Fresh off a dispiriting sweep in the Bay Area, the Oregon women's basketball team might have been excused for pausing to celebrate Thursday's win over Washington State.
The Ducks had endured three losses in their previous four Pac-10 games. After encouraging moments against the conference's last two unbeaten teams, Arizona State and California, UO coach Bev Smith had said her team was primed for a breakthrough.
But beating one of the two remaining winless teams in league play wasn't all the Ducks had in mind. In the big picture, if the freshman-heavy roster is going to finish .500 in conference play and repeat the WNIT run last year's veteran roster made, fewer games are more critical than this afternoon's 2 p.m. visit to McArthur Court by Washington.
"This homestand has got to be a breakthrough, just to punch through and get some separation in the Pac-10," Smith said. "They're a good team, and they're going to come in here looking for a split, so we have to be ready to defend our homecourt."
The Ducks (9-8) and Huskies (7-11) entered this week tied for sixth in conference play at 2-3, two youthful teams each looking to make a run at finishing in the top half of the Pac-10 standings. Oregon took care of the Cougars, but Washington lost at Oregon State to fall into a tie with the Beavers at 2-4.
"There's a big clump in the middle of the Pac-10, and games like this are ways to bring yourself above that clump and separate from the rest of the pack," UO junior Tamika Nurse said. "Winning against Washington would be huge for us."
Last week, Oregon drained itself in a Thursday defeat to Cal and came out flat in a one-sided loss to a fresh Stanford team that had pounded OSU two days earlier. The tables appear to be turned today — while the Ducks leaned heavily on their bench in the second half of the win over Washington State, the Huskies rode their starters in trying to beat the Beavers.
Some numbers that illuminate the difference: Oregon got 31 points from its reserves two days ago, while Washington's bench also provided 31 — 31 minutes played, out of 200.
"That should work to our advantage, but we have to make it work to our advantage," Smith said. "We have to make sure we're mentally staying sharp even though we're physically rested."
None of Oregon's starters played more than 32 minutes Thursday, while four Washington starters played at least that long. Guard Emily Florence led the way by going the entire 40, a heavy burden for the player who sets the tone in the team's high-pressure defensive sets.
That defense will test Oregon's shooters, who went 3-for-21 from three-point range Thursday. Four freshman forwards took up the slack with 36 points and 22 rebounds, including 11 of the Ducks' 17 offensive boards. But well after the game had ended, UO point guard Micaela Cocks was back on the court in uniform working on her shot following an 0-for-5 night from the arc.
Today and beyond, Cocks, Taylor Lilley and the rest will still be free to take open three-pointers.
"You have to continue to go to some of those strengths," Smith said. "But what I liked about (Thursday) was, we offensive-rebounded well. If you're not shooting well, you've got to bring your rebounding game and you've got to bring your defensive game."