After a torrid 10-for-13 shooting performance in Oregon’s first Pacific-10 Conference home stand last week, junior guard Jamie Craighead was named the conference Player of the Week Tuesday.
Craighead, the Pac-10 leader with 36 three-pointers, led the Ducks (10-3 overall, 3-0 Pac-10) with 15 points en route to a 72-54 victory over Stanford Saturday, and tallied 14 points in an 86-56 win against California last Thursday.
“I don’t really see it as a big deal,” Craighead said. “It was just big to win those two games and be where we are in the conference standings.
“It’s cool, but I probably won’t think about it … I probably won’t even call my mom.”
For Craighead, it’s all about the team.
“Other people do so much to help me get my open shots and allow me to do some things offensively,” she said. “Maybe they should give out a team of the week award.”
Rebounding woes
Oregon is the worst rebounding team in the Pac-10 — on both sides of the court.
The Ducks are averaging just 21.38 defensive rebounds per contest, while the conference’s best rebounding team is grabbing nearly 28 boards a game.
“We like to tell ourselves it’s because we’re shooting so well that there aren’t many rebounding opportunities,” senior forward Brianne Meharry said. “But it’s definitely a big weakness for us … and it’s going to be a concern in a game where we are not hitting our shots.”
Oregon was out-rebounded by both Cal and Stanford last week by a 73-52 margin. Against the Cardinal, the Ducks gave up 21 offensive boards, while picking up just eight.
“We need to establish ourselves on the boards,” Craighead said. “We need to box out, get our butts on people, push them out and get the ball. We won those games without rebounding, but I think we’re going to come up against a team where that could bite us in the butt. And Washington could be that team.”
Oh yeah, Washington (Oregon’s opponent on Thursday) is the best rebounding team in the conference — on both sides of the court.
… but they are shooting well
Of the eight players in the conference that are shooting better than 50 percent, half are Ducks. Seniors Jenny Mowe (.587), Angelina Wolvert (.536), Meharry (.524) and Lindsey Dion (.519) are all among the league’s top eight leaders in field-goal percentage.
It only makes sense, then, that Oregon is also the top shooting team in the conference at .487.
Shreve city
Sophomore point guard Kourtney Shreve has molded into the starting role nearly flawlessly for Oregon in place of the injured Shaquala Williams.
Against Stanford, Shreve sank a career-high three threes, while grabbing a career-best eight rebounds. She also scored 11 points with a respectable two turnovers.
“She’s doing a really good job,” Meharry said. “It took the preseason to get her to figure out the plays and figure out how to handle pressure, but she’s settled down and is playing extremely well.”