Sports
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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.