SAN JOSE, Calif. - Oregon has lost five of six to California, which you wouldn't figure based on UO guard Micaela Cocks' attitude.
"We always feel really good against Cal," Cocks said Friday night. "We match up well against Cal. We're excited to play them, because this is a game we can win."
The Ducks earned the right to play the Golden Bears today by beating Washington State 66-45 on Friday to open the Pac-10 Tournament in HP Pavilion. It was Oregon's largest margin of victory in the seven-year history of the tournament, and set up a second straight quarterfinal matchup with California. Tipoff this afternoon is scheduled for 1:15.
The Bears knocked the Ducks out of the tournament last year, and have won both matchups this season. But Oregon typically is able to get Cal out of sorts despite giving up a bit in the talent department.
"This is what you train all season for, is to play back-to-back games," said UO coach Bev Smith, whose team has won three straight for the first time this season. "It's survive and advance, that's all we're looking at."
An offensive lapse midway through the first half led to some uninspired defense against Washington State, allowing the Cougars to charge into their first-ever halftime lead in the tournament. But Oregon rallied after the break and pulled away for a third win over WSU this season, improving to 14-16 overall.
Taylor Lilley recovered from a 7-of-31 shooting streak over the previous two games by notching her seventh 20-point game of the season, and Ellie Manou continued her recent hot stretch by recording her first career double-double. Manou also provided some postgame comic relief, comparing her 1-of-6 free-throw shooting to the famously woeful efforts of NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, and offering an interesting explanation for her better play of late.
The freshman post is 20-of-31 from the field over her last three games, after going 3-of-17 in the previous four.
"They say shooters keep shooting," said Manou, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds Friday. "Layuppers keep on layupping, I guess."
Manou scored all six of her first-half points during an 11-point UO run after WSU had scored the opening basket. The Ducks then committed turnovers on six of their next seven possessions, and the Cougars converted them into eight points. That sparked the WSU shooters, who made 7-of-12 entering halftime for a 28-23 lead, then made two straight after the break for a 32-25 advantage.
But Oregon answered with a decisive 15-2 run, as Washington State went more than six minutes without a basket.
"The first half we just didn't have a lot of great defensive intensity and perseverance to finish off possessions, and Washington State played very well," Smith said. "They shot the ball very well, went at us one-on-one and created some pretty easy scoring opportunities for them, and got us into foul trouble a little bit. We just allowed them to shoot too many open shot and too many layups; that's not what we do defensively, so at halftime that's all we talked about."
Lilley sparked Oregon's run with a driving layin, then hit one of her four three-pointers. She got to 72 for the season, second all-time on the UO list behind the 81 made by Jamie Craighead in 2000-01.
"Even at the beginning of the game they weren't dropping, but I knew because we were playing against a zone that I would have open looks," Lilley said. "I was just trying to relax and keep on balance, and they eventually went in."
Lilley was able to watch the last two minutes from the bench, and was eventually joined by Manou and two of the other starters, Kaela Chapdelaine and Nicole Canepa. Point guard Tamika Nurse played all 40 minutes, but none of the other Ducks played more than 34.
The Cal game, at that point looming about 17 hours away, had already begun to enter Oregon's mind.
"We'll watch film tonight," Cocks said a few minutes later, "and focus on winning the basketball game."
Oregon State 46, Arizona 31: The Beavers (12-18) avenged a first-day loss to the Wildcats in last year's tournament and moved on to face conference champion Stanford in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. today.
The game featured numerous tournament records for offensive futility, beginning with each team tying the record for fewest points in a first half at 14. Arizona's final scoring tally was the lowest ever in the tournament, as was the combined total of 77 points.
The teams combined to shoot 29 percent, also the worst in tournament history, and tied the tournament's all-time low with 29 combined field goals.OSU won despite not scoring until nearly nine minutes had elapsed, and missing 11 shots before making a field goal with 10:13 left in the first half.
The Wildcats (10-20) played without the Pac-10's third-leading scorer, Ashley Whisonant, who was suspended for violating team rules.