Now the Oregon Ducks wait. The clock began ticking shortly after Stanford beat Oregon 76-65 in the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals Thursday in Las Vegas. The season’s not over for Oregon – more on that later – but 11 days from now, will it continue with a berth in the NCAA Tournament? The Ducks’ backs are squarely against the wall, the result of a 17-14 record from the 2022-23 season. Yet the NCAA stat geeks must think something of Oregon; it is No. 19 in the NCAA NET rankings, one of the key metrics in determining at-large tourney berths. “I hope we’re a team that’s included in that field,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “Hopefully we’ve done enough. I’ve never been one of those guys that watches and prays. If we make it, we make it. I think we’re good enough. ” Oregon has 14 losses, 12 coming against Pac-12 competition. The others were against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time in North Carolina and Ohio State. “Look at how well the Pac-12 has done in the NCAA tournament over the last six, eight, 10 years. We lap the second-best conference because teams, you go through this gauntlet. We have no weak sisters. You’re going to be ready,” Graves said. Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said the Ducks are “deserving of playing in the NCAA tournament. I think we should have eight teams in, including Oregon. ” Said Graves: “Tara, she’s a pretty smart lady. She’s won a few games, championships, Hall of Famer. I hope she’s a seer, too. ” What if on Selection Sunday, March 12, the NCAA snubs Oregon? The Ducks will surely get an immediate invite from the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). That is, Oregon wants to play. There’s no need to wonder. The Ducks will play. “My philosophy has always been, if somebody wants to play us, we’re gonna play,” Graves said. “I think the team would rather play. I’ve never understood why people turn things down like that on some kind of principle. ” Whether it’s the NCAA or WNIT for Oregon, the Ducks will look to bounce back from an awful shooting performance. Oregon shot 20 of 68 against Stanford, not nearly good enough to take a run at knocking off the two-time conference tournament champion. During the first half, the Ducks shot 6 of 30. At the forefront was a player who has often carried Oregon’s offense this season, Endyia Rogers. Coming off a 28-point performance in a tournament-opening win over Washington, Rogers was just 6 of 26 against Stanford. Rogers seemed at peace afterward, despite the rough outing. “You’ve just to stay positive, stay into it, encourage my teammates. I kept shooting regardless of a rough first half because I missed shots that I typically make,” Rogers said. Rogers wasn’t alone. Outside of Te-Hina Paopao, who hit 8 of 15 shots and scored a career-high 28 points, it was a collectively terrible afternoon of shooting for Oregon. Take away Paopao, and the Ducks shot 23% (12 of 53). “I think we had some pretty good looks, actually. Just didn’t shoot it like we normally do,” Graves said. Another area that killed Oregon was rebounds. The Cardinal manhandled the Ducks on the glass, outrebounding Oregon 56-39. Stanford had 21 offensive rebounds, which led to 21 second chance points. Still, Oregon had a chance. After trailing by double digits for most of three quarters, a quick burst late in the quarter cut Stanford’s lead to 51-45. That’s when the Cardinal turned to their stars, particularly junior forward Cameron Brink, and the game quickly returned in Stanford’s favor. “We got stops in that stretch. Once we get stops that’s when our offense gets flowing,” Paopao said of Oregon’s comeback flurry. “Then we kind of lost that aggressiveness. ” Now Oregon waits. Whether it’s the NCAAs or WNIT, Graves believes this hold true. “I think we’re the type of team that people are not going to want to play,” he said. --Nick Daschel | |.