Last time the Oregon women’s basketball team played Oregon State, it put together a complete game.
The Ducks shot 55 percent from the floor.
They had 17 assists and only
six turnovers.
And it happened at Gill Coliseum.
So what will happen when the scene shifts to Eugene on Saturday?
As far as the Ducks are concerned, hopefully more of the same.
Oregon (14-6 overall, 7-4 Pacific-10 Conference) will face off against Oregon State (6-15, 1-10) at 7 p.m. in McArthur Court as the Ducks look to win their third straight and sweep their current three-game homestand.
“I think we played a complete game,” Oregon senior Andrea Bills said of last month’s victory against Oregon State. “But that game was the last game. We just need to be aggressive on defense, outrebound them, just like we did the past weekend with the Los Angeles schools.”
The Ducks outrebounded the two schools 94-58 during the weekend, including a 28-23 advantage on
the offensive glass. In addition,
Oregon shot just over 51 percent from the floor. But despite the gaudy
offensive numbers, the Duck defense
was critical to both victories, and it will be needed once again against
the Beavers.
The biggest concern for the
Ducks will be Oregon State senior Shannon Howell.
The guard from Los Angeles, Calif., leads the Pac-10 in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game, and is 10th in three-point field goals made. Howell has been the leading scorer for the Beavers in 14 of
their 21 games, three of those being 30 -point plus efforts.
“Obviously we need to focus
on certain people and know their tendencies and know what they are going to do,” Oregon senior Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “And
I think we’ll be there, and we’ll know that for the game.”
The only other player for
Oregon State who is scoring in
double-digits is junior forward Kim Butler. The transfer from Santa Clara is averaging 10.4 points per game and just under five rebounds per game.
For the Ducks, the approach
remains the same.
Start from the inside out.
Seniors Bills and Kraayeveld
average 27 points and over
16 rebounds per game combined.
Last time against Oregon
State, Bills scored 17 points on
7-of-10 shooting in just 22 minutes of play.
Another critical element for
the Ducks, shooting, got a shot in the arm from another senior over the weekend.
Filling the loss of junior guard Chelsea Wagner, Brandi Davis came in off the bench last weekend and scored 42 points, garnering Pac-10 Player of the Week honors.
Oregon head coach Bev Smith said the decision to put Davis in the starting lineup would be made at the end of the practice week.
“I thought Brandi played
as well as she had ever played,” Smith said. “She was very intense and very determined, and she was a big factor in our defensive game against UCLA.”
The other important element
on the outside for the Ducks is the play of senior Corrie Mizusawa. Mizusawa leads the Pac-10 in assists with 7.26 per game.