January 25, 2011

On the road in Oregon

The Cardinal is on the road next weekend to play:
  • Oregon on Thursday, Jan 27 at 6:00 pm. The game will be televised on FSN/CSNBA
  • Oregon State on Saturday Jan 29 at noon. The game will be webcast on OSU All*Access
You can watch both games at Mike's Sports Bar & Grill. They will show the OSU webcast on their TV monitors. You can also listen to both games on KZSU.

Neither Oregon nor Oregon State is having a great season, but both games promise to be interesting and perhaps more challenging than win-loss records would indicate. Here is the statistical matchup:

Points per game 79.6 82.9 56.8
Scoring margin +24.9 +8.7 +1.6
Field goal % 0.492 0.388 0.385
3-pointers per game 6.3 9.4 6.9
3-point % 0.375 0.350 0.329
Free throw % 0.748 0.680 0.576
Rebounds per game 44.5 45.2 36.6
Rebounding margin +11.5 -1.1 -0.2
Assists per game 17.6 16.1 12.8
Turnovers per game 14.2 17.5 19.6
Assist/turnover ratio 1.24 0.92 0.67
Steals per game 7.6 13.2 10.4
Blocks per game 3.4 4.1 5.2
Win-loss record 16-2, 7-0 12-6, 3-4 7-11, 0-7
Rank #4/4 --- ---
RPI 3 81 136
Schedule strength 1 92 80

  Oregon Ducks

The game against Oregon will be interesting, if for no other reason, because it will be played on the stunning Kilkenny Floor of the just-opened Matthew Knight Arena.

The Oregon women played their first game there on Sunday night to an overflow crowd of 12,320 – the most to ever attend a Pac-10 women's basketball game.

The is the Ducks' second season of "Run & Gun" offense under head coach Paul Westhead, and it's more of the same this season. Last season's top scorers, Taylor Lilley and Micaela Cocks have graduated, but Nia Jackson and Amanda Johnson have moved up to among the top four scorers in the Pac-10 (interspersed with Nneka and Jeanette). They have each scored in double-digits in all but one game this season and scored more than 20 points in six games.

The Ducks lead the Pac-10 in scoring with 82.9 points per game, which is #7 in the nation, and in rebounding (45.2 per game). They average more than eight 3-pointers per game, the best in the Pac-10 and #8 in the nation. They steal the ball almost as often as UCLA – more than 13 times per game.

So why have they won only 2/3 of their games? Because their opponents run and gun right along with, and sometimes beyond them. Although the Ducks lead the Pac-10 in scoring, they also allow their opponents the most points. They make the most rebounds, but also allow the most rebounds.

The Ducks had one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the Pac-10. They played no ranked opponents. They have won three conference games at home – against Washington, Washington State and Oregon State – and have lost on the road to Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and USC. Their win-loss record (12-6 overall, 3-4 conference) places them 6th in the Pac-10, their RPI (81) places them 7th, and their strength of schedule (92) places them 9th.

The Ducks' starting lineup is:

  • #32, 5'7" redshirt junior guard Nia Jackson runs the point and is the Ducks' top scorer with 16.7 points per game. She makes the most assists in the Pac-10 (5.8 per game) and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98). She averages 2.7 steals per game, which is a tie with Amanda Johnson for second-best in the Pac-10 (behind Eliza Pierre, Cal). She makes half of her 3-point attempts, the best percentage in the Pac-10, but makes on average just one per game.

  • #11, 6'2" junior forward Amanda Johnson is the Ducks's second-best scorer with 16.1 points per game. She is their best rebounder with 8.3 per game, which is third-best in the Pac-10 (behind Ify Ibekwe, Arizona and El Sara Greer, OSU). She averages 1.4 3-pointers per game. Like Nia Jackson, she averages 2.7 steals per game.

  • #30, 6'0" guard/forward Jasmin Holliday is the Ducks' third-best scorer (8.3) and second-best rebounder (6.3). She averages just over two steals per game.

  • #25, 5'11" junior guard Ashley Buis is a junior college transfer. She attempts the most 3-pointers (almost six per game), but makes less than a third of them for the team-high average of 1.7. She averages 7.7 points per game.

  • #21, 6'2" redshirt senior forward Victoria Kenyon averages 6.5 points, 1.2 3-pointers and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Coming off the bench for at least 10 minutes a game are:

  • #54, 6'5" senior forward/center Nicole Canepa averages 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. She is Oregon's only active "big" (Ellyce Ironmonger has played just a few minutes in half a dozen games this season).

  • #4, 5'10" senior guard Kristi Fallin averages 7.6 points, 1.7 3-pointers and 2.8 rebounds per game.

  • #1, 5'11" freshman guard/forward Deanna Weaver from Santa Clara averages 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

  • #20, 5'6" freshman guard Ariel Thomas from Sacramento is the backup at the point. She averages 4.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.
Here are Oregon's 2010-11 statistics and their roster.

  Oregon State Beavers

The most interesting thing about the OSU game will be meeting the ragtag assortment of players (no disrespect to individuals) that coach Scott Rueck has assembled into a team:

  • Remaining from last year's team:
    • 6'2" senior forward El Sara Greer, who played two years at a community college before one year at OSU.
    • 6'1" sophomore forward Angela Misa, who averaged four minutes per game as a freshman.
  • Walk-ons signed after an open tryout in August:
    • 5'9" redshirt sophomore guard Sage Indendi, who played for one year at George Fox Community College, coached by Scott Rueck.
    • 5'9" senior guard Amanda Davey, who played two years at a community college.
    • 5'8" redshirt freshman guard Jenna Dixon, who attended OSU but did not compete in basketball.
    • 6'0" freshman guard Alyssa Martin from Portland.
  • Other freshman recruits:
    • 5'8" guard Alexis Bostic from Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland
    • 5'8" guard Classye James from Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose
    • 5'11" guard Katie Schrock from Corvallis High School
  • Others:
    • 5' 11" junior guard Earlysia Marchbanks, a community college transfer with two years of basketball experience.
    • 6'2" redshirt freshman forward Tami Brown, an OSU athlete who also plays varsity volleyball.
    • 5'7" redshirt junior guard Courtney Wetzel, an OSU athlete who also plays varsity soccer and volleyball.
The newborn Beavers have done surprisingly well. They have lost all seven conference games, but went 7-4 in moderately difficult non-conference play. They have done much better than their win-loss record shows. Their average margin of defeat is just six points; they had just two double-digit losses — by 13 points to Rutgers and by 12 to UCLA.

A slight improvement in their free throw shooting could have earned them several more victories. They make just 57.6% of their free throw attempts, the worst in the Pac-10.

The Cougars' win-loss record (7-11 overall, 0-7 conference) places them last in the Pac-10, their RPI (136) places them last, and their strength of schedule (80) places them 8th.

The Beavers' starting lineup is:

  • #34, 6'2" senior forward El Sara Greer is the Beavers' top rebounder (8.4 per game), which is second-best in the Pac-10 (behind Ify Ibekwe, Arizona). Almost half of her rebounds are O-boards; she grabs the most in the Pac-10. She averages 3.4 blocks per game, which is #1 in the Pac-10 and #9 in nation. She averages 9.4 points per game and has made four double-doubles this season.

  • #24, 6'0" freshman guard Alyssa Martin is the Beavers' top scorer with 14.9 points per game. She averages 2.4 3-pointers per game, which is a tie with Sage Indendi for third-best in the Pac-10 (behind our Jeanette and Kristi Kingma, Washington). She has scored in double-digits in all but three games.

  • #22, 5'9" sophomore guard Sage Indendi is the Beavers' second-best scorer with 10.8 points per game. Like Alyssa Martin, she averages 2.4 3-pointers per game.

  • #2, 5'8" freshman guard Alexis Bostick runs the point. She averages 3.5 assists and almost the same number of turnovers. She averages 6.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals (the team high) per game.

  • #15, 5'11" junior guard Earlysia Marchbanks averages 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Here are Oregon State's 2010-11 statistics and their roster.

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