Women look for transition
oy Paul Danzer
Ol the Emerald
Transition year.
It's a term overused by sportswriters who
can't think of anything better to say. and by
coaches who don't know what to expect from
their teams. But if there ever was a team which
truely deserved the label, this year’s Oregon
women’s basketball team is it
For starters, no longer is all-everything Bev
Smith around to carry the team unscathed to the
top of the Northwest Women's Basketball League
For that matter, the NWBL is also no more It
merged with the NorCal Conference to form the
new 10-team Northern Pacific Conference (Nor
Pac)
Those two changes alone were enough to
knock the Duck women from the "sure bet
category to the role of "contender." But there are
new faces and names, such as Heather McDuffie
and Lauri Tennant who will help fill in coach Elwin
Heiny's puzzle as the season progresses
McDuffie and Tennant are a pair of freshman
guards who Heiny hopes will have the team
clicking like a fine-tuned engine by the time the
NorPac championship tournament comes to
Eugene March 11
However, Heiny will have to wait longer than
he had hoped to see if the freshmen will mesh into
a smooth combination Tennant, who is second
on the team in scoring after four games, will be
lost to the team for at least seven more weeks with
torn knee ligaments.
She is so important to Heiny's plans that he is
now somewhat glad that the Ducks open confer
ence play with six straight home games starting
January 14th, then go on the road for five straight
conference games in February He is hopeful the
5-10 freshman from Gresham's Sam Barlow High
School will be ready to contribute by then
Tennant's status will not only influence how
quickly the Ducks make the transition to life in the
NorPac. but it will also be a key element in how
quickly the Ducks make the transition from of
fense to defense on the court as well
With Smith out of the picture, Heiny wants to
shift gears with this year's squad, turning the
Ducks from a deliberate team with a "get the ball
to Bev" offense, into a transition team which looks
to get the ball and run The new-look Ducks feel
that despite their youth (Mary Ann Stoican is the
only senior on the team) they have a substantial
pool of talent to draw from
"We feel that our talent is very good." says
Heiny, "We would like for more people to perform,
and perform consistently, rather than just one or
two players "
Despite the fact that the Ducks will miss
Smith's scoring punch this year, Heiny says that
the biggest void created by Bev's graduation is a
lack of intensity It didn't matter what she played,
if it was ratball in the gym or whatever, she hated
to lose," Heiny says of Smith "If the team was
behind, if no one else would, she would take it
upon herself to just play that much tougher and
pull us over the hump.
“This is one thing we've lacked,” Heiny said
of the season opening road trip to the midwest,
this desire not to lose " The result is that they
have lost — three times, while winning just one
counting game That is quite a change from last
year when the Ducks lost just five times in 26
games the last one coming in the opening round
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
tournament to Missouri.
But Heiny, who has posted an impressive
118-33 record in six years as mentor at Oregon, is
not about to push the panic button Right now.
we have to start functioning as a team," says the
coach We ve had some problems with discipline
on the court, he adds, referring to players not
carrying out their assignments
"I think that's a learning stage that their going
through,'' he says "I think that wiil improve as
time goes on.
We need an easier game now."
Looking at the schedule, one might think that
they will get that game when Portland State
comes to town Friday night However, Heiny is
concerned about the Vikings, who are coached
by former Oregon assistant Bev Bland "It s not a
game that we can say we will win. '
One thing Heiny can count on is the play of
6-3 junior center Alison Lang Lang will be the
centerpiece in Heiny's puzzle this year. Last
season Lang led the Ducks in scoring (21 2),
rebounding (11.5). field goal percentage (.594)
and blocked shots (3.8). She was only one of
seven players in the nation who were nationally
ranked in scoring, rebounding, and field goal
percentage Not a bad centerpiece
We would like to get her the ball whenever
she's open, ' Heiny said of the Kodak All-Amer
ican nominee "We know that if she gets the ball,
we can score
Along with Lang ( There is hardly a player
around who can match her", says Heiny), the
Ducks have three other reasons to consider
heighth as one of their strengths this winter. Their
names are Helen Higgs, Gail Gatchell. and Chris
Metzger.
Higgs, a 6-4 junior from Anchorage, Alaska,
will spell Lang in the middle, and team with her
when Heiny goes to a big front line Sophomores
Metzger and Gatchell will share big forward
responsibilities.
At the small forward position Heiny leads with
the steady Stoican. A solid outside shooter, who
also likes to post smaller players up inside,
Stoican has played in all 87 games during her
three years at Oregon Last season she averaged
7 9 poings per game and scored in double figures
10 times.
Behind Stoican the Ducks have JC transfer
Lori Carver and freshman Karin Bishop waiting in
the wings.
In addition to McDuffie, a strong shooter from
AAA prep runner-up St. Mary's, the guard group
includes versatile sophomore Tracy Beckes, and
sophomore point guards Lisa Vetter, and Janet
Harris, along with junior Penny Gienger.
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