TUCSON, Ariz. - Frustration abounds among members of the Oregon women's basketball team.
Frustration at a 10-10 overall record. Frustration at being 4-5 in the Pac-10, in sixth place. Frustration at two narrow losses in Los Angeles last week, when wins would have put the Ducks alone in fourth place.
As Oregon enters the second half of conference play at 6 p.m. tonight against Arizona in the McKale Center, UO coach Bev Smith has experienced just as much gut-wrenching emotion as her players the past few weeks. But Smith, unlike nearly half of her players, also remembers where Oregon was at this time last season: 2-7 after the first round of Pac-10 play, unsure whether it could pull out of the black hole it then occupied.
"We have to remind ourselves as coaches and remind them," Smith said, "that you sometimes always look to see how far you have to go; in some respects we have to give them kudos and pats on the back for how far they've come in a short time."
With five freshmen having made at least 17 appearances, and two sophomores and a freshman leading the team in scoring, Oregon is very much in a rebuilding year but also keeping pace with the 2006-07 group. Last year's UO team had five seniors, and was 10-9 overall through the first round of conference play before rallying to finish 17-14 after two games in the WNIT.
There have been signs of improvement over the course of this season. A month after losing by 35 points at then-No. 10 Baylor, the Ducks went down to the wire at then-No. 7 California before losing by nine. Oregon was spent after that game and came out flat at Stanford two days later, but two weeks after that the Ducks rallied after a heartbreaking loss at UCLA to nearly beat Southern California on Saturday.
But assessing success comes down almost entirely to wins and losses, which this young team knows. There's hope some of those tight road losses can be reversed in the second half of the conference season.
"Four or five points can change on a home court," said freshman post Ellyce Ironmonger, a 16-game starter who is second on the team in scoring. "So I really think we can get those wins when we can come back here and play those teams at Mac Court. It can really level everything out."
Ironmonger is at the center of Oregon's biggest goal for the second half — improved post scoring. The team's leading scorer, shooting guard Taylor Lilley, is consistently being defended by big wings who can limit her shooting ability. And behind Ironmonger, Oregon's next three leading scorers are guards.
The UO forwards play a big part in the team's strong defense, but their improved ability to receive a pass in the lane, turn and finish would take pressure — and defensive attention — off the Ducks on the perimeter.
"They have to take ownership," Smith said. "When they get it inside, they either have to get the score or they have to get to the free-throw line, one of two things."
Injuries have been a factor in the young players' development. Of the 12 Ducks on the roster, no fewer than eight have missed extended practice time this season.
Also an issue has been the "wall" first-year players encounter, big trouble for a team whose roster is half freshmen.
"I don't know as a group, but I feel like I have hit that spot where you know what you need to do, but it's just not working how it's supposed to," Ironmonger said.
Credit that to opponents having game film of the newcomers from the first part of the season. And now that the Ducks are about to enter rematches with the other nine Pac-10 teams, that familiarity is only going to increase.
This year's Ducks have seemed a more resilient, mentally tough group than last year's UO team, but that's about to be tested. The team's lone senior, Kaela Chapdelaine, is cautiously optimistic Oregon can hold itself together, mentally and physically.
"It's just a matter of being smart about taking your days off, and what you're doing throughout the week," Chapdelaine said. "You need to be 100 percent for practice and 100 percent for games. Everything else doesn't matter. And I think we've got a team that understands those priorities."
Last year, Oregon reversed its fortunes dramatically in the second half of the conference slate, going 6-3. If this year's group hopes to make it back to the WNIT, they'll need to go at least 5-4, so that a first-game loss in the Pac-10 tournament wouldn't drop their overall record below .500.
Finishing 5-4 over the next nine games will require upsetting one of the five teams above Oregon in the conference — the five teams that beat the Ducks in the first round — and not losing to one of the teams they already beat. That includes their opponent tonight, after Oregon beat the Wildcats 59-53 in McArthur Court on Jan. 5.
"Our players know without even telling them we need a win," Smith said. "We've got to get that win if we want to stay in the race."
Finishing in the top half of the Pac-10 remains the goal for Oregon, as players have stated over and over.
But if the Ducks lose tonight, they'll enter Saturday's game at Arizona State having lost three straight, then return home for No. 7 Stanford and No. 10 Cal.
So the possibility of a six-game losing streak is very real, if the Ducks stumble tonight.
"We're confident we can get one this week," Chapdelaine said. "Every game now is must-win, the Pac-10 is so jumbled. (Tonight) is the next one we've got to get, and the next one we've got to get is Saturday."