Weather forecasts call for clouds and possible rain this week in Cancun, Mexico.

As if the Oregon women's basketball team needed a reminder that it hasn't ventured south of the border simply for a vacation.

The Ducks (5-4) will take the court tonight at 5:30 p.m. against South Florida (7-2) of the Big East. The matchup is part of the Caribbean Classic, and comes 13 days before the same schools meet on the football field in the Sun Bowl.

Perhaps most importantly for Oregon, it's the first chance to push a horrific 35-point loss at No. 10 Baylor last week deep into their memory banks.

"It was definitely a real good learning experience," UO sophomore Taylor Lilley said of Wednesday's game in Waco, Texas. "It really hurt bad, and we want to get back on the court and change that feeling inside."

Change may also be afoot in the starting lineup. In practices this weekend, Micaela Cocks got extended chances to play point guard with the first unit.

On Saturday, UO coach Bev Smith wasn't yet committing to opening with Cocks and bringing second-year starter Tamika Nurse off the bench.

"I'm trying to look at combinations," Smith said. "We're not starting very well, so that's where we're looking, to see if we can get a decent start."

The Baylor loss was the eighth straight game in which Oregon scored more points in the second half than in the first. The tendency has been for the Ducks not to settle into a comfortable pace of play until games are well under way.

Ironically, though, that wasn't the case Wednesday. The Ducks played to an 8-8 tie more than seven minutes in, before scoring just three points on free throws the rest of the half to trail 44-11 at the break.

When the Ducks weren't turning the ball over, their shots missed or were blocked.

"For the first four, five minutes we played as we had wanted to," Smith said. "And then they went on a run and we just froze."

Still, starting one game well does not constitute a trend, and the Ducks will continue to look for a spark out of the gate, possibly by tinkering with the lineup. Nurse is one of two UO players to start every game this season along with Kaela Chapdelaine, in four different combinations.

The Bulls come in looking to extend a five-game winning streak. They're led by Cal transfer Jessica Lawson. She's a 6-foot-3 junior, as is Brittany Denson, a transfer from Miami who likely will make her USF debut tonight after sitting out the last year.

Lilley said USF reminds her of the last team Oregon beat, UC Santa Barbara.

"Except when we played UCSB, their best post player was sitting out," Lilley said.

Lawson, on the other hand, is expected to start, and comes in averaging 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Shanita Grace provides a better three-point shooter than UCSB could boast, too, having made 39.2 percent of her shots (20-of-51) this season.

In all seven of its wins this season, USF has held the opponent under 40 percent shooting. The Ducks come in averaging 38.6 percent for the season. So they'll have to outdo their typical production to win, as was the case entering last week's loss at Baylor.

"They just adjusted really well to what we were doing," Lilley said. "They did what they were asked to do, and they were very athletic as well. That just put the cherry on top."

The gloomy weather in Mexico, then, could perhaps help a young team trying to regain its focus in the wake of defeat.

"It's hard, but they're great lessons," Smith said. "When we came back, I said, 'Our glory isn't in falling. It's in getting back up.' "