In the basement of Gill Coliseum, I felt compelled to ask junior guard Taylor Lilley and freshman forward Amanda Johnson about the play. If you watched or read press coverage on the women’s basketball Civil War from Saturday, you know the one. Oregon State senior guard Brittney Davis, her team ahead 47-38, knifes through the paint and flips up a left-handed layup right before freshman forward Jasmin Holliday, half a second too late on her help defense, bumps into her. Davis falls to the ground. The basket counts, the foul is called and the crowd roars.
Davis converts the free throw. The score was 50-38 with 9:22 remaining in the second half. Oregon would score three more points for the rest of the game; OSU would score 20.
What, I asked Lilley and Johnson, were the team’s feelings after that play? I also alluded to the play as a “backbreaker” and a game-changer.
Lilley said that the team quickly huddled up, trying to develop a short memory of the play. Johnson followed up by saying that Oregon’s well-documented second-half decline – 10 points on 15.4 percent shooting – was a gradual event, not spurred by a single event. Their answers were courteous, honest and not the least bit facetious.
Nine minutes and 22 seconds is an eternity in college basketball. On Saturday night, it felt more like space filler.
That game, that half, even that shot, felt like the final nail in the coffin for head coach Bev Smith. It has been no secret that her contract expires at the end of the season and that she was under tremendous pressure to make the postseason. At 9-18 (5-11 Pacific-10 Conference), the probability is remote at best.
Smith, whose career record as Oregon’s coach is now 123-118 in eight seasons, is supposed to sit down with athletic director Pat Kilkenny at season’s end and discuss her future. We may have our guesses, but Kilkenny owes Smith the discussion and he should listen. Of course, three Women’s National Invitational Tournament appearances (including one championship) and one NCAA tournament appearance in Smith’s eight years will likely weigh against her at the Casanova Center.
Smith spoke with media members for several minutes after Saturday’s contest, and she clearly feels the strain. Smith has not once lost her professionalism, and she is polite and understanding in response to questions. It’s commendable in an atmosphere that practically encourages coaches to fly off the handle.
Hopefully, once the women’s season ends, the spotlight shifts more intently on the athletic department and its personnel decision. In the strict, for-profit culture of athletics currently being fostered, it should be recognized that the women’s game is growing in terms of exposure, making it entirely possible to run a successful and profitable program.
As to where they draw a coach from, Kilkenny (assuming he makes the hire, and he may very well opt against that responsibility) has a lot of choices, from current or ex-WNBA players to established college coaches to an option close to home. (Assistant coaches Willette White and Phil Brown are potential candidates if a full-blown search opens up.) Recruiting-minded head coaches should be attracted to the talent base in California and the Pacific Northwest. And possibly Australia, if Brown can be convinced to stick around.
The likely departure of Smith, a two-time All-American from 1978-82, as coach of her alma mater cannot be taken lightly. Nor can the search for potential replacements for a team that remains young and on the rise.
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