Shooting 20% from the floor and being out rebounded by 20 is a prescription for disaster no matter who is the opponent, but against the 9^th ranked team in the country it could only be described as suicidal. After playing the California Bears on mostly even terms for the first half of Saturday's contest at McArthur Court, the Ducks imploded in the second allowing the Bears to coast to a 53-34 victory, leaving the Ducks at 4-9 in the Pac-10 (10-14 overall) and on the short end of the scoreboard for the sixth consecutive game.

The Ducks did do some good things defensively, holding the potent California attack to only 23 points in the first half but simply were unable to find consistent offense from the inside or from the perimeter. Micaela Cocks led the Ducks with 7 points, the second time this season no Oregon player could reach double figures.

As had Stanford two nights earlier, the Bears focused their defensive attention at denying Taylor Lilley, Oregon's most potent offensive threat opportunities to shoot, holding her to six points on 2-5 from behind the arc, Oregon's first and last points of the game.

Oregon's 11 field goals were a season low.

It was a 16-4 run by  the Bears to open the second half that blew the game open, mostly as a result of their owning the offensive glass against the Ducks, building an 18-4 advantage in second chance points.

 "They really hammered us on the boards in the second half," said Oregon coach Bev Smith. "Their four offensive rebounds to start the half really hurt us. Their best defense was their offensive rebounding because it took away our transition opportunities."

"Cal had the right game plan of locking down Taylor, and staying back on everyone else to clog up the middle."

After four consecutive losses on the road it is a cruel reality in the Pac-10 that had the Ducks returning home to face the 7^th ranked Cardinal and the 9^th ranked Bears and now the young team must seek to right the ship while on the road to face the Washington schools.

"We need to work extra hard in practice and keep competing against each other," said freshman forward Nicole Canepa when asked how the team would approach that task.

"Our team needs to have more energy," said Smith indicating that changes may be made in player rotations, "and we're searching for someone who can bring that energy."