Carolyn Ganes felt confident the Oregon women’s basketball season would continue.
It didn’t hurt to be sure.
Ganes watched the Women’s NCAA Selection Show on ESPN Monday, then peeked on the Web site for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, http://www.womensnit.com.
“I probably should have been doing my homework,” Ganes said laughing. “I kept on looking back at the Web site.”
Forward Eleanor Haring attended the Oregon-Vermont lacrosse match and waited for official word.
“I was confident, but it’s one of those things that it wouldn’t have shocked me if we hadn’t got in,” said the senior, who’s already seen the absence of two former teammates and injuries leave a large impact on the Ducks season. “It would have just added to everything that’s happened to us.”
Then there’s the unabashed enthusiasm of guard Taylor Lilley.
“I definitely knew,” Lilley said. “I think if we beat some of the teams early on we could have gotten into the NCAA Tournament. We pretty much knew that we were already in. It was just a matter of when we were going to play and who, I think.”
Oregon officially learned it had earned an automatic berth in the WNIT Monday night and Thursday night found out it will be facing UC-Santa Barbara in the second round of the WNIT Saturday night at McArthur Court. UCSB won 75-63 at San Diego Thursday in the first round.
The Ducks spent their season opener in Santa Barbara on Nov. 17. Coming off an exhibition lost to Vanguard, Oregon’s offense exploded behind the hot hands of Ganes and Lilley.
Lilley had 27 points on a sterling 10-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range. Ganes followed close behind with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 3 of 4 from deep. As a team, Oregon shot 47.4 percent from the field and 57.9 percent from beyond the arc.
The 85-77 road win sparked Oregon to a 6-1 record in the beginning of the season.
“That really just gave us a good feeling,” Ganes said. “Everyone was sharing the ball. We were all shooting well and it was a fun game so I think everyone has good memories of it and hopefully that can carry on.”
Both Oregon basketball programs are experiencing the second season – the men in the NCAA Tournament – after the men’s and women’s teams went through 2006 without postseason play.
“Just the excitement in the basketball community in general I think will really help us, especially since we’re playing at home,” Ganes said. “Everyone will be really excited about the men’s team and us and hopefully that will draw in some more fans to check it out.”
As the men play the first and possibly second round this weekend in Spokane, the women ready themselves for a postseason run on a smaller scale.
“(I’m) kind of jealous,” Lilley said. “I kind of want to be there. I think it’s awesome for them and talk about experience for the freshmen on that team. That’s pretty amazing.”
The women have had to wait two weeks to play since losing in the second round of the Pac-10 Tournament.
“We’re all itching to play but I think personally, it’s kind of nice to have that first round off and then have the second round Saturday,” Haring said.
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