SAN JOSE, Calif. - This could be the first of a few games for Oregon this week. Or it could be the last of the season.
That's the situation for the UO women's basketball team entering today's 6 p.m. meeting with Washington State to open the Pac-10 Tournament in HP Pavilion. And if the Ducks want to play later in the weekend, they'd do well to forget that the possibility even exists.
"What we try to do as coaches is, we'll think ahead and allow them to stay in the moment," said UO coach Bev Smith, who is 113-99 in seven years with the Ducks entering the tournament. "What we really want them to do is focus on one game at a time, and know we'll be ready with a game plan if we advance."
The winner today will face California on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals. With no chance to practice in between, there won't be much modification to the game plan should Oregon (13-16) advance. To prepare for the eventuality, the UO staff has subtly worked a few scenarios into practice this past week that would help against the Bears, without clueing in the players.
And if the UO regulars want to be fresh for a Saturday game, they'd better get off to a hot start this evening. Only then will Smith consider altering her rotations to keep players rested for a potential quarterfinal game.
"You have to win the ballgame, because otherwise you've saved people and you don't have the opportunity for that next game," Smith said. "If you do a good job in the first half and you establish that tone and that intensity, it will pay dividends for the rest of the game. Obviously you want to manage minutes if the game allows for it, and that's what we'll do."
Smith said Oregon's travels to the Bay Area on Thursday were "pretty uneventful," but there was news even before the Ducks left Eugene in the early afternoon. Friday morning, UO sophomore guard Taylor Lilley was named third-team all-Pac-10, while senior forward Kaela Chapdelaine received honorable mention.
Stanford senior Candice Wiggins became the first Pac-10 woman to be named player of the year three times, and her coach, Tara VanDerveer, was also named best in the conference in a vote of coaches. Cardinal forward Kayla Pedersen was named freshman of the year, and ASU guard Briann January was tabbed as the Pac-10's best defender.
Lilley has scored better than 12 points per game to lead the Ducks this season, and her 2.34 three-pointers per game lead the conference.
"Obviously they're great honors, and I think Taylor had an outstanding season," Smith said. "She's very deserving of being in those top 15 players. I would have liked to have seen Chap get there, but a lot of the things she does are off the stat sheet and are the little things."
Chapdelaine was all an honorable mention pick on the all-defensive team, while post Nicole Canepa was honorable mention all-freshman. Had Canepa not been slowed by a midseason ankle injury, Smith believes, she would have been a top-five pick for the all-freshman team.
As it is, the play of Canepa and fellow freshman forward Ellie Manou has been key to Oregon's run of three wins in four games entering today. They'll have their hands full today with post Ebonee Coates, who herself was absent midseason due to injury but is averaging nearly eight rebounds per game in Pac-10 play for Washington State (5-24).
The Cougars also have a stable of trigger-happy three-point shooters, which helped them reduce a 13-point deficit to one in the final two minutes against Oregon in Pullman last month, a game the Ducks held on to win despite WSU making half its shots.
"Washington State did some good things and shot the ball well," Smith said. "We didn't have a very good defensive game, but you have to give them credit for shooting 50 percent."
Following the UO-WSU game tonight, Oregon State and Arizona will meet at 8:15 p.m. in a matchup of teams who tied for eighth place in the conference. The Wildcats won under similar circumstances in last year's tournament; the winner this time has the distinction of facing conference champion Stanford on Saturday.
OSU point guard Mercedes Fox-Griffin joined Lilley on the all-conference third team, and leading scorer Ashley Allen received honorable mention. Talisa Rhea made the all-freshman team.