Smith narrows candidate list.

Byline: UO WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK By Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

Oregon women's basketball coach Bev Smith said there are three candidates on the final short list for two vacant assistant coaching positions on her staff.

Smith plans to conduct interviews next week, and the jobs are expected to be filled shortly thereafter.

Oregon is seeking replacements for former assistant coaches Mike and Allison McNeill, who resigned in April after four seasons and returned to Canada. Allison McNeil is coach of the Canadian national senior women's team.

Smith said there were more than 100 applicants for the two UO coaching jobs.

Peg Swadener, the remaining member of Smith's staff, has been elevated to the No. 2 assistant position.

"For the first assistant, we want an experienced person who knows the elite level of coaching, can help in all areas and will spend a lot of time coaching and teaching," Smith said.

For the third position, Oregon is seeking "a younger person who will play a big part in recruiting."

Ready to adjust

It appears the Pac-10 coaches are getting their fill of the difficult league schedule that is followed immediately by the Pac-10 tournament.

The tournament is locked into San Jose, Calif., through 2008 but, according to Smith, the conference coaches are expected to discuss options for reducing the load, including the shrinking of the regular season from its current 18-game schedule.

"We have some ideas," said Smith, alluding to possibly cutting the league schedule to 16 games.

The irritation has been caused by the lengthy Pac-10 schedule, which has begun in December since the conference instituted a league tournament in 2001-02.

Next season, for the second time, the league schedule begins before Christmas, on Dec. 20 for Oregon when it visits UCLA.

Coaches and administrators are scheduled to meet at a Pac-10 gathering in Portland next month.

Gone in December

The closest thing to a home game the Ducks will have next December is the Pape Jam at the Rose Garden in Portland on Dec. 10.

An opponent for the UO women has yet to be determined for the doubleheader that includes the Oregon men playing Illinois.

Oregon opens the 2005-06 season against St. Francis (Pa.) in the four-team, two-day Women's Sports Foundation tournament at McArthur Court on Nov. 11-12. The other two teams are Michigan and Temple.

Come December, however, the Ducks are on the road with games at Saint Mary's, Idaho State, UCLA, USC and Colorado.

For the first time in the history of the Oregon-Oregon State series, the teams will play back-to-back games just three days apart when the Ducks are at OSU on Jan. 25 and play host to the Beavers on Jan. 28.

Still looking

Ashley Allen, a reserve guard, continues to visit other schools after announcing last month that she intends to transfer from Oregon.

The 5-foot-10 sophomore averaged 1.6 points and played in 27 games for the Ducks. Allen has expressed interest in Fresno State, UNLV, Sacramento State, New Mexico, UC Santa Barbara and Colorado State.