Oregon State’s Jelena Mitrovic (left) works against Duke forward Mia Heide in a consolation game of the Phil Knight Legacy women’s basketball tournament Nov. 27 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

For the past decade in the Pac-12 Conference, the rivalry games in women’s basketball have been played back-to-back.

That is not the case this season and on Sunday, Oregon State will open its Pac-12 schedule at Oregon. The Ducks will not make their return trip to Corvallis until Jan. 20.

Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said this is an earlier start to Pac-12 play than he would prefer.

“It’s unusual to have a Pac-12 game at this time of the year, for us, for women’s basketball,” Rueck said. “It speeds up some things. You’re playing for keeps now. That’s what Pac-12 is, it’s conference games. Because of that there’s an intensity this weekend that we will be locking into that usually is waiting for us in January.”

Rueck thinks playing conference games this early interrupts the normal growth of a team. For example, coaches typically shorten their playing rotation in conference play, but that is not typically the plan for games in early December.

“There’s a journey each team goes on in November and December where you develop and prepare for conference play. That’s been traditional, but what’s tradition anymore?” Rueck said. “By moving Pac-12 games in, it disrupts that progression and … it’s probably not in the best interest of the overall development of your team.”

Rueck also thinks that while the back-to-back rivalry games were originally adopted out of necessity, it did create a unique opportunity. He said the games in Corvallis and Eugene were often played so close together they almost felt like one single game with an extra-long halftime.

“It’s the challenge. You play each other twice in 48 hours. It’s just kind of fun,” Rueck said.

At least for this season, the challenge is different. Oregon State (6-2) has had just eight games to create chemistry on a roster with seven new players. No. 17 Oregon (6-1) has lost just once this season, falling 85-79 to No. 8 North Carolina at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland.

The Beavers and Ducks split the series last year with Oregon taking a 74-66 win in Corvallis and Oregon State bouncing back with a 68-62 win in Eugene.

Sophomore guard Talia von Oelhoffen scored 23 points in the Beavers’ win over the Ducks a year ago. She enjoys the atmosphere of these games both at home and on the road.

“I think it’s super-fun to go into your rival team’s court, and bring a lot of energy even though they have that advantage,” von Oelhoffen said. “I think it’s going to be a fun challenge and a lot of our team’s going to be experiencing it for the first time.”

Sunday’s game will be the first opportunity for Bendu Yeaney, a redshirt senior transfer from Arizona, to take part in the series. Yeaney grew up in Portland and her dad is an Oregon State graduate, so she knows how intense this rivalry can be.

“In middle school and high school everybody chose during this week, you’re either a Beaver or you’re a Duck. I was always a Beaver,” Yeaney said. “I’m so happy that I’m able to actually play in it. It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be a lot of fun for my family, too.”

Oregon State hasn’t played since its 63-53 win over Jackson State on Dec. 3. Rueck said the team worked on its own development for much of this time before turning its attention to the Ducks.

He thinks the key to the game for his squad is transition defense and in particular defending 3-pointers in transition. Oregon has made 40% of its shots from beyond the arc this season and part of the reason for this success has been the team’s ability to create open shots in early offense.

“They transition so well. If you look at their guards, with (Te-Hina) Paopao and (Endyia) Rogers you’ve got two just veterans, and you don’t have to look too much deeper to see more experience there,” Rueck said. “The ball moves quick and they can really hurt you if you blink. There’s just no relaxing in this game. That’s been the theme of the week for us.”