Emerald NCAA Championships Oregon men, women finish eighth at NCAAs Women 1 DAVIS ■ OREGON: Davis 8th Glusac 34th Ebiner 83rd Knudson 85th Howell 102nd Marie Davis and Milena Glusac earned All-Americans honors By Joel Hood Spoils Reporter An eighth-place finish might not have been what the Oregon runners had in mind, but if someone had told head coach Tom Heinonen in September that his return to the NCAA Championships would land the women’s cross country team just a handful of points outside the top five, he likely would have taken it. The No. 5 Ducks finished eighth overall at the NCAA Championships in Greenville, S.C., on Monday, just seven points behind fifth-place finisher Wiscon sin. “Sometimes a small point differential works out for you, and sometimes it works against you,” Heinonen said. “This time it just worked against us. But I’m very proud of what this team has accomplished this season. We just came up a little short of where we wanted to be.” Perhaps a little short of its team goal, but two Oregon runners achieved individual goals of becoming All-Ameri cans. Marie Davis finished ninth overall in a time of 16 min utes, 59 seconds to earn her second consecutive All American honor, while se nior Milena Glusac (17:21) finished 34th to nab the final Turn to WOMEN, Page 9 Some Oregon runners were disappointed with their finish By Joel Hood Sports Reporter With so much on the line at the NCAA Championships in Greenville, S.C., on Mon day, the last thing Oregon’s runners might have expected was a flat performance. So much for expectations. The No. 6 Ducks finished eighth, nine points behind seventh-place Michigan State and 52 points behind sixth-place North Carolina State, among 22 of the na tion’s top cross country pro grams. Though Oregon has ex ceeded its own expectations much of the season, Konrad Knutsen said, the eighth place finish in the season’s most important race is cer tainly a bit of a disappoint ment. “We didn’t race great, but we certainly didn’t fall apart,” Knutsen said. “I think a lot of our guys just kind of felt flat out there on the course. The whole atmos phere was really intense. We didn’t really run the way we thought we could. We be lieve we are still a top-five team.” One Oregon runner who did run the way he wanted was Daniel Das Neves, who missed All-American honors by two places, finishing 27th overall in his final cross country race as a Duck. Turn to MEN, Page 9 Men i DAS NEVES ■ OREGON: Das Neves 27th Aubrey 49th Davis 86th Knutsen 87th Dammann 96th Ducks host Vikings in home opener Oregon head coach Ernie Kent says the team needs to establish its inside play against Portland State By Rob Moseley Sports Reporter Oregon’s home schedule opens in earnest tonight as the men’s basketball team hosts Portland State in a nonconfer ence matchup. “They are a perimeter-oriented team,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “So we’re going to have to be there with great shot pressure and not give them any open looks. At the same time, we’d like to estab lish our inside play.” The Vikings finished 9-17 last season, in cluding wins in seven of their final 12 games, and are led by forward Brian Towne, who averaged 12.4 points per game last season and is one of five returning starters. ' Portland State is in its second season of competition following a 15-year hiatus due to economic constraints. The Vikings (1-0) defeated Simon Fraser 64-49 in Portland on Sunday. Towne scored 24 points, and Derek Neland added Turn to DUCKS, Page 12 CHAD PATTESON/Emerald Terik Brown, who had 19 points and shot five fur 11 from three-point range vs. BYU on Friday, leads Oregon into battle against Portland State tonight. Poor shooting sends women to loss at Portland The Ducks shot just 34 percent from the field in the eight-point loss to the Portland Pilots By Ryan Frank Sports Editor The streak lives. The Oregon women’s basketball team was unable to break the Portland Pilots now 25 game home-winning streak as it suffered a hard-fought 67-59 defeat at the hands of the 3-1 Pilots in front of 838 fans at the Chiles Center. “They are a great team,” Oregon head coach Jody Runge said, “but we were physi cally stronger and should be able to play on the road.” The Ducks (1-1) shot just 57.1 percent from the free-throw line and 34.6 percent from the field against the Pilots’ zone defense and made just one field-goal attempt in the final 4 minutes, 19 seconds of the game. Oregon’s inside players never established much of a force in the key, and the aggressive Pilot defense capitalized, limiting the Ducks space to shoot on the perimeter, Runge said. Guards Natalie Hughes and Lisa Bowyer combined to shoot just 32 percent from the field. Bowyer led the Ducks with 13 points as the only Oregon player to score in double figures. However, she made just four of 10 shots from the field and combined with two other Oregon starters, Hughes and forward Mendy Benson, for 17 of the 23 team turnovers. Jenny Mowe, the Ducks’ lone true center, played only the final nine minutes, but still managed to finish with six points, six re bounds and three blocks. Postseason possibilities wide open Representatives from the Sports Humanitarian Bowl in Idaho said they will not choose a team until after this weekend By Ryan Frank Sports Editor It appears the Oregon Ducks will have to wait until at least Friday to find out when, where or even if they are playing in a bowl game. Oregon athletic director Bill Moos said late Monday the Insight.com Bowl in Tuc son, Ariz., is “still extremely interested,” as is the Las Vegas Bowl. Moos said he had not spoken with a repre sentative from the Sports Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, or the Motor City Bowl in Pontiac, Mich., on Monday, two bowls with at-large bids, but that he would attempt to contact them on Tuesday. With two important games to be played on Friday (Nebraska-Colorado and Arizona Arizona State), Moos said he expects the bowls’ decisions to be announced Friday. Representatives from the Humanitarian Bowl said Monday that Oregon is high on its list, but they will not choose a team until af ter this weekend’s games. Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell, who is also a representative from the Hu manitarian Bowl, said if Oregon is interest ed, so is tile selection committee. "If Oregon comes to us ