It was all smiles for the Oregon women’s basketball team as it notched its first win in Pac-12 play. 

“That felt good,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “I’m really proud of our team. We had a really good game tonight.”

The Ducks lost five straight conference games – after winning their first 11 non-conference matchups – before they mauled the Bears 69-59 Sunday at Matt Knight Arena. And it looked so easy.

“I think it was very important to all of us that we don’t let it slip,” senior Lexi Petersen said. “That was definitely a focus to keep the lead and know that Cal is a good team that’ll go on some runs.”

Cal had just a single lead all game – the opening bucket.

Jillian Alleyne stole the show with 25 points and 15 rebounds, her best performance in two weeks time.

“We made that point early, to get the basketball to her,” Graves said after the game. “When she’s on, she’s a special kind of player. She has that focus and intensity offensively.”

Her ninth rebound was her defining moment, perhaps of her Oregon career, when she surpassed former Stanford standout Chiney Ogwumike’s career Pac-12 rebounding record of 1,567.

“It’s pretty amazing, Chiney Ogwumike is an amazing player,” the new record holder said. “I’ve been talking to her and she’s just ‘you got to break my record,’ very supportive. I couldn’t of done it without my teammates. Yeah, they missed some shots, but I’m always going to clean up their rebounds and get it back to them.”

Alleyne now has 1,574 rebounds in her Oregon career… and counting.

“That’s special,” Graves said. “She was born to rebound. She’s got an amazing nose for the ball. Sometimes the rebounds don’t mean as much, but tonight every rebound meant something.”

The Ducks out rebounded the Bears 35-to-29 and kept their turnovers at just eight, six less than their recent loss to Stanford.

Lexi Bando and Petersen supported Alleyne with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Petersen’s buckets finally started to fall in the second half, after going 0-for-8 in the first two periods.

Petersen’s performance solidified her spot in the Oregon record books, too, becoming the 27th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.

“I’m proud of her, she could have hunched her shoulders and not want the ball,” Graves said of Petersen. “She wanted the ball.”  

Correspondingly Oregon started to put the game out of reach. The Ducks took a 19-point lead in the final minutes of the third quarter, and one they wouldn’t dare relinquish with Friday’s loss to the Cardinal still fresh. But Cal did cut Oregon’s lead to nine.

“It was almost like, here we go again,” Graves said. “They made a couple charges and we answered.”

In five of Oregon’s six conference games, the Ducks led at halftime, and, until Sunday, were winless at the final buzzer.

“I felt like we could have won all the games we’ve played, we can play with people,” Graves said. “This first (win), get that monkey off your back so to speak. And hopefully we can continue to ride that momentum.”

The win puts Oregon at 6-11 (1-5) for the season with its next game in Boulder against Colorado, a team now alone winless in Pac-12 play.

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Freshman Trevor Manuel signed to play basketball for Oregon on September 11, 2014 over Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, USC and Wake Forest. Apparently, Oregon hasn’t been the right fit for Manuel, who asked for his release from the team this week with the intention to transfer.

The news was first reported by DuckTerritory.com and was later confirmed by Ducks’ head coach Dana Altman on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-9 forward from Lansing, Michigan played in nine games for the Ducks this season, averaging 1.1 points, 1 rebound and 7.1 minutes per game. He last played on December 29 against Western Oregon.

“The door’s always open,” Altman said to the Oregonian’s Danny Moran. “I don’t want him to leave. Obviously I think he’s got a lot of upside, but everybody’s got to do what they’ve got to do.”

Oregon’s season continues on Wednesday, January 6, when it hosts Cal at Matthew Knight Arena at 6 p.m.

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-Texas Christian University stunned the Ducks in triple overtime to win the Alamo Bowl, 47-41 on Saturday. Oregon failed to score in the second half after starting quarterback Vernon Adams was replaced by backup Jeff Lockie. The Ducks finish the 2015 campaign 9-4 and without a bowl victory.

-The Oregon basketball team lost its first Civil War matchup to Oregon State on Sunday, 70-57, in Corvallis to begin conference play. The two teams will matchup again on February 20 at Matt Knight Arena in Eugene.

-The women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in its Pac-12 opener against UCLA, 80-69. Jillian Alleyne completed her 28th straight double-double game with 25 points and 16 rebound.

-Prior to the Valero Alamo Bowl, the Oregon football team promoted Matt Lubick from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator. He joined the Oregon coaching staff on January 28, 2013.

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The wait is over.

Montana State quarterback Dakota Prukop will transfer to Oregon, according to FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman. Prukop was deciding between the Ducks or Alabama. His  decision marks the second consecutive season the Ducks landed a graduate transfer quarterback from the Big Sky Conference.

