Her eyes were void of emotion, her hands folded on the long table in front of her. She wanted to talk, but didn’t know what to say.
It was a rare moment for Oregon forward Angelina Wolvert.
She’d been beaten.
For that reason, Wolvert will always remember the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament at McArthur Court last March. She’ll remember the moment when her team lost to underdog Alabama-Birmingham with seconds remaining, and what she could have done that might have changed the outcome.
“Jenny [Mowe] and I were on the post, and whoever was guarding the ball got beat,” Wolvert said. “Jenny went straight up to help, and I should have stepped over to take both my post and her post, but I didn’t because I didn’t see it quick enough. The ball went to Jenny’s player, who went straight to the basket.
“It was devastating.”
But Wolvert isn’t on the losing team often.
Usually, she’s the one who beats people.
Ask LeAnn Sheets, Washington forward. Last season in Seattle, Sheets was stuck guarding Wolvert, man-to-man, when the Huskies held a one-point lead over the Ducks with less than 15 seconds remaining.
Guard Jamie Craighead saw the mismatch and passed the ball inside to Wolvert. Pump, fake, and the shot — and Wolvert scored for the win.
“What’s actually funny is you know that little spin move that I do? Not the one where I spin completely baseline, but like if I go one way, spin and shoot a jumper or something?” Wolvert said, grinning. “I learned that from LeAnn Sheets, and that’s the girl from Washington who I always beat.”
Wolvert’s voice brims with excitement when recalling her favorite basketball memories.
Perhaps her most recent highlight was against California last Thursday, when — all in one motion — she wrestled the ball away from three defenders, scored and was fouled. She sank the free throw.
“It felt so good to just rip it out of three people’s hands, shoot it and get the foul,” Wolvert said. “I like it when it just so happens that I get to come up with a huge play. I love to just get fired up right then, just so the crowd will get into it and feed off of it.”
“She’s funny,” forward Brianne Meharry said about Wolvert. “She’s a player who thrives off adversity, like when we play at a place where they’re getting on us. She loves that, and that’s when she really steps up to play. She’s a big-time key to us in games, and she’s fun to play with.”
Remembering her first basketball season as a seventh-grader at Wy’East Junior High in Vancouver, Wash., Wolvert said she was a 6-foot “chunk” with the game skills to match.
Then came high school: “Maybe I grew into my body or something, but I just had more control over what I was doing,” Wolvert said.
Since cracking Oregon’s starting lineup as a freshman, Wolvert’s abilities as a Division-I forward have steadily increased. Her scoring average has elevated from 9.2 points per game as a freshman to 13.5 as a senior.
This season, Wolvert’s goal to be Oregon’s go-to player in place of injured star point guard Shaquala Williams has earned admiration from her teammates.

“Ange has been great. I don’t know what her experience as a leader before was, but this year she’s really stepped into that role,” Craighead said. “It’s kind of funny because at the beginning of the year we didn’t really have a leader, and we didn’t know who was going to step up. Ange put that on her shoulders.”
But Wolvert’s competitive nature has created friction at times between her and head coach Jody Runge, who sometimes don’t see eye-to-eye on certain issues.
The occasional conflict between player and coach is visible in Wolvert’s minutes per game, which have increased only slightly from 22.3 minutes as a freshman to 24.8 this season. Wolvert played just eight minutes in a 63-48 loss to Utah this season.
“I’m stubborn and so is she. Sometimes we work well together, and sometimes we don’t,” Wolvert said. “If I don’t do the things she needs me to do, she won’t play me. It’s very hard for me to deal with.
“The only times I get really upset with the coach is if I just feel like I’m getting questioned about how much I care about things or how much I really work.”
Mowe said that it’s Wolvert’s competitive nature that sometimes creates the tension with Runge.
“Ange’s emotions, she just rides them, and whatever happens, happens,” Mowe said. “She just does things, she says things, and she thinks about it later.”
Runge, declining to comment on Wolvert’s overall work ethic, praised Wolvert’s ability to play through clutch situations.
“She plays with intensity in intense situations,” Runge said. “She’s a passionate player, and a tremendous athlete who is capable of scoring big numbers and playing nice defense.”
No matter where she faces adversity, Wolvert is determined to play through it. She can’t stand being beaten by anyone.
She said she’ll never lose her competitive edge.
“I love stealing the ball — I love it,” she said, her voice rising. “It’s the coolest thing; it’s so much fun. When good plays happen I get excited.
“I get fired up when my girl scores on me and just ticks me off. I want to go in there and just take it right at her.”
The season is still young, but Wolvert’s collegiate career is almost over.
She often thinks back to the Ducks’ humiliating loss at Maples Pavilion last season, and to their home-court loss to UAB in the NCAA Tournament.
She also looks forward to a third Pacific-10 Conference Championship and another invitation to the Big Dance — maybe even a future WNBA career.
And, of course, she looks ahead to the next game: Thursday at Washington, where she’ll get to say “hi” to an old friend, Sheets.