First year major test for Smith.

Byline: BOB RODMAN The Register-Guard

In her four seasons as a player in the Oregon women's basketball program, Bev Smith lost just 19 games. She has lost 12 in her first year as the Ducks' coach.

"I knew it would be difficult," said Smith, the legendary UO player from Canada with record-setting performances, many of which still stand.

"I just thought we'd be able to beat out the demons much earlier than we did."

It has been two decades since Smith executed the game plan for the Ducks rather than formulated it.

Twenty years have passed since her teams from 1978-79 through 1981-82 recorded a 93-19 record, were 39-1 in the Northwest Basketball League, won four NWBL championships and made four postseason appearances.

It has been two decades since Smith secured a career scoring total of 2,063 points (second most in UO history), grabbed 1,362 rebounds (a UO career record), dished out 443 assists (second-best at Oregon), made 349 steals (a Duck record) and blocked 193 shots (fourth on the UO career list).

She was so good that the Ducks retired her jersey number (24) in the spring of her senior year.

Not much of that mattered, however, when the university sat Smith down in the driver's seat of the program she helped put on the map. Hired less than a year ago, Smith's task was twofold - fix what was broken and maintain what was not.

The UO program had eight straight winning seasons, eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances, won one Pac-10 Conference championship outright and shared another under former coach Jody Runge.

But the price paid apparently was too high for at least eight members of last season's team, who met with Bill Moos, the UO athletic director, vented their concerns about Runge's player-coach relationships - or lack thereof - and asked that Runge be removed as coach.

Nearly eight weeks later, Runge - under pressure to do so - resigned, was paid $500,000 and several months later left town.

"There were only two or three times this season that I think we felt challenged by overwhelming problems," said Smith, whose team plays the opening game of the inaugural Pac-10 tournament against Washington State on Friday at McArthur Court.

"The team always seemed to be looking over its shoulder at the past, rather than looking ahead. More wins might've helped that."

The Ducks start the tournament with a 15-12 record, the same number of losses Oregon had when the 2000-01 season ended. A 10-8 Pac-10 regular-season record was equal to last season.

But the Ducks lost a season opener for the first time in six years.

They also lost five home games, more than in any single season since losing eight at Mac Court during the 1992-93 season.

"Bev had a lot of things she had to balance and to try and work through," said Renee Baumgartner, a senior associate athletic director and senior women's administrator at Oregon who was instrumental in the hiring of Smith.

"It was her first year as a college coach (save for one season at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.)," Baumgartner said. "Everything was a first for her and there were all kinds of obstacles - a new system (more uptempo), new staff (two new assistants), new coach, new rules, new players (five freshmen) and new places."

And old ways.

"Some people were a little reluctant to buy in," said Lindsey Dion, a key player for the Ducks the last three years who this season moved to the UO bench as a volunteer graduate assistant coach. "It was the result of some old baggage.

"No one likes change. It's hard. One of the most difficult things to do was to get everybody on the same page."

Said Allison McNeill, an assistant coach for the Ducks, former teammate of Smith's at Oregon and longtime friend: "We were all walking on eggshells for the first month or so. There was a feeling-out process for Bev as well as the players. Everything was new to everyone."

Smith, too, junior guard Shaquala Williams said, "had a hard time understanding that not everyone could do what she had done as a player or would have the attitude she had."

Time would be the healer.

"The moment of liberation came on senior night (the Ducks' final regular-season home game against California on Feb. 9)," Smith said.

"The applause, the standing ovation ... it gave them (the team's four seniors: Jamie Craighead, Edniesha Curry, Alyssa Fredrick and Ndidi Unaka) permission to believe in themselves, not the past."

Oregon defeated Cal that night and ran off three straight wins before falling at Washington in the last regular-season game of the season.

While a ninth straight winning season is in the bank, a ninth straight NCAA Tournament bid appears unlikely.

A ninth straight postseason appearance is expected to occur with a request to participate in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

The Ducks have 15 wins this season and, according to Smith, "should have had 18 ... we should've beaten Portland (a four-point November loss), Arizona (a 16-point loss at Tucson following a 19-point win at Eugene) and Oregon State (an eight-point loss at Mac Court prior to a one-point overtime win at Corvallis)."

The hurdles to clear were physical as well as emotional.

Gone from last season's team were four major players - Jenny Mowe, Angelina Wolvert, Brianne Meharry and Dion. They accounted for much of the scoring and most of the rebounding.

Only one starter returned - Craighead. Williams, the Pac-10 player of the year in 1999-2000, missed last season because of a knee injury. Curry sat out last season after transferring from Cal State-Northridge.

"We had one player with significant starting time (Craighead) and two guards, two of the better guards in the country (Williams and Curry), who hardly talked before last September," Smith said.

"No one is trying to create a superstar," Williams said. "Now it's not so much what we do but how we do it. Coach Smith is a blue-collar type ... no Armani suits and all that. It's not about her being the head coach."

Said Smith: "I want the athletes to know that you can be demanding and require discipline, but you can do it without being demeaning."

Communication was the key.

"We did not have the greatest communication between staff and players last season," Dion said. "Bev hammered home the need for that, and there now is a foundation of trust.

"She treats people like they are capable of making good decisions, of being responsible, but if you make a bad decision you will be held accountable. In the past, Runge ran a tight ship with a short leash.

"I do think that coach Smith maybe underanticipated all the other stuff that goes with the program, that with 18- to 22-year-olds, you not only coach them but you must also be a mom, a friend and a mentor. There are a lot of hats to be worn."

And Smith, who burns the candle at both ends with unending coaching, recruiting and administrating duties, is a bit worn out.

"She looks pretty tired," McNeill said. "She's worked hard. But she wouldn't change it for a second."

Said Smith: "This team always will be special. But this is just the beginning. The foundation has been poured. Now all we have to do is reinforce it."

CAPTION(S):

BRIAN DAVIES / The Register-Guard Bev Smith, still a record-holder from her playing days at Oregon, believes she has set a solid foundation for the future during her first season as head coach at her alma mater.