The former Montana State signal-caller visited both Eugene and Tuscaloosa this past weekend as possible landing locations for his final season of eligibly. Yet, even with the departure of former offensive coordinator Scott Frost, Prukop chose to become a Duck.

Between recruiting visits, Prukop spoke of Oregon’s program to Fox Sports:

“You can tell that Oregon wants to win. The guys on that team, they get it. Oregon’s arms were wide open. They have an outstanding cast of really competitive guys and even better dudes. I developed a great rapport with coach (Mark) Helfrich and coach (Matt) Lubick very quickly.”

The dual threat quarterback threw for 3,025 yards, 28 touchdowns, 10 interceptions while completing 62.8-percent of his passes in 11 games this season. He also ran for 797 yards and 11 more scores.

“Oregon’s got a pretty good legacy but there’s one thing they haven’t done yet (and that’s win a national title),”  Prukop told Feldman. “Oregon’s team next year is gonna be unreal. It’s a quarterback’s dream to play with those guys. And I can’t wait to do that.”

Prukop graduated from MSU with a degree in economics last Saturday and is expected to enroll at Oregon this winter. ESPN’s Chantel Jennings reported that he plans to take his GRE within the next two weeks, and that if all went smoothly, would begin taking classes on Jan. 4.

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-The Oregon football team is headed to the Valero Alamo Bowl for the second time in three years. The game will be played on January 2, 2016 against No. 11 Texas Christian University. In 2013, the Ducks beat the Texas Longhorns, 30-7. Oregon is ranked No. 15 by the playoff committee.

-The men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday, 69-80. The No. 15 Ducks (6-1) continue their road trip against Navy on Pearl Harbor Day – Monday, December 7 – in Bloch Arena in Hawaii, which survived the 1941 Japanese bombing.

-As told by the Emerald’s Jonathan Hawthorne, the Oregon women’s basketball team’s 79-68 win over Utah Valley marked the final game for undergraduate student Sinéad Nelson, one of the Ducks’ biggest supporters. And the Ducks made the experience one she won’t soon forget.

-The Emerald’s Kenny Jacoby revealed the story of Darren Carrington’s journey back to the gridiron after he tested positive for marijuana on an NCAA-administered drug test prior to the 2015 National Championship Game.

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Ross Hernried had every reason to be an Oregon State fan growing up.

The Corvallis native grew up a five minute bike ride away from Reser Stadium, home of the Beavers. He played the sport with friends who went on to play at OSU and others whose parents coached for the football team. Hernried’s father taught civil engineering at the university, and his mother shared a dog-walking route with former Beavers’ head coach Mike Riley’s wife. But growing up with memories of sneaking into Reser and playing hide-and-go seek wasn’t enough for Hernried to declare his allegiance to his hometown team.

“As a kid, I decided I wanted to be a Duck fan,” he said. “I had no reason to not like the Beavers. I wanted to be different from the pack, I guess. I thought the Ducks were cool because they were different.”

Though he admits, his favorite NFL player remains running back Steven Jackson, a two-time All-American at OSU.

“In the early 2000s, OSU was a really competitive school, actually. They had a lot of star athletes like Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Steven Jackson and [Ken Simonton],” Hernried said.

During the annual Civil War meeting between the Ducks and Beavers, Corvallis devoted an entire week to the matchup, says Hernried. At school, Benny the Beaver, the Duck and OSU football players visited the classroom in support of the rivalry that began in 1894.

However, the Civil War has unquestionably lost some of its appeal in recent years. Oregon is one win away from tying the all-time winning streak shared by both teams — the Beavers’ eight-game winning streak lasted from 1964-71, the Ducks’ from 1975-82.

Yet, those past streaks were largely annual positives in otherwise uninspiring seasons. Whereas, over the Ducks current seven-game winning streak, Oregon has appeared in two National Championship games, won two Rose Bowls, four conference titles and two other bowl games.

Within a decade, Oregon has flourished as a national powerhouse while the Beavers have remained a respectable, but not intimidating program just north of its long-time rival. It has resulted in a Civil War matchup that, in terms of the Ducks’ season, can be overlooked.

The change from mutual excitement to one side finding it “hard to care” because it’s “so lopsided,” as Hernried puts it, came in March of 2009, when Mike Bellotti, Oregon’s winningest coach (116 wins), passed the mantle to his offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly.

“That’s when it was competitive,” Hernried said, thinking of the Bellotti era. “They’d be good games, too. Chip definitely changed things.”

Kelly never lost to Oregon State during his tenure, and his first Civil War victory secured the Ducks’ first Rose Bowl berth since 1995. It also ruined the Beavers’ chances of returning to the oldest bowl game in college football, a game Oregon State still hasn’t played in since 1964 or won since 1942.

