Arizona women's basketball will try to exorcise its road demons as it heads to Oregon to face the Ducks tonight and Beavers Saturday.
The Wildcats (14-4, 6-1 Pacific 10 Conference) have been a dominating 9-0 at home this season but only .500 away from McKale Center.
"We have a very good basketball team, but the great teams need to win on the road," said UA head coach Joan Bonvicini. "That's tough to do all the time but we need to. This is the end of the first round of the Pac-10 and we control our destiny."
Arizona heads to Eugene tonight to take on an Oregon team that's without its top scorer, Cathrine Kraayeveld, who averaged 17.2 points per game before she went down with an ACL tear in her right knee five games into the season.
Oregon (10-7, 2-5) opened the season 5-0 with Kraayeveld but is just 5-7 since her injury.
"They're a good team with her or without her," said UA sophomore center Shawntinice Polk. "We just feel that we should take this game like we take any game."
"They've adjusted (to Kraayeveld's absence)," Bonvicini said. "They're a dangerous team because they have everything to gain. Right now they're doing everything to get back their confidence."
Like most Pac-10 teams, the Ducks are tough at home, boasting a 6-2 record in Eugene this season.
"Obviously (the fans are) going to be rooting against us, and Oregon has a great crowd," Bonvicini said. "They started the season great, and with the injury, it's been up and down. But they still average 4,000 (fans)."
Arizona has won its last three meetings with the Ducks.
The Beavers (10-6, 4-3) are equally as tough on their home court. They're 4-1 in Corvallis this season and 2-0 in Pac-10 play.
Arizona beat OSU twice last season, including a 70-56 win in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament. But the Wildcats were handed a 71-66 overtime loss by the Beavers on their last trip to Corvallis.
Arizona has lost three straight against OSU on the road.
Polk said she's anxious to get revenge on the Beavers for last season's OT defeat.
"Especially on their home court," she said. "It was a good game and we'd like to go up there again and play a good game. It'll be fun."
OSU is led by junior guard Shannon Howell, who posted 40 points in a losing effort at Washington last Saturday.
"She's for real," said Bonvicini of Howell.
The 13th-year UA head coach said her team is ready to set itself apart from the rest of the Pac.
"We're in second place, but there are a lot of teams sniffin' to get on our heels and we're sniffin' on first place," Bonvicini said. "We've just got to take care of business."
"We really need to play with toughness. It's toughness on the road - it starts with your defense and rebounding and you've got to defend."
Polk said it's simply an issue of mind over matter in hostile environments.
"We're going have to step it up," she said. "We haven't had a road game in a while. It's going to be good for us."
Polk has performed poorly at times away from McKale this season, averaging nearly 20 points per game at home but just over 12 on the road.
"I think she was hurt a little bit on the last road trip," said Bonvicini, referring to a knee injury Polk suffered early in a Jan. 10 loss at Stanford. "I see Polkey doing well. I really think the last couple weeks she's looked really great and I would really look to her to really step up her game."