As is customary, the Oregon women’s basketball team spent a day reviewing tape of its 61-59 loss at Oregon State on Saturday.
The defeat, which set the Ducks back to 12-13 overall (3-11 Pacific-10 Conference), was marked by a blown 20-point halftime lead and the Beavers’ high mark of the season for points in a half (45) accumulated in the second half.
“We looked at the difference in play between the first half and the second half,” junior forward Amanda Johnson said. “There was a tentativeness in the second half. In the first half, we were much quicker transitioning from defense to offense. In the second half, it was inhibited.”
Oregon head coach Paul Westhead emphasized a short memory in his weekly meeting with the media over the game, which brought the Ducks’ current losing streak to seven games.
“Unless there’s some great lessons to be learned, it’s most important to focus on our current opponent,” Westhead said. “I’d like to say I’m a coach that, give me a night’s sleep and it’s on to the next issue. To have it linger, to feel sorry for yourself — it’s only going to drain your energy.”
The current opponent is Cal, hosting the Ducks at 7 p.m. Thursday, a team in the midst of a disappointing season of its own. The Golden Bears are tied for sixth in the conference with a 6-9 Pac-10 record (14-12 overall).
No current Oregon player has won a game on the road in the Bay Area. The Ducks’ last victory came at Haas Pavilion on Feb. 26, 2005, a 58-51 win over the Golden Bears.
“What’s happened has happened,” Johnson said. “If you remain focused on (recent history against Cal and Stanford), it will only perpetuate itself.”
Johnson and the Ducks are determined not to let that happen. On Monday, Oregon had what Westhead called a “perfect practice” in which, according to Johnson, the team “tried to continue to solidify the philosophy (of the fast-break offense).”
As Johnson sees it, the team has not exhibited mental toughness when executing the system in adverse situations.
“The coaches think it’s conditioning,” she said of the reasons behind the slow play in recent weeks. “I don’t think that’s it, necessarily. If we were out of shape, we wouldn’t get to practice.”
Jackson’s status unchanged
Junior point guard Nia Jackson has not practiced this week and is expected to miss the Ducks’ contest at Cal on Thursday.
“Nothing new,” Westhead said. “There has been slight encouragement (in her progress).”
Jackson has missed the last four games because of knee injuries sustained on Feb. 3 in an overtime loss to Washington. She is working her way up to running on underwater treadmills — a common rehabilitation tactic used for all Oregon athletes — before taking the court.
The backup point guard situation behind freshman Ariel Thomas has been solidified; senior Tatianna Thomas will remain in that role.
“It’s been a little bit of a challenge,” said Thomas, who has averaged 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10 minutes per game this season. “It’s not natural for me, compared to A.T. and Nia; they’ve been at point guard all their lives.”
A native of Stevenson Ranch, Calif., Thomas has spent her first three years between shooting guard and small forward. At 5-foot-11 with good foot speed, she brings uncommon size and athleticism to the position but has had to adjust to handling the ball more and seeing all of the court.
“The coaches put me there because of my ability to attack the basket. A.T. and Nia have that mentality; I have it as well,” Thomas said. “It’s a challenge to make me broaden my game. You have to create (scoring opportunities) for everyone and yourself.”
Without Buis
Oregon guard Ashley Buis did not play against Oregon State for the first time all season.
The junior-college transfer from Linden, Ind., had started the first 21 games of the season before Westhead instituted lineup changes at Washington State on Feb. 5. Buis, hailed as an outside shooting specialist upon arrival to Eugene, has struggled mightily this season, making 27.0 percent of three-point shots and 28.7 percent of field goals attempted overall.
“Ashley is always in the mix,” Westhead said. “We will use her as a shooting guard; that position has been regrouped a little bit.”
The Ducks have used Tatianna Thomas, Deanna Weaver, Kristi Fallin and Bias at the position over the course of the season.
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