“That was really the first year that the [Oregon] program seemed like it turned around in a positive direction,” Taylor Alie, a Eugene native and Ducks quarterback, said of the 2009 Civil War.

It wasn’t long ago when the Civil War offered a marquee matchup, that not only affected each team’s season, but had national implications. Between 1997 and 2006, every single Civil War was won by the home team – a pattern never previously witnessed.

One of the best of these games came in 2000, when No. 5 Oregon visited No. 8 Oregon State with the Pac-10 title on the line. Oregon needed a win to secure the conference title for itself. However, the Beavers took the victory and forced a three-way tie between the Ducks, Beavers and Washington Huskies.

“Back then, I thought it was more fun because it was so 50/50 every single year,” Oregon running back Jarret Lacoste said.

LaCoste grew up 10 minutes away from OSU, in Albany. His dad Joe played running back for the Beavers and his mom Joene got her degree in Corvallis. The junior estimates he went to 60 or 70 Beavers games growing up, about seven per season.

“I grew up a really big Beavers fan until about two years ago when I came here,” LaCoste said. “I was shunned the first couple of years, but now they kind of give into the Ducks when we play in the Civil War. It’s still a bit of a house divided.”

LaCoste and Hernried both agree that the Civil War represents tradition more than anything.

Oregon linebacker Tyson Coleman, a Lake Oswego High graduate, remembers half his high school dressed in Ducks gear, the other in orange and black, with “constant trash talking” around the halls.

“It’s something everyone has to give into, whether it’s competitive or not, it’s always going to be fun,” LaCoste said. “Both crowds are the same, no matter what stadium you fall into, whether that be 10 years ago or today. It’s not just going to be some blowout. Whether at the end of the game it is or not, it doesn’t feel that way.

Friday’s game figures to be another win for the Ducks. The Beavers remain in the bottom of the Pac-12 conference without a conference win while Oregon is riding a five-game winning streak. But, come kickoff, you never know what could happen.

“This is [the Beavers’] big game. Every year, it’s like their Rose Bowl,” Hernried said. “It’s a huge deal, they always think they can win, no matter what. For whatever reason, [OSU fans] really put their heart into this game.”

The first decade of the 21st century was perhaps the greatest era of USC football ever. The program won seven Pac-10 titles, appeared in consecutive BCS Championship games, was recognized as the AP National Champion in 2003 and 2004 and had three Heisman Trophy winners.

That was, of course, all before the NCAA enforced sanctions on the program in 2010. USC has struggled to return to its original dominance since.

Nevertheless, USC controlled the college football spotlight. And many current Oregon football players are Southern California natives who followed the Trojans.

For 18 of the current Ducks, home is within a two-hour drive of USC, including Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.

“I used to go to all the home games, and it was an honor seeing those guys play and seeing how they got it done,” Adams said Tuesday in the lead-up to Oregon’s matchup with the Trojans.

One player in particular caught Adams’ eyes when he went to those games: Reggie Bush.

“I wanted to be Bush,” he said. “I’m a quarterback, but I liked all his moves. It kinda goes though my head [now], it’s like, ‘Bush, Bush, do something.’ He’s one of my favorite players to this day, so I like watching.”

Adams, who grew up in Pasadena, California, sports an ‘SC’ tattoo on his right arm,just below his elbow. Though the tattoo appears to be the same typeface as the USC logo, he said the tattoo represents Southern California, not the Trojans.

Senior linebacker Rodney Hardrick, like Adams, also had childhood days dominated by the Trojans.

“That was the time of my life when I was watching football 24/7. I was really starting to get into it and it really made me want to play the game,” Hardrick said.

Hardrick used to attend the Trojans practice “all the time” in high school, to the point where he became familiar with the entire program.

“I wanted to go there all my life,” he said.

That is, until Hardrick found the University of Oregon to be a better fit overall. Yet, still today, Hardrick remembers growing his hair out because of former USC All-American safety Troy Polamalu.

“I think I had one of his jerseys laying around somewhere,” Hardrick said.

Hardrick has only played the Trojans once in his Oregon career — at the 2012 game in Los Angeles. In his nine appearances that season, it was the only game the Colton, California native recorded a tackle for loss.

For Adams, this Saturday marks his one and only shot to play his “home school,” an opportunity that’s been on his mind for quite a while.

“I’m just excited to play USC,” he said. “I’ve always dreamed of this.”

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Oregon place kicker Aidan Schneider nailed three field goals against California last Saturday, adding to his tally of 16 made this season (17 attempts). More importantly, his third make against California put him inside Oregon’s career top 10, passing Josh Frankel’s mark of 26 (1996-2000).

