After exhibition pratfall, Oregon ready to open show.Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard If there were suspicions that the upcoming season will be a trying one for the Oregon women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. team, they were confirmed Monday. An exhibition loss to an NAIA NAIA abbr. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes team - albeit the top-ranked squad in that classification - took care of that. Now comes the business of the regular season, and tonight's opener for the Ducks against 11-time defending Big West Conference champ UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. on the road at 7 p.m. The team took Tuesday off from practice but held meetings in the aftermath of the 64-60 loss to Vanguard Vanguard Any of three unmanned U.S. experimental satellites. Vanguard I (1958), the second U.S. satellite placed in orbit around Earth (after Explorer 1), was a tiny 3.25-lb (1.47-kg) sphere with two radio transmitters. in Eugene on Monday. They returned to the court Wednesday afternoon and practiced again Thursday morning before heading to Portland for the flight south. The Ducks had more rebounds and a better shooting percentage than the Lions, but were undone by 31 turnovers. Against an athletic Gauchos team that made nine straight NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
"The first four minutes are going to be critical in terms of hanging on to the ball," Smith said. "Not giving them opportunities to score in transition, or take away scoring opportunities from us." Vanguard played an extended zone that kept the ball out on the perimeter and disrupted dis·rupt tr.v. dis·rupt·ed, dis·rupt·ing, dis·rupts 1. To throw into confusion or disorder: Protesters disrupted the candidate's speech. 2. passing lanes. Oregon's struggles were personified by point guard Tamika Nurse's total of zero assists in the game, against five turnovers. Nurse finished with no assists and seven turnovers in the two exhibitions. Smith said the coaching staff focused on fundamentals in practice the last two days, in part to bolster the team's confidence. But they also worked more in five-on-five situations, which stresses a thin roster but was thought necessary when a solid group of practices last week was followed by a lackluster lack·lus·ter adj. Lacking brightness, luster, or vitality; dull. See Synonyms at dull. Adj. 1. lackluster - lacking brilliance or vitality; "a dull lackluster life"; "a lusterless performance" game Monday. "We ran a lot of our stuff against the guys," Smith said about Oregon's four male practice players. "I think that helps them deal with some of the pressure they're going to face." The Gauchos (1-1) are one of the more athletic teams the Ducks will face in the nonconference season, though they're not particularly deep. Only seven players are averaging more than five minutes through two games - a win over Portland State followed by a loss at No. 23 UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . Jessica Wilson had a career-high 30 points against the Vikings, and the 5-foot-10 junior doesn't just score. Through two games she is averaging 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. "She's the key to the game," said Smith, whose team has won four straight season openers, though this is her first on the road as Oregon's coach. The Ducks will also pay attention to 6-4 junior Jenna Green, who teams with Wilson to form a potent inside-outside combination. Green, an all-league selection as a sophomore, is shooting 53.3 percent for her career. Oregon counters with Eleanor Haring Haring is an English surname of Austrian origin. Notable individuals with this surname:
Oaks forcefully force·ful adj. Characterized by or full of force; effective: was persuaded by the forceful speaker to register to vote; enacted forceful measures to reduce drug abuse. declared the Ducks fully recovered from the Vanguard loss on Wednesday. "I think last week we were just questioning what (the coaches) were asking us to do, and now we're just doing it and it's working, and we're seeing that it's working," the senior from Portland said. Kaela Chapdelaine, the junior who makes her regular-season debut on the wing tonight after playing point guard last season, expressed similar sentiments. "We're holding each other accountable, and we're holding ourselves accountable," she said. "That means communicating on defense, communicating on offense, making sure we're in triple-threat position - just doing the little things right. That's what we're focused on, because that's what we didn't do Monday." OREGON WOMEN AT UC SANTA BARBARA Oregon (0-0) Starters* Kaela Chapdelaine, 5-10 Jr. (4.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) Eleanor Haring, 6-1 Sr. (18.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg) Jessie Shetters, 6-6 Sr. (7.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) Cicely Oaks, 5-7 Sr. (6.0 ppg, 3.5 apg) Tamika Nurse, 5-8 So. (6.0 ppg, 0.0 apg) UC Santa Barbara (1-1) Starters Jordan Franey, 6-0 Fr. (11.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg) Jenna Green, 6-4 Jr. (14.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg) Whitney Warren, 5-8 So. (4.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg) LaShay Fears, 5-7 So. (11.5 ppg, 2.5 apg) Jessica Wilson, 5-10 Jr. (21.0 ppg, 6.0 apg) Time: 7 p.m. PST PST Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, see there . Radio/TV: KSCR-AM (1320). *stats from exhibitions |
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