For Senior Post Carpenter, Sublime Season Hits Bittersweet End
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
This weekend the UO women’s basketball team will celebrate its four seniors prior to the Ducks’ final home game of the regular season. Center Megan Carpenter is among the quartet of seniors, and said she’s experienced “bittersweet” emotions leading up to Thursday's 6 p.m. tip against Cal and Sunday’s 1 p.m. finale against Stanford.
Prior to this season, Carpenter – a little-used backup the last three seasons – expected to play out her career in similar fashion, picking up a couple minutes here, a couple more there. She figured she’d hit the end of her eligibility and be content to move on with her life.
That Carpenter would become a starter at midseason, and find herself wishing she had another year or two to play for new UO coach Kelly Graves, was not the expectation. “No,” Carpenter said, before breaking into a laugh. “No. Not at all.” But it’s the reality.
Against the Golden Bears on Thursday, Carpenter is expected to make her 18th consecutive start. Complementing Oregon’s “big three” of Jillian Alleyne, Lexi Petersen and Lexi Bando, Carpenter has averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds, numbers that don’t reflect her contributions setting screens or anchoring the Ducks’ zone defense with her long, 6-foot-4 frame.
“She’s been great,” Graves said. “I think we’ve gotten better as a basketball team once we inserted her into the starting lineup. We’ve just become a different team. She’s staying on the floor longer, committing fewer fouls, doing a nice job of challenging some shots. She does get some blocked shots and she’s at least changing other shots.”
Against Cal, Carpenter will help the Ducks contend with 6-foot-3 forward Reshanda Gray. As can be the case for Carpenter, she’ll give up some quickness in the matchup, but she’ll try to use her positioning and length to provide a rim protecter in the middle of the Ducks’ 2-3 zone.
Carpenter has been doing so since entering the starting lineup just before the New Year.
“I definitely didn’t expect that much of this year, honestly,” Carpenter said. “It’s hard being a senior with a new coach, because they want their players. But I think Kelly made everyone feel like he wants them, and has taken special interest in people.”
The relationship between Graves and Carpenter took time to develop. Carpenter is shy and reserved, Graves gregarious and to-the-point. Graves speaks frankly to his players about weaknesses in their game; for a player lacking in confidence entering her senior year, Carpenter took a while to come around to that style.
“Having someone come in and tell you exactly what’s on his mind, no filter, that was kind of hard for me at first – not to hang my head and internalize it,” Carpenter said. “But as you get to know him more, he’s really funny, has a great sense of humor, so you don’t take it to heart. You know he’s coming from a good place.”
Carpenter played sparingly to start her senior year, logging more than 10 minutes just twice in the Ducks’ first nine games. In the last game before Oregon’s holiday break, Carpenter played just three minutes against Fresno State. Graves was relying on a smaller lineup, in order to maximize the Ducks’ scoring potential.
But, he decided over the holiday break, whatever gains the small lineup provided offensively were more than overcome by defensive deficiencies and a disdvantage on the glass. As the Ducks prepared to hit the court again on Dec. 29 against Seattle, Graves had a message for Carpenter – she was a starter.
The Ducks needed to try something new, and Carpenter earned her chance with solid practice performance.
“It was like, ‘You need to produce,’ though,” Carpenter said. “I’m going to start you, and you need to give us solid minutes and help the team.”
Since entering the lineup, Carpenter has logged 20 or more minutes seven times, and 19 minutes three other times. She’s scored between four and six points each of the last 10 games, and had a season-high eight rebounds against Seattle.
Graves has stuck with the new lineup, and with his senior Carpenter.
“It took a while,” Graves said. “She’s opened up a little bit; she’s pretty guarded, and she was very quiet early on. But she’s got a great personality, and that shows through from time to time. I’ve really enjoyed coaching her this year.”
Carpenter, meanwhile, has so enjoyed this season that what was once unimaginable – sadness that her career is coming to a close this weekend – is a reality as senior day approaches.
“I definitely want to go out on a good note,” Carpenter said. “I think everyone is thinking the same.”