The Emerald caught up with Schneider to talk about how his game has been this season:

There have been some situations this season where Oregon typically would go for it in the past. Is it gratifying that they let you out there to get points on the board?

Yeah, anytime I get to kick I’m happy. I know the coaches always have the best interest of the team at heart. But if they call on me, I’m happy to go out there.

Where’s your confidence right now? Does it seem like you’re just kicking it and getting it done?

I’ve just been really confident all year. As the year has gone on, every kick you make in a game you get a success (repetition), you build on it.

Are you a type of guy, like a pitcher during a perfect game, where you don’t want to talk about success rate? 

No, I don’t mind talking about it. I know I should make pretty much every kick I go out and attempt, so it’s not something I’m superstitious about at all.

How good would you say your range is right now? 

I’d say I’m comfortable out to probably 54, 55 (yards out) as the top.

Last year you came on as a walk on, and this year you entered a little more established.  Did you change at all how you trained this summer? 

I was here over the summer, and I really just worked on changing my swing a little bit. There are a lot of things to fine tune from last year. I made a lot of kicks, but I wasn’t necessarily hitting the ball like I wanted to, so I changed the little stuff.

Do you consider yourself as a football player more after the last couple of years?

I still miss soccer and think about it all the time, but being at football practice full time is really starting to sink in. I still feel this isn’t what I’ve been doing my whole life, it’s technically still not what I’m used to because I’ve played soccer up into high school.

Has there been a kick where you did start to feel some pressure?

Maybe the extra points in overtime against Arizona State. Not thinking about it too much, but when they were rushing hard off the edges and coming a lot closer you notice that.

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-The Oregon football team beat the Golden Bears Saturday night at Autzen Stadium, its first win at home since September 19, 44-28.

– The Oregon offense set a school record for total offense with 777 yards, supported by the Ducks defense that finished with nine third-down stops.

-The women’s soccer team completed its regular season on a high note, winning the annual civil war match against Oregon State on two goals in the final 10 minutes. The Ducks finish the season with a record of 6-13-0 and 3-8-0 in conference.

-On Sunday the latest AP Top 25 Rankings were released, listing No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Utah and No. 18 UCLA as Pac-12 representatives. Oregon plays the Cardinal on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium.

-The men’s basketball team beat Southern Oregon 91-40 Sunday night at Matt Knight Arena in the Ducks final preseason game. Chris Boucher led the Ducks with 13 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.

– Oregon volleyball swept Cal, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 Sunday. The win keeps the Ducks’ postseason hopes alive as they ready for marquee match-ups versus Stanford and USC this week.

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For fans that arrived to Autzen Stadium about 10 minutes after kickoff because of the rain, the cold, or perhaps the beverage in their hand, it turns out you were right on time.

For those of us punctually in our seats at 7:36 p.m. on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium, we saw how the California Golden Bears mauled through the Oregon defense and were ready to catch interceptions like jumping salmon. All of which teased a game that wouldn’t occur.

After two failed offensive possession that resulted in a three-and-out and an interception thrown in the end zone, the Ducks trailed by 10 points and were without any momentum as the crowd of over 56,ooo filed in.

“Our guys put our heads down and just kept fighting,” said sophomore strong safety Tyree Robinson. “We flushed it down… We just had to get some stops.”

The offense took its third drive 55 yards on 11 plays for an Aidan Schneider field goal. More importantly, it awoke an Oregon defense set to force a string of four-consecutive California punts, the majority in three-and-out fashion.

“That was a big momentum swing,” junior defensive back Reggie Daniels said. “They were moving the ball on us but we all bucked down and said ‘we have to get a stop’ and we went out there and got it done.”

It was contagious. And during a game where the temperature dipped to 49-degrees with scattered showers, the offense fed off the momentum.

“We kept it going,” Adams said. “We knew we were good and went out there an ran Oregon’s offense.”

The rules of the game? Don’t slow the other down. As if on cue, the Ducks offense, after each of the four-straight defensive stops, kept up with consecutive touchdown scores of its own. The four drives added up to 286 yards of offense and 31 unanswered points.

“We had to keep making plays because the defense, whenever they get a stop, we just want to keep going and give them momentum,” sophomore wide receiver Darren Carrington said. “If they stop the [opposing] offense, they know we’re going to go out there and score.”

The two, in essence, competed with each other for the first 30 minutes.

“That definitely motivates us,” Daniels said. “(The defense) did our part on the backend to lock it up, and I feel like we got the job done.”

The tone was set for the rest of the game as Oregon took complete control in its 44-28 home win over the Bears.

“When (the defense) sees the offense make a great play, we feel like we have to step it up just because we can’t just have one side of the ball playing great,” Robinson said. “If both sides of the ball are playing excellent, the sky’s the limit.”

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