LOS ANGELES - Watching video of Oregon's loss at UCLA from the previous night, Micaela Cocks saw herself trapped in the backcourt once, twice, three times, the UO sophomore point guard unsure of what to do next.
No, the rewind button didn't have to be used for the scene to be replayed over and over on a television screen Friday. The Bruins used a pressing defense to force eight straight turnovers down the stretch Thursday. They converted them into 12 points during a 14-0 run that gave them the lead and, ultimately, the game.
"I definitely got rattled last night," Cocks said following Oregon's practice Friday in the Galen Center, site of a 2 p.m. meeting with Southern California today. "I needed to take a moment to compose myself. But I need to be able to do that on the court straight away. ...
"I learned a lot in the last five minutes of last night's game, more than I've learned probably playing six games all together. Being in that situation was obviously not a good feeling, and then seeing it on tape - it was so simple what I needed to do, but my head was going a thousand miles an hour."
Oregon coach Bev Smith had the benefit of three timeouts during the run: one of her own, one called by UCLA and one for media. And still the turnovers continued. More effective might have been a few extra minutes of rest for Cocks earlier in the game, but with both Tamika Nurse and Nia Jackson sidelined by injuries, the Ducks (10-9, 4-4 Pac-10) were fresh out of point guards.
That will be the situation again today against the Trojans (12-7, 5-3). Jackson will miss her second straight game with a quad strain aggravated last week against Washington, and Nurse won't play due to the shoulder injury she suffered after only a minute of play Thursday. X-rays taken during the game showed no broken bones, only a ligament strain that will test Nurse's pain threshold whenever she decides to return, based on her grimaces while doing light shooting toward the end of practice Friday.
To ease the pressure on Cocks, both Taylor Lilley and Kaela Chapdelaine will be asked to handle the ball this afternoon.
"It'll be a little bit point-guard-by-committee," Smith said. "We're going to have to see how we can manage that. They're all pretty good ball handlers."
The loss of Nurse and Jackson leaves Oregon will nine active players today, including seldom-used reserve Mary Sbrissa. The only backup on the perimeter will be Tatianna Thomas, a true freshman small forward who played a season-high 16 minutes Thursday. She grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot, and her one made field goal in five attempts was a jumper with a toe on the three-point line.
Thomas struggled along with the rest of the team in trying to help break UCLA's press, but she held her own playing one corner in Oregon's 2-3 zone defense.
"I feel like I'm ready, but for me it's more of a focus thing," Thomas said. "I'm not coming in in blowout situations, I'm coming in in meaningful situations, so I have to be on my game a little more. I don't want to say it's nervousness, more so it's just being focused."
The Trojans will test that UO defense with a balanced offense built around the post presence of Nadia Parker and the outside shooting of guards Camille LeNoir, Healther Oliver and Brynn Cameron. But no matter how well Oregon deals with USC's offense, the Ducks will have very little chance of winning if they repeat their 29-turnover showing from Thursday.
"They're going to stretch us defensively, but I feel good about our defensive game," Smith said. "It's just going to be manufacturing some points now."