In high school, Ruthy Hebard played in three state tournaments. During one summer with her club team, Mallory McGwire lost just once, on the way to a national title. One of her teammates on that club, Sabrina Ionescu, has helped Team USA win no less than five international age-group tournaments.
All of which is to say that, while young, members of the UO women's basketball team know what it's like to play the favorite role. Which is good news for a team that, in the wake of its historic sweep in Los Angeles last week, figures to be fully entrenched as "the hunted" in the Pac-12 conference, beginning when the Ducks host Arizona on Friday (8 p.