This is shaping up to be a significant next few days in the life of Micaela Cocks.

Some time soon, the New Zealand Olympic Committee is expected to decide if its women's basketball team, which has qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics, will participate in Beijing. If the decision is made to play, Cocks will be on the short list of players from which the roster will be selected.

And tonight, Cocks will make the first regular-season appearance of her sophomore season with the Oregon women's team. The Ducks (1-0) host South Dakota State in McArthur Court at 7 p.m.

A 5-foot-8 perimeter player, Cocks had to sit out the Ducks' season-opening win Sunday. The one-game NCAA penalty for participation in an unsanctioned event stemmed from 18 minutes of playing time with her former city league team in Auckland this summer, while Cocks was in her home country playing with the national team.

"I just wanted to be a role model and show them what USA college is all about," Cocks said. "I didn't believe it was not to any standards. I just joined in. It was just an honest mistake. ...

"It didn't go through my head that I wouldn't be able. To me, it wasn't a competitive situation."

Cocks was cleared to participate with her national team, but any other organized events had to be approved by the NCAA. There's a city league in Portland, for instance, that the NCAA has sanctioned, UO coach Bev Smith said.

"As innocent as it was, it still has to be a sanctioned event," said Smith, who said the violation came to light in conversations with Cocks. The Ducks then self-reported it to the NCAA, Smith said.

Tonight Cocks can put all that business behind her. She is Oregon's most veteran reserve, and figures to play all three perimeter positions.

She came back from this summer a more confident ball-handler, and a more physical defender. Cocks was eligible to compete in both of Oregon's exhibition wins, and she went 5-for-11 from three-point range.

Smith wants to see better passing between Oregon's guards and posts tonight, and better execution of short-range shots, after the Ducks missed 15 layups in Sunday's 67-32 win over San Jose State. On the other end, South Dakota State has guards who can shoot and like to push the pace, but who can settle into a patient halfcourt offense and feed their forwards.

The Jackrabbits (2-0) went 25-6 last season and return four starters from a team that — like Oregon — was eliminated from the Women's National Invitation Tournament by Wyoming.

Cocks figures to be the Ducks' first guard off the bench tonight, and with her shooting can ease the pressure on Taylor Lilley, who had 19 points Sunday. After the game, Cocks will go back to waiting on word from the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

The nation's women's team qualified out of the Oceania region; regional power Australia was an automatic qualifier as world champions, and New Zealand only had to defeat Fiji to reach the Olympics. There are concerns about how competitive New Zealand would actually be in the Olympics, leading to the delayed decision on whether to participate.

Cocks said she's been told it's better than 50-50 that they'll go. But she said "it's taking awhile at the moment, so there's a bit of apprehension."

On at least one front, however, the waiting is over.

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