With their Pac-10 tournament seeding all but assured, there's not a whole lot of pressure on the seventh-place Oregon women's basketball team entering the final two games of the regular season.
The first of those opponents, UCLA, could try to change that when the Bruins face the Ducks this afternoon in McArthur Court at 2 p.m. In their first matchup of the season, which kicked off Oregon's current stretch of eight losses in nine games, UCLA employed a fullcourt press midway through the second half to make up a 14-point deficit and come back to win.
The hangover of that heartbreaker may still be clouding the Ducks' minds, given the results since. One aspect that has definitely lingered has been the press defense — the rest of the league saw how rattled Oregon was late in the game, and the Ducks have seen a steady diet of presses since.
With all those chances to work on their press break, and two months of practice since the trip to Los Angeles, the Ducks are optimistic about their chances should the Bruins press again this afternoon.
"We're a lot more confident in that area now," UO guard Micaela Cocks said. "It's nothing new."
It seemed to be back on Jan. 24 in Pauley Pavilion. Oregon took the lead just before halftime and had its widest margin at 49-35 with 9:55 to play. But the Bruins went to the press, and the Ducks scored just 10 more points and finished with a season-high 29 turnovers.
Over the ensuing weeks, the Ducks saw man presses and zone presses. They were trapped in the fullcourt, the three-quarter court and halfcourt
A sea change occurred Feb. 15 at Washington. The Huskies pressed most of the first half, and Oregon easily handled it. The Ducks put their forwards at halfcourt, threw over the top of the press and repeatedly set up transition chances on offense.
UO coach Bev Smith has had her team practicing in live situations against the press, without allowing the ball to touch the floor.
"They're not forcing things, and they're not trying to dribble through things," Smith said. "Because you can break a press a lot better, I think, on the pass and trying to move the ball."
On Thursday, Southern California tried to extend its 3-2 zone over the fullcourt a few times in the first half, and again the Ducks handled it. The key again was forwards making themselves available for passes from guards, and then transitioning smoothly into the offensive end.
More of the same could be needed if UCLA presses today.
"You have to have a system and a structure, but a lot of times against a team like UCLA, you also have to make basketball plays out of it," Smith said. "Particularly at the end of it, when you've got the chance to have a three-on-two or two-on-one."
The Ducks still committed 21 turnovers in Thursday's loss, but most of them came in the halfcourt, after USC successfully denied Oregon transition opportunities. Smith labeled some of them "oops" turnovers — a pass off a hand or dribble off a foot — but the euphemism does little justice to the costliness of the errors.
"This team can absolutely live with 15, 14 turnovers," Smith said. "But once we get up into 20, and they get 13 offensive rebounds, now you're talking 34, 35 possessions that we don't get."