After three straight Pac-12 Tournament championships, Oregon was sent home after falling to rival Oregon State in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The No. 19 ranked Ducks lost five of their last six games, a first string of losses since a five-game losing streak in 2016. 

While there were some positives, it’s clear Oregon has serious room for improvement as they enter the March Madness tournament. 

Adjusting without Te-Hina Paopao 

Due to a foot injury, Oregon has been without freshman point guard Te-Hina Paopao for the past two games, and her absence on the court shows. Paopao is the Ducks’ playmaker, the one who controls the tempo and keeps everyone poised on offense. 

A Pac-12 All-Freshman player this year, she has provided the Ducks with immense leadership at the point guard position after the departure of Sabrina Ionescu last year. She is Oregon’s first true freshman in the starting lineup since Ionescu’s freshman year in 2016. 

“Paopao was first-team all-conference this year and she runs your point,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “And on a team that doesn’t have a lot of playmakers, she is one. She’s one of the players that just makes everybody else better. It hurts.”

Before missing the last two games, Paopao was the only Oregon player to start all 19 games. In those games, she took command of the offense with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio, a rate that ranks third amongst NCAA freshmen. She is also the Ducks’ third-leading scorer.

In her absence, Oregon will have to somehow fill that void. To do so, one or multiple players must step up in the postseason. Two options could be Taylor Chavez or Jaz Shelley at point guard, or a combination of the two. 

As for Paopao’s return, it’s still unknown. Graves hasn’t ruled her out entirely, but hasn’t guaranteed her return, either. 

“If she does play, it would be later in the tournament. We better play a lot better or we won’t be playing later in the next tournament,” he said. “I’m one of those that hopes for the best and plans for the worst.” 

Lack of postseason experience 

With five new freshmen and two redshirt sophomores playing for the first time in their careers, the Ducks as a team don’t have much postseason experience.

Alleviating some of that concern are returners Shelley, Chavez, Erin Boley, Lydia Giomi and transfer Taylor Mikesell, who all have experience in postseason play and know the intensity that comes with those games. Mikesell, who transferred from Maryland, has tournament experience under her belt in her two years as a Terrapin. 

Playoff experience can’t be taught, just how it’s impossible to replicate a playoff scenario in practice settings. This is something that has to be earned and played through, and even though it doesn’t guarantee success, it makes a huge impact in moments of adversity.

Oregon only has one guaranteed game left in the season — the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. They have one more chance at keeping their postseason run alive after getting knocked out early of the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. 

“We are in the stretch,” Graves said. “We are guaranteed probably one more game. And now we’ve got to earn more. We’re good enough to. We’ve just got to get it done.”

The shooting struggles continue 

At the beginning of the season, Graves described this year’s team as the best shooting team he’s ever had. The Ducks went into a shooting slump in those five losses. They shot 25% from beyond the arc with just three three-pointers against Oregon State in the final regular season game. Their first three-pointer of the game wasn’t until Mikesell’s in the third quarter. 

“Sure, we could have shot better,” Graves said. “Sure, we had some shots at the rim that we left on the floor tonight. And you can’t do that this time of year. But, again, how many of our players have a ton of experience to really kind of fall back on and know that? We just weren’t at our best.”

Shelley and Maddie Scherr were both scoreless, and Chavez only scored three points in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals. If those guards along with Sydney Parrish can contribute six or eight points a game, the Ducks will be hard to stop offensively. 

Oregon has two weeks until the tournament to make adjustments, otherwise it’ll be a one-and-done postseason for this roster.