Oregon women’s basketball hits the road the team’s penultimate road trip of the regular season. The Ducks play at Arizona on Friday night and at No. 23 Arizona State on Sunday.
Here’s a few storylines to follow against the Wildcats:
— Arizona, which currently sits last place in the conference, has lost four straight games. The Wildcats are in their first year under head coach Adia Barnes, who took the job in Tucson after serving as an assistant at Washington.
“I know their post players are really good. They’re smaller,” Ruthy Hebard said. “(Our) defense will hopefully be good. Hopefully we have an advantage inside and we can produce that.”
— The Ducks will play their first opponent not named Oregon State since Jan. 22 when Utah visited Eugene. Oregon lost back-to-back games to the Beavers last weekend but left the weekend feeling optimistic about its performance overall.
“I think we were encouraged by the way we played,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “We don’t focus as much on the winning aspect. We focus every day on trying to get better. That’s what you do with a younger team.”
— Graves said sophomore guard Maite Cazorla continues to feel better on the court. She missed a handful of practices during the start of Pac-12 play with a foot injury. Against the Beavers, Cazorla was a defensive stopper, holding OSU guard Sydney Wiese to 12 points on Friday.
Cazorla averaged 38.5 minutes between the games and 10 points a game on the offensive end.
“She feels better each and every day,” Graves said of Cazorla. “It’s not as big of an issue. She doesn’t have to sit out all of practice, like she had been. I think her timing is coming back a little bit.”
— The Ducks are trying to a find a way to get Lexi Bando more involved on offense. Oregon State had Bando’s number, holding her to seven points between the two games. Graves said Pac-12 defenses have keyed in on her to not allow open looks from 3-point range.
“Teams in this league just aren’t giving Bando open looks. At all,” Graves said. “And they shouldn’t because she shoots so well. At the same time, she helps the team because she’s taking one defender away and expands the court for everybody else.”
Graves said the Ducks will add some “new wrinkles” to their offensive sets for Bando, who leads the team in made 3-pointers with 48. Sabrina Ionescu ranks No. 2 with 38.
Oregon vs. Arizona
Time: 5 p.m. (PT)
Where: McKale Center
TV: Pac-12 Oregon/Arizona
Radio: Oregon IMG Sports Network (590 AM KUGN in Springfield/ Eugene)
Stream: Pac-12.com
Projected Starters:
Oregon (14-8, 4-6 Pac-12
G Maite Cazorla (7.2 ppg, 4.1 apg)
G Sabrina Ionescu (13.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
G Lexi Bando (10.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
F Ruthy Hebard (14.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg)
F Mallory McGwire (7.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
Arizona (11-10, 2-8 Pac-12)

G Maleana Washington (13.2 ppg, 2.9 apg)
G Lucia Alonso (5.8 ppg, 3.1 apg)
G Breanna Workman (7.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
F Destiny Graham (4.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
F LaBrittney Jones (14.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne