Oregon’s four healthy seniors will have at least one more chance to wear a Duck uniform.
On Monday night, the Ducks received an automatic qualifying bid for the WNIT, giving Oregon its first postseason berth under second-year head coach Kelly Graves
The Ducks will play Long Beach State (24-8) in a first-round game at Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday at 6 p.m.
“Obviously we’re disappointed we’re not playing in the NCAA (Tournament), but we didn’t earn it down the stretch. We had a chance to, but it didn’t happen. I’m just glad that we continue to play,” Graves said. “I’m a proponent of playing as long as you can regardless of the tournament. … There’s a lot of positives that can come from it.”
Oregon and Utah are the sole WNIT teams from the Pac-12.
“It’s postseason,” Graves said. “It’s a chance for your seniors to play a little longer and for your freshmen to get some more time in meaningful games.”
Long Beach State, which finished tied for second place in the Big West Conference, has won six of its last seven games coming into WNIT play and guard Raven Benton has averaged 12.8 points per game this season. Another Beach guard, Jewelyn Sawyer, averages 9.0 points. No LBSU player averaged double digits in rebounding this season.
“I’m anticipating that we’ll see a lot of pressure,” Graves said of LBSU. “Looks they have a lot of kids that can score and shoot the three well.”
The winner of Thursday’s game will play either Fresno State or Santa Clara in the second round.
Coming into WNIT play, Oregon, which finished sixth in the Pac-12, has lost its last three games to California, Stanford and Arizona following a season-ending knee injury to Jillian Alleyne. Before that, the Ducks had won six of seven games.
“Our kids are in finals right now,” Graves said. “This is not an easy week for them. This will be a true test of our character and toughness. And obviously our ability to play together.”
The full WNIT bracket is here.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne