to Portland this weekend with an all-time record of 6-0 at the Papé Jam.
Last season, the Colonials (3-1) defeated the Ducks 72-52 on their home court. Oregon center Andrea Bills made only 2 of 11 shots from the floor and did not score until the final four minutes of the game. The team committed 18 turnovers.
“It was just a bad game in general,” Oregon senior Corrie Mizusawa said. “We didn’t come ready to play.”
According to Mizusawa, the memories of that contest have not affected Oregon’s winning mentality this season.
“We have a lot of motivation for the (upcoming) game considering they kicked our butts last year, so we’re definitely ready to go,” she said. “We’re 4-0 right now and feeling pretty confident. It’s just a matter of doing what we always do, which is focusing on defense and rebounding and getting the ball up the court.”
Oregon’s defense and rebounding have been respectable so far. The Ducks have held opponents to a shooting percentage just under 40 percent, and they bring down three more rebounds per game on average. George Washington allows 54.8 points per game, and its field goal defense has restrained opponents to a 33.7 shooting percentage.
On the offensive end, Oregon is converting half of its field goals, which is first among Pac-10 teams.
“A lot of our shots are short, inside shots — we don’t really rely on the threes,” junior guard Chelsea Wagner said. “We work hard on our shooting. We have good shooters and we take good shots, and that’s why we have a good shooting percentage.”
Senior Cathrine Kraayeveld, who is coming off an 18-point effort against Long Island, is
averaging 15 points per game. She missed last season’s matchup with the Colonials due to a knee injury she sustained prior to that trip. Mizusawa leads the conference with 7.5 assists per game this season.
The Colonials had to fill three starting spots this season. Two of those belonged to Cathy Joens and Ugo Oha, who earned Atlantic-10 Conference offensive and defensive player of the year honors, respectively.
Returning Colonial starter Anna Montañana is averaging 13.5 points per game this season. The senior forward is an All-American candidate who led the Colonials in
rebounds and assists as a junior.
Redshirt senior Jessica Simmonds, who succeeded Oha, averages a conference-best 1.75 blocks per game. Freshman point guard Kimberly Beck is second in the Atlantic-10 in assists with 4.75 per game. As a team, the Colonials are committing an average of 19 turnovers.
George Washington is coming off an upset win over No. 24 Villanova on Wednesday. Simmonds recorded the team’s first double-double of the season. Last week, No. 1 Tennessee put 71 points on the scoreboard and held the Colonials to 41.
“It seems like they’re playing some good teams, and they might be tired,” Mizusawa said. “We’re not worried about them. We’re just worried about ourselves staying in every game, playing defense and doing everything we have been doing for the last four games.”
Center Andrea Bills emphasized that the Ducks need to stay aggressive this weekend and not get outrebounded, as they did against Long Island.
“It’s kind of like a road game,” she said. “We just want to carry our defensive intensity and just play team basketball. That’s our big focus right now.”
