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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1982)
Sports 1 Photo by David Corey Alison Lang skies for two in the Ducks 69-63 win over Taiwan Monday night. Ducks sink Taiwan to open hoop season By Debbie Howlett Of th* Emerald The Oregon women pulled out a "sloppy'' win against a quick, scrappy Republic of China team Monday night at McArthur Court Thanks to some clutch shooting, the Duck’s were able to negate 34 turnovers and hold on for a 69-63 win But the loss didn't disap point Chiang Hsien-Chih, Taiwan's head coach, who said through an interpreter, "They were very tired, they traveled all day." The team's travel itinerary 1 may have had less of an effect than the uniform s travel plans While the Republic of China team members were flying to Eugene, their uni forms took the scenic route — to Reno The travel-error cost the Taiwan team most of its warm-up time — evidenced by the Duck’s quick lead at the start — and delayed the tip-off about 25 minutes Oregon started out with two quick lay-ups by 5-8 guard Penny Gienger and went ahead 8-2 before the Taiwan team came back with a couple of their own lay-ups The teams traded baskets until the last five minutes of the half before Taiwan stretched its lead to nine — the largest margin all night — 39-30 The Duck’s came out in the opening minutes of the second half the same way they did the start of the game and went ahead by one point with 14 minutes left And again Taiwan came back, this time at the 13:20 mark, with a 23-foot set shot by Yeh Pi-lien, a 6-0 25 year-old They led until the Ducks provided some last minute heroics at the free throw line Alison Lang, the Duck's 6-3 center, hit a free throw to tie the game at 61 with 2:37 left Lang popped in the go-ahead bucket from near the top of the key with 2:08 left and Laurie Tennant, a 5-10 freshman guard, hit a 22-foot bomb with 1 14 to go ‘Honestly I thought they'd win — / didn’t know if we were ready.' After the Taiwan team came back with a lay-up to narrow the Ducks' lead to two, Mary Ann Stoican, a 6-0 senior, and Helen Higgs a 6-4 junior, hit two pressure free throws each, with less than a minute left, to ice the win. For the Republic of China, guards Hsu Hsueh-Chu and Hsu Tsui-lin pumped in 20 and 23 points respectively But on the boards, the Ducks dominated the shorter Taiwan team 55-27 Lang led the Ducks, in nearly every statistical category, with 21 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots Higgs grabbed 11 rebounds and 12 points with three assists "There were some good things — and there were some bad things,” said head coach Elwin Heiny. Lang was “obviously one of the good things" Heiny said But the other good things? "We saw a lot of potential tonight,” said Heiny, citing performances from the three guards, Gienger, Tennant and Heather McDuffie "Penny (Gienger) played a very good game and Higgs showed the fans her best game,” Heiny said The good things were also apparent to Hsien-Chih. He stressed that the Ducks put on a team show — something Heiny promised they would do. "The team," he said through an interperator, "has very good height and knows how to use it. "There was no player in particular," Hsien-Chih said. “They have a very balanced offense and they pass well You have a very, very good team." As for the bad things, Heiny says they were about what he expected for the first game with a corp of untested guards "For the first game we expect a lot of turnovers and a lot of sloppy play, and at times, we had that," Heiny said. "Overall we did okay, but we have a lot of things to work on " "We need to be a running team because we don't have that one outstanding player anymore," Lang said "I thought it was going to be tough," Lang said as she untaped her ankles "Honestly I thought they’d win — I didn't know if we were ready.” Flashy freshmen duo shows promise By Doug Levy Of th« Emerald When Oregon women's basketball coach Elwin Heiny recruited freshmen guards Heather McDuffie and Laurie Tennant this year, he promised big things Tennant, an all-state selection from Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, was counted on to improve the Ducks' fast-break attack with her ballhandling ability and court vision Meanwhile, Heiny said McDuf fie, a shooting guard from St Mary's Academy in Portland, had "the talent to become one of the best anywhere.” Monday night at McArthur Court 1,019 fans were on hand to see if Heiny was right as the Ducks defeated the Republic of China 69-63 The results were unclear at best. Tennant had six points and one assist in 26 minutes, McDuffie added four points and one assist in 24 minutes. But both showed flashes of their expected poten tial. At the beginning of the second half, with Oregon down 39-30, Tennant grabbed the tip, drove all the way down the left side of the lane and scored a quick two One minute later, with the Ducks down 39-36, McDuffie grabbed an outlet pass from Alison Lang, dribbled behind her back at halfcourt to elude a Taiwanese defender, and nailed a driving layup of her own. However, freshman jitters caught up with both guards as well. Tennant was guilty of six turnovers, while McDuffie had two In the first half, particularly, Chinese guards Hsu Hsueh-Chu and Hsu Tsui-Lin harrassed the Oregon guards, causing numerous tur novers and combining for 26 points "I was very nervous,” said Tennant, "but I finally started to relax as the game went on "Yeah, that’s a lot different from high school," said McDuffie "I knew if the coach put me in I was going to make mistakes ” But Heiny stuck with his prized freshmen in the second half, and it paid off Tennant hit a jumper from the left side of the key under pressure to give Oregon a 65-61 lead with 1:14 to play, and McDuffie played some fine defense to help the Ducks preserve the lead The Ducks are searching for a solid set of guards after losing two pairs in the last two years Oregon lost Diana Trask and Alison Bernhart both starters much of last year, and Diana Hiemstra and Angie Snider from the year before But it may take a bit of time for the pair to fit in at the college level as full-time replacements While the freshmen are adjusting, Heiny expects Penny Gienger. a junior with limited experience and a summer of hard work under her belt, to pick up the slack Tennant noted the difference in switching from high school to college was difficult "In high school, the attitude is really lackadaisical,” she said, "but here things are a lot harder " "I'm going to have to learn to look up before dribbling," commented McDuffie Heiny agreed the quickness of Taiwan contributed largely to the mistakes made by Tennant and McDuffie "I think that's one of the quickest teams we ll see." he said And it was the first action they had seen at the college level — so things should only get better "I know I can do a lot better than that." said McDuffie of her first college outing "Overall. I guess I'm pleased — for the first time," said Tennant It was left to Heiny to put things In perspective "I think we have to be happy to have them — they bring an excitement that we've never had before " Photo by David Coray Freshmen guards Laurie Tennant (23) and Heather McDuffie (21) give Oregon a took to the future.
