Oregon women’s basketball fans will be treated to the season’s only early-morning game on Friday.
The Ducks (8-9, 1-5 Pac-12) will tip-off against No. 13 Arizona State at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. MST) on Pac-12 Networks, looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
“They defend,” head coach Kelly Graves said of ASU (17-1, 6-0 Pac-12) after Wednesday’s practice. “They take you out of what you’re  trying to do and they’re just tough. They put five tough kids on the floor. They rotate in and out quickly. … You’ve got to execute or they’ll really — they can destroy you.”
Friday’s early start time is ASU’s `Sparky’s Kids to College Field Trip Day.’ For the past nine years, the day encourages fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders to explore the college environment and campus.
Graves said he anticipates a loud playing environment for both teams.
ASU is currently riding a 13-game win streak, including recent wins against California and Stanford. This year, like Oregon State, Arizona State is off to its best start in program history.
The Sun Devils have three players that average double-digits in scoring: Sophie Brunner (12.7 ppg), Promise Amukamara (12.3 ppg) and Katie Hempen (11.9 ppg).
“They have really good players,” Graves said. “They don’t have those transcendent all-league players, but they just collectively are tremendous.”
Oregon is coming off a three game home-stand that included losses to Oregon State, Washington and Washington State. Against the Cougars, the Ducks fought to get back into contention, but couldn’t finish it off in the final minutes, losing 79-76. Drea Toler shined against WSU, both for her defensive effort and ability to drive to the rim for layups.
Toler finished with a career-high 16 points on 7-for-14 from the floor while Jillian Alleyne tallied 23 points and 16 rebounds. Alleyne was named to the Wooden midseason Top-20 list on Wednesday morning.
“I thought we bounced back and played a lot harder on Sunday,” Graves said. “That’s a positive. Our kids aren’t quitting.”
The coaching staff continues to emphasize doing things the right way and working to adjust to a new style of play, Graves said.
“Win or lose, if we’re playing hard and doing the things that we should do, to me, that’s all that matters,” Graves said.
One area that Graves sees room for improvement is leadership, which is necessary to encourage communication, especially in defensive sets.
“I think there are times you can tell on the floor we are rudderless,” Graves said. “It’s just the honest truth. … We need a lot of different people to step up, and again that’s been one of our deficiencies.”
After Friday’s early tip-off against Arizona State, the Ducks will head south to Tucson to take on Arizona (7-10, 0-6 Pac-12). Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. PST and will be available on Pac-12.com’s live stream and KUGN/590 AM in Eugene.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne