Next up: Beavers and Ducks

The Cardinal will need all its skills this weekend to handle two very different styles of play – first good defense with not much offense from Oregon State; then fast furiously-paced offense with not much defense from Oregon.

Oregon State Beavers

The Beavers' statistics show a strong defensive team. But that's somewhat misleading, because they had a very weak non-conference schedule – by far the weakest in the Pac-10.

Nonetheless they do lead the Pac-10 and are #18 in the nation in scoring defense – they allow their opponents just 54.7 points per game. They're second in rebounding defense and rebounding margin (#14 in the nation) – their opponents get just 31.5 rebounds per game, while the Beavers get 40.3. They guard the perimeter very well. Their opponents make just 26.3% of their three-point attempts. That's the second-best three-point defense in the Pac-10 and #11 in the nation.

But the Beavers are short on offense. They have one very good shooter (Rhea) and two other pretty good ones (Palmer and Tilleman), but they attempt fewer shots than any other Pac-10 team. Their perimeter game is especially weak – they try only ten shots from beyond the arc and make three of them per game.

5'11" junior guard Talisa Rhea is the Beavers' top scorer with 16.8 points per game, which is fourth-best in the Pac-10. She has scored in double-digits in 11 of 15 games, with at least 19 points in ten of them. She is their only serious three-point shooter, the only one who attempts more than one per game. She makes 1.7 of them, at a rate of 32%. She has the most assists (3.2 per game), with almost as many turnovers (3.0).

6'1" sophomore forward Kirsten Tilleman is the Beavers' best rebounder (7.7 per game) and the third-best scorer (10.4 points per game). She is the only Beaver with a double-double; she's had three of them.

5'8" freshman guard Haiden Palmer is the second-best scorer with 10.6 points per game and seven double-digit games.

5'8" senior guard Julie Futch brings experience and senior leadership to the starting lineup, but doesn't add very much to the stats – 6.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

6'2" junior forward El Sara Greer is a junior college transfer, in her first season with the Beavers. She has the second-most rebounds (7.1 per game); 4.07 of them are O-boards, which leads the Pac-10. She is the only Beaver who makes a significant number of blocks (0.9 per game).

The Beavers have lost two players this season, both freshmen. Tayler Champion left the program a couple of weeks ago, and Amaya Gastaminza is out for the season with a knee injury. That leaves seven players on the bench, but only one plays a significant number of minutes: 5'7" sophomore guard Brittany Kennedy.

The other six reserves play a total of about 30 minutes per game and score about nine points.

The Beavers' win-loss record (9-6 overall, 1-4 conference) places them ninth in the Pac-10, their RPI (133) places them ninth, and their strength of schedule (233) places them last.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.

University of Oregon Ducks

The Ducks finished 7th in the Pac-10 in 2008-09, but they're a different team this season – mostly the same players, but a new coach and a radically different style of play. Coach Paul Westhead's style is "run and shoot" – shoot within the first seven seconds of the shot clock.

Taylor Lilley, Micaela Cocks and Amanda Johnson have taken to Westhead's style like ... ducks to water? The Ducks are now the top-scoring team in the nation, with an average of 87.4 points per game. That's about 30 points more than last season. They make 8.82 three-pointers per game – #1 in the Pac-10, #5 in the nation, almost four more than last season.

The Ducks' stunning offense is weakened by their poor defense. They score the most points per game in the Pac-10 (87.4), but also allow the most to their opponents (73.6). They have the second-most rebounds per game in the Pac-10 (42.1), but allow their opponents almost as many (41.9). However, they do have the most steals in the Pac-10 (11.24 per game) and the second-best turnover margin (4.06 less than their opponents).

The Ducks' success so far is partly due to the fact that they had a fairly light non-conference schedule. They played only one ranked team, Georgia Tech. It will be interesting to see how they fare against the stronger Pac-10 teams. They've already had two unexpected losses to Arizona and Arizona State.

5'6" senior guard Taylor Lilley is a prolific three-point shooter. She has 204 in her career so far – the Oregon record. She makes 38.9% of her attempts and has averaged 3.4 per game this season, which is the most in the Pac-10 and fifth-most in the nation. She is Oregon's top scorer with 16.4 points per game, the fifth-best in the Pac-10.

5'8" senior guard Micaela Cocks makes the second-most points (14.8 per game) and also shoots the three well (1.6 per game at a rate of 37%)

6'2" sophomore forward Amanda Johnson scores 14.6 points per game, makes the second-most threes (1.8 per game at a rate of 35.3%) and is the best rebounder (9.9 per game, which is third-best in the Pac-10).

5'7" redshirt sophomore guard Nia Jackson is the one who runs, but doesn't always shoot. She has the most assists (3.8 per game) with 2.7 turnovers for a good ratio of 1.39, which is the fifth-best in the Pac-10. She also scores 9.5 points herself.

6'2" redshirt junior guard/forward Victoria Kenyon is a key member in the Ducks' pressure defense, and she's gaining confidence in her shooting. She averages 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

The Ducks have eight reserves (freshman guard Aliyah Green is out with an ACL). Only these two play a significant number of minutes (more than 20 per game):

6'5" junior forward/center Nicole Canepa is the fourth Duck who averages double-digit scoring (12.2 per game). She does not shoot from beyond the arc, nor does she rebound as much as you might expect from the tallest player (5.9 per game). She is the only one with a significant number of blocks (1.5 per game), which is fourth-best in the Pac-10.

6'0" sophomore forward Jasmin Holliday has the second-most rebounds (6.0 per game) and scores 7.3 points per game.

The remaining six reserves play a total of about 16 minutes per game and score about 11 points.

The Ducks' win-loss record (12-5 overall, 3-2 conference) places them thirdrd in the Pac-10, their RPI (57) places them fourth, and their strength of schedule (92 places them ninth.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.