TEMPE, Ariz.- About 45 minutes south of the Phoenix metropolitan area, home to Arizona State, sits the town of Casa Grande.
There, away from the madness of the masses here for Sunday's Super Bowl, the Oregon women's basketball team chose to hunker down for the night before facing the Sun Devils at 10 a.m. PST today in Wells Fargo Arena. The Ducks put some distance between themselves and Tucson, site of Thursday's loss at Arizona, but only stopped into Tempe for a couple of hours of practice Friday before returning to their hotel in Casa Grande.
It seemed as good a time as any to take a step away from the rigors of this season, in which Oregon is 10-11 overall and 4-6 in the Pac-10, nursing a three-game losing streak.
With the one-game Civil War weeks bookending the conference schedule, the Ducks don't get a respite until season's end, regardless of how weary of basketball and school and travel they seem to be.
"It's easy to stick together when things are going well," UO coach Bev Smith said. "This is a time you've got to come together and make your move as a team, and hang in there together."
Never an offensive juggernaut, the Ducks had pieced together a relatively promising season with tough defense, solid rebounding and timely scoring. They got none of those against the Wildcats on Thursday. Arizona's 45.3 percent shooting was seven points higher than Oregon had allowed entering the week, and the Ducks were outrebounded by 10 after previously averaging a plus-four margin for the season.
Then there was the offense: Leading scorer Taylor Lilley was the only Duck in double figures, with 22 points. For nearly 13 minutes to start the second half, when Arizona was building a lead Oregon couldn't ultimately overcome, Lilley scored 14 points, and her teammates combined for two.
"I think we got on our heels a little bit with their post play, and we didn't ever really control it," Smith said. "They got some momentum, and just kept bringing it at us."
In working to get more offensive production from their four freshman forwards, Smith said, the coaching staff might have taken their attention away from defense more than it intended. The Ducks want to get back to their typically rugged ways today against the Sun Devils.
To help them, Smith said she might rotate her forwards more often, keeping them fresh,
"They're just keeping their heads above water rather than swimming," Smith said. "I think they're giving us what they can."
There were some positives Thursday, as the Ducks handled Arizona's press relatively well, committing 16 turnovers, four under their average. They also converted a nice backdoor play for Lilley on a pass from Victoria Kenyon to open the game. But that belied what was to come, as Oregon often rushed shots with ample time left in the possession after breaking the press.
Arizona State brings as much on-ball defensive pressure as anyone in the conference, so the Ducks won't have many chances to relax today.
"We can definitely get this team if we stay on top of our game, and play tough and play hard," Lilley said. "If we score on a consistent basis, we can get this team."
And if they get back to playing tough on the defensive end, against an Arizona State team that has won three straight.
"They're always a team that you don't want to play when they have momentum," Smith said.
"That's why we're focused on our defensive effort. If we can keep them in a low-scoring situation, we have a chance to win."