Sports
Lang launches women to home wins
By Debbie Howlett
Of the Emerald
Making maximum use of their height advan
tage, Oregon's women cruised to a pair of easy
basketball wins this weekend as Portland State
and Chico State came up short at McArthur Court
The Ducks' front line was just too tall an order
for PSU and Chico’s defenses to handle. Oregon
cashed in on 57 percent shooting from the field
Friday night to dump PSU 83-64 Saturday, the
Ducks cruised by Chico 102-68 in a yawner
Oregon was led by Alison Lang, a 6-3 junior,
who burned the nets for 66 points, snagged 21
rebounds, blocked 12 shots and dished off 14
assists for the two games — while battling a fever
and a touch of the flu
But Lang wasn't the only Duck roaming far
above the smaller crowd Helen Higgs, a 6-4
junior, sparkled as she scraped up 24 rebounds
and blocked eight shots on the weekend But
Higgs best effort was her shooting. She canned
14 of 18 shots from the floor and three-of-three
from the line to get 31 points for the two games
Against a shorter, intimidated PSU team, the
Oregon front line combined for 65 of the team’s
points Friday night
For awhile the game looked like a shoot-out
between the Vikings' flashy guard C J Sealey, a
5-10 senior, at the perimeter, and the steady duo
of Lang and Higgs from near the bucket While
Sealey hit from 23 feet at an inconsistent
eight-of-22 rate, Lang and Higgs went 13-for-20
and seven-for-seven respectively.
“We were a little bit intimidated," said an
obviously disappointed PSU head coach, Bev
Bland But intimidated or not, the Vikings are a
team that has definitely improved over past sea
sons But Bland says both she and the team are
"sick of hearing that."
r
"You can say we re improved, but the im
provement isn't showing in our record,” Bland
said
Most of the Ducks intimidation came from
Lang "I like to just hang back and let them know
I’m there,” Lang said
The most exciting thing about the game
against Chico State was the side bets on whether
the Ducks would make it to 100 points, which they
did with 50 seconds left as Lisa Vetter, a 5-5
sophomore, hit an 18-foot jumper
After Chico tied the score at 2-2, the Ducks
went on a 15 point tear of lay-ins and 12-foot
jumpers to take control at 1 7-4, and allow coach,
Elwin Heiny to start substituting freely
Lang led the Ducks with 34 points to match
her career high total and come very close to
breaking Debbie Adams' school record of 38
Adams is the Ducks' assistant coach this year
“I knew she was close,” Heiny said with a
laugh, "because Debbie kept elbowing me and
saying take her out.’ ”
Lang played only 33 minutes, her lowest total
playing time this year, but her scoring seemed to
click something with the rest of the team. The
whole Duck offense went wild as five players
scored in double figures.
But the Duck’s defense and rebounding were
a different matter.
The Chico team stayed with the Ducks on the
boards all night, even though Oregon managed a
48-40 margin in the final stats.
“It's unfortunate we tend to get sloppy,
especially against teams like this,” Heiny said
"We let them score way too much and we let them
post up on us.”
All of the Ducks, except Tracy Beckes, a 5-9
sophomore — who suited up but is suspended
indefinitely for disciplinary reasons — saw at least
11 minutes of playing time.
Photo by Mark Pynes
The only real competition the Oregon women had last weekend was
against themselves as Chris Metzger (20) and Hellen Higgs (30) sky
for a rebound against Portland State Friday night.
Cagers pay for Aztec rebound, 49-47
Photo by Mark Pynas
Jerry Adams (from left to right) Greg Bell and Brian
Trendall have San Diego State's Michael Cage
surrounded, but the Aztec still managed to get the
ball off on his way to scoring a game-high 15 points
The Ducks dropped a close one 49-47 Saturday
night.
Page 12
By John Healy
Of the Emerald
He can’t use it as collateral on a loan, and he can't
deposit it in his savings account, but Oregon basketball
coach Jim Haney can certainly use Saturday night's
49-47 loss to undefeated San Diego State as a down
payment on future wins.
