[TheFarm07]

One of the differences between a very good, Top-10 team that we are and an elite Top-3 team that Oregon is, is the presence of players playing at an All-American caliber. The Ducks have 3 of them. We have none.

Lexie and Kiana are both very good players but they haven't rose up to the level of All-American play night-in and night-out. When we contained Hebard last night, Sabally stepped up and Ionescu was her usual self. Lexie was off for large chunks of the game, and there was no one else to step up and pick up the slack to keep us in the game.

When we made our comebacks, Oregon stopped the momentum and extended the lead again and came up with critical shots when the game was still undecided. It was the play of their key players that made that happen.

For all the discussion of our vaunted depth, as 81alum pointed out, in a very important game against elite competition, Tara decided to stick with a core set of players and limited the rotation. I am also pondering what does that say about her confidence in our bench? We may overwhelm an overmatched opponent with depth, but does she not think that Wilson, Belibi and Jump can keep up with Oregon for key stretches of the game? Our starters were struggling and not doing too much, but Tara did not feel the need to heavily substitute like some other coaches may have done.

[TheFarm07]

One of the differences between a very good, Top-10 team that we are and an elite Top-3 team that Oregon is, is the presence of players playing at an All-American caliber. The Ducks have 3 of them. We have none.

Lexie and Kiana are both very good players but they haven't rose up to the level of All-American play night-in and night-out. When we contained Hebard last night, Sabally stepped up and Ionescu was her usual self. Lexie was off for large chunks of the game, and there was no one else to step up and pick up the slack to keep us in the game.

When we made our comebacks, Oregon stopped the momentum and extended the lead again and came up with critical shots when the game was still undecided. It was the play of their key players that made that happen.

For all the discussion of our vaunted depth, as 81alum pointed out, in a very important game against elite competition, Tara decided to stick with a core set of players and limited the rotation. I am also pondering what does that say about her confidence in our bench? We may overwhelm an overmatched opponent with depth, but does she not think that Wilson, Belibi and Jump can keep up with Oregon for key stretches of the game? Our starters were struggling and not doing too much, but Tara did not feel the need to heavily substitute like some other coaches may have done.