Oregon women’s basketball will be fighting for its postseason life as the team enters its final three games of Pacific-12 Conference play. The Ducks (14-13, 6-9 Pac-12) could get an emotional spark to fuel a late-season run with a victory over in-state rival Oregon State (17-9, 8-7 Pac-12) at home on Saturday. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205335991&DB_OEM_ID=500@@ @@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html@@
The last time the two sides met was at Gill Coliseum on Jan. 28th, when the Beavers pulled out a 67-60 victory. In that game, Oregon State used white-hot shooting in the final four minutes to claim a game that had saw 15 lead changes and 11 ties between two evenly matched squads.
“They made some timely shots in the last four and a half minutes of the game,” head coach Paul Westhead said. “If you’re gonna pick a time in the game to get hot and make outside shots, do it then. And we allowed it, so good for them and kind of a misstep for us.”
Freshman sharpshooter Ali Gibson posed particular trouble for the Ducks. The former McDonald’s All-American — who leads the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game — scored a career-high 23 against the Ducks the last time out, including five three-pointers. @@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2011-2012/osu20.html@@
“We did have some lapses in the first round of playing the Beavers,” senior forward Jasmin Holliday said. “We’ve been watching film and been studying them. We’ve really practiced our zone defense, trying to get that down to a T, just because they have some very good outside shooters.”
In that contest, Oregon State held Oregon to just three points in the last 3:48, while limiting the Ducks to 35.4 percent shooting overall. However, that game marked the return of senior forward Amanda Johnson, who took the floor for the first time since breaking her left thumb at Denver on Dec. 11. Though Johnson managed 16 points and eight rebounds against the Beavers, she admits she wasn’t 100 percent. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/445505.htm?ATCLID=205370380&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
“The first couple minutes I was sucking wind there,” Johnson said. “And there are different periods of time where I definitely kind of felt out of it, just struggling to get my feet underneath me and really returning to the pace of the play. At this point, I would definitely say I have enough games under my belt and enough practices to be at the top performance level.”
Saturday’s contest is the last home game for Johnson and Holliday along with fellow senior Nia Jackson. Johnson, who leads the team with averages of 18.4 points per game and 8.3 rebounds in conference play, said capping her career with a win over the Beavers would be a significant accomplishment.
“It would be so amazing,” Johnson said. “I think that this team that we have right now, with nine underclassmen — eight playing — it’s definitely been a journey and a process. Only having three seniors and the inexperience that’s there but also the refreshing attitudes — it’s been really rejuvenating to be around them and hopefully leave a legacy here for them to continue building on. Because they’re great players and great people.
However, ending the season with a victory over Oregon State will be harder than in recent years. Under the guidance of second-year head coach Scott Rueck, the Beavers’ program has experienced a resurrection few expected as recently as one season ago.
In 2010-11, Rueck’s first season at the helm, the Beavers posted a 9-21 record with only one player with NCAA Division I experience. But this year, with a replenished and more experienced roster, the team has prospered, amassing a 17-9 overall record and an 8-7 mark in Pac-12 play. Are the Ducks excited that the Beavers have noticeably stepped up their game this year?
“I think we would prefer to smack them every time,” Johnson said. “But that being said, I am a competitor, and I think there’s maybe more riding on this game than there ever has been before. I just remember playing them here last year for the opening of Matthew Knight Arena and having 12,000 people in the stands and not being able to hear anything. So I think it’d be really great if we could get that kind of energy here again.”
Considering that the game also serves as a farewell part for three cornerstones of Oregon’s program, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the whole team — freshmen to seniors — emerge with a chip on its shoulders this weekend.
“I wouldn’t know a game here at the University of Oregon without the three of them,” Westhead said. “They were here when I arrived, and they’ve been significant players.”