The Oregon women open the 2005-06 regular season Friday as host of the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic held at McArthur Court. The Ducks are pitted against St. Francis in the first round. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
As four-time defending champions of the Northeast Conference, the Red Flash from Loretto, Pa., are a formidable season-opening opponent for Oregon. St. Francis is a staple team of the NCAA Tournament having reached it nine of the past 10 years as NEC Champions. Third-year head coach Jill Poe has amassed 40 conference wins in her first two years with the Red Flash. However, St. Francis has an enrollment of only 2,000.
Oregon strolled through the preseason unscathed. The Ducks dealt losses to British Columbia and the Northwest Sports team. Sophomore center Gabrielle Richards recorded double-doubles in each game and helped the team’s inside players to 70 combined points against Northwest Sports.
Friday’s tournament opens with Michigan playing Temple at 5 p.m. The winning and losing teams of each first round game square-off Saturday. Playing two games in as many days may seem grueling for the Ducks, but after Saturday they have seven days off before hosting Nevada Nov. 20.
Future talent is on the way for the Ducks, who nabbed their first signee of next season two days ago. Taylor Lilley of Hart High School in Santa Clarita Valley, Calif., signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, the first day of the signing period for the 2006-07 season. The 5-foot-6 shooting guard is the first of two early signings expected by Oregon head coach Bev Smith.
Lilley kept herself busy in the past three off-seasons playing with Cal Swish, a nationally-ranked AAU team in Los Angeles. She is one of Cal Swish’s six players heading to a Pacific-10 Conference school next fall. Smith is excited to have Lilley on her 2006-07 roster.
“I think she shot the ball as well as anyone in the nation this past summer,” Smith said. “She’s a tremendous young woman, she’s excited to be a Duck and is looking forward to her experience here.”
Smith plans on integrating Lilley into Oregon’s backcourt where her shooting ability will be put to good use.
“I think she will really help fill the shooting void we’ll have with Chelsea (Wagner) and Brandi (Davis) leaving the team at the ‘2’ guard position,” Smith said. “She’s adding to her game, looking to put the ball on the floor more and become a multi-dimensional player, which is very important at the Pac-10 level.”
Russ Davis, Lilley’s AAU coach, has confidence in Lilley, whose small-size speaks little of her play on the court.
“I think people tend to overlook her a bit because of her size,” Davis said. “But she proved this summer that she can shoot with anyone in the country, hitting clutch shots after clutch shots for our team. She can shoot it from deep and stretch out the defense, or take people off the dribble. She’s a great kid – very athletic and has no fear.”

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