The Oregon women’s basketball team faces its first NCAA Division I opponents this season in the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic.
The Ducks open with Valparaiso at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at McArthur Court.
“We’re excited to play and get going,” point guard Corrie Mizusawa said. “It’s our first game that’s actually going to count, so we’re excited to have the fans there and hopefully have a pretty big crowd.”
The Ducks play Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday’s game against either LSU or Villanova. The opponent is contingent on the outcome between the Tigers and Wildcats.
All three teams played in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. LSU advanced to the Elite Eight.
“They’re definitely better teams (than we’ve faced this season),” forward Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “They’re more disciplined and they’re going to execute, so we really have to be that much more disciplined and more focused on doing what we need to do to play well in the game.”
After an 80-69 win against a traveling team from the Czech Republic and a lopsided 87-29 defeat of Western Oregon, the Ducks are ready for new competition. They also are working on what their team needs to accomplish, regardless of the opponent.
“It’s a real good opportunity to evaluate our team,” head coach Bev Smith said. “Certainly we are focusing defensively and really trying to make sure that we play defensively well so that we can control the backboards. By controlling the backboards, we can control the tempo offensively.”
Offensively, the Ducks may have a lower-scoring game because of a change on the court. A quirk the tournament is throwing in this year is two alterations that may be added by the NCAA starting in the 2004-2005 season.
The women will play with the three-point line moved from 19 feet, nine inches to 20 feet, 6.25 inches.
“The three-point line really isn’t that much farther out,” Kraayeveld said. “If you’re going to shoot a three, a couple inches extra really isn’t that big of a deal.”
The other change is modifying the 12-foot-wide rectangular key to a trapezoid shape that is 19 feet, 8.75 inches at the baseline.
“The key is definitely a bit different, especially when we practiced free-throws,” Mizusawa said. “The first two rebounders have to get out there pretty quick just to lock down the boards.”
Oregon’s average height is six feet — giving the Ducks an advantage in rebounding this season. However, 6-foot-6 freshman Jessica Shetters will sit out the tournament with a sore ankle. She hopes to be back for the Nov. 25 game at Gonzaga. Shetters was hurt warming up for the team’s first exhibition game.
LSU and Villanova open the tournament Saturday with a 4 p.m. game. Saturday’s two winners will face each other Sunday at 3 p.m., while the losing teams play at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The tournament, sponsored by the Women’s Sports Foundation, is an annual event that changes location every year.
“One of the things that they like to do is put it in a community and a university that there is a lot of interest in women’s sports and women’s basketball,” Smith said. “It’s something that we wanted to do because we feel we would really like to reward our fans for what they do for women’s basketball and women’s sports.”
As an organization, the Women’s Sports Foundation’s mission is to “ensure equal access to participation and leadership opportunities for all girls and women in sports and fitness,” according to its Web site.
The nonprofit group was founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King in 1974.