Something’s bothering the Oregon women’s basketball team.
Midway through the Pacific-10 Conference season, the Ducks are smack-dab in the middle of the conference — and they’re not thrilled about it. Not one bit.
“We’re a good basketball team, we’re just caught in this weird stage and this weird feeling that none of us have felt before,” forward Lindsey Dion said. “We don’t lose here at the University of Oregon. We’ve always found a way to make it work, no matter what it was. We committed to each other that that’s not what we do here.
“We did not come here to lose — we always find a way to win.”
Oregon has lost three of its last four games, plummeting to fifth place in the Pac-10 after sitting pretty in first place just three weeks ago.
The catalyst of the Ducks’ struggles was their game against Washington in Seattle on Jan. 18. Oregon fought off the bruising Huskies for the 67-53 victory, but not before losing forwards Angelina Wolvert and Dion to injuries.
The Ducks lost the following night to Washington State, but the team did not appear rattled by the loss.
But less than a week later, Oregon lost a heartbreaker at McArthur Court to Southern California, 55-53. The Ducks beat UCLA in scrappy fashion two days later, then were swept by the Arizona schools last weekend in two dismal performances.
Dion said the team still feels the sting from the loss to the Trojans.
“I think we’ve seen moments of that game lingering within each of us individually at different times,” she said. “As a whole, I think we’re getting past it and putting it behind us.”
Now, for Oregon to keep its Pac-10 title hopes alive, the women must do something they haven’t done since 1987 — beat Stanford at Maples Pavilion.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve been faced with adversity,” forward Ndidi Unaka said. “We just need to come up strong and play well in the Bay Area. Our team goals haven’t changed. Of course we want to defend our Pac-10 Championship, and that will be a little harder than expected.
“We just need to go out there and win and look forward to the NCAA tournament, and try to be successful there.”
Wolvert’s on the same wavelength as her teammate.
“I don’t want to lose another game,” Wolvert said. “It’s important that we don’t lose another game. But if we had to, it would be pushing our luck to get a Pac-10 Championship.”
No, the Ducks definitely aren’t happy with their recent play. Yet, none of them can seem to put a word on that strange, unfamiliar sensation they’re feeling.

Perhaps their 5-4 Pac-10 record has a suggestion: mediocrity.

On mended knee
The good news: Wolvert said her knee is virtually “100 percent” healthy.
The bad news: The senior is sick with the flu. And bronchitis.
More good news: “[The doctors] said I’ll be able to breathe by Thursday,” Wolvert said.
Wolvert’s ability to run the floor was hampered against the Arizona schools, as extensive physical activity causes her to have coughing fits. To combat her ailments, doctors prescribed her antibiotics and an inhaler.
Dion said her ankle is feeling better, although she still receives daily treatment. The ankle still hurts when she puts all her weight on it, such as when doing a layup, she said.
“Ange hopefully will have more energy than she’s had,” head coach Jody Runge said. “And Lindsey, if she tweaks [her ankle], it’s very distracting. It’s keeping her from doing all the things that she typically does.”

The best there’s ever been?
Shaquala Williams is a good ballplayer; no doubt about that.
How about the best Duck ever? Well, 227 women’s basketball fans think so.
In an informal poll on the Oregon athletic department’s Web site at www.goducks.com., “Shaq” leads five other players in the voting for Oregon women’s basketball’s best-ever Duck.
Williams, a junior, is redshirting this season to recover from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Bev Smith, a Duck from 1979-82 who is second on the school all-time scoring list with 2,063 points, is in second place with 196 votes. Wolvert is in third place with 63 votes.