A rebound lay-in by 6-8 forward John Martens with
one second remaining assured the Aztecs of a win at
McArthur Court Saturday, and nullified a comeback that
brought the Ducks back from a four-point deficit with
2:04 left in the game
It was the fourth straight loss for the Ducks to a
team that earned a berth in last year's National Invita
tional Tournament, and because of that glaring fact,
Haney believes the Ducks' rough schedule will begin to
pay dividends with wins later in the season
"At some point in this season, we’ll have played
more tough games than anyone else," Haney says
"Then the pendulum will start to swing to our side "
That "point" in the season was almost Saturday
night Oregon, trailing 47-43 with 2 07 left on the clock,
got a jumper from the very top of the key by guard Gary
Gatewood to cut the Aztecs' lead to 47-45
Then San Diego State point guard Keith Smith was
called for traveling in the backcourt, his 11 th turnover of
the night and the Aztecs' 21st Gatewood got the ball
again at the top of the key on a nice pass from Oregon
point guard Greg Bell, and the 6-3 junior hit nothing but
net from 20 feet to tie the score at 47 with 121 remain
ing
San Diego State then ate up most of the time
remaining on the clock with a delay offense, and after
calling a final timeout with 29 seconds left, the Aztecs'
fed Smith waiting to the right of the key and he launched
a 20-footer
His jumper dribbled off the front of the basket, and
Martens, who played only seven minutes against
Oregon — six of those in the first half — used his 5-inch
height advantage to muscle by Gatewood, corral the
rebound and lay the ball in off the glass It was his only
field goal of the night
"They had a screen set for (Michael) Cage, and
that s where I lost concept of who I was guarding."
Gatewood explained "He got a good jump and beat me
to the ball
"I should have blocked him out I have no ex
cuses "
Haney thought the Ducks were in a good position to
take the game into overtime after Smith went up with his
20-footer
“We were happy with the shot taken It was from 25
feet and we had a hand in his face But we didn't get the
blockout, and as a result, they win the game, although I
didn't think the game was ultimately lost there," said
Haney.
It's a tough lesson we learned tonight."
It appeared, at least for 39 minutes and 59 seconds,
that Oregon would be tutoring the Aztecs on the art of
college basketball. Although smaller, slower and often
just plain out-talented by San Diego State, Oregon
made up for its deficiencies with crisp offensive execu
tion and a defense that contained every fiber of intensity
that the "Kamikazee Kids" made famous in the
mid-70s
Oregon built a seven-point lead with 3:36 remaining
in the first half on the strength of a 6-0 spurt highlighted
by two long jumpers by outside artist Bryan Trendell
and a 10-foot follow by junior forward David Brantley
It was Brantley and Trendell — the 6-6 sophomore
who started at guard in place of Gatewood - that kept
the Ducks in the game in the first halt
Haney had worried before the game about the
Aztecs' rebounding muscle inside — they had out
rebounded their opponents by an average of 12 boards
a game — and had called it a key to the game's
outcome
Brantley, though, scrapped his way to four
rebounds and helped Oregon grab 10 rebounds, two
less than the Aztecs in the first half While Brantley was
working inside. Trendell was letting fly from the per
imeter with 15. 17. and 20-foot jumpers
He hit six of eight from the field, the closest shot a
10-foot jumper from the right baseline
But Trendell managed to score on only one jumper
in five attempts in the second half, and Brantley could
only come up with two rebounds while the Aztecs were
outrebounding the Ducks 19-9
Only senior Paul Bam - who started at forward -
and his 10 second-half points, plus a near-flawless
Oregon offense that committed four second-half turn
overs, kept the Ducks in the game
"We didn't execute the way we should have," said
Bain, who finished with seven of ten from the field
"There was about a 10-minute period where they took
control of the game, and we just kind of let it get away "
Which wasn't the case Saturday night
But the Ducks won't give up, says Haney
"We ll have to just keep working, clawing, and
scratching, until we get that win that will thrust us into
the pie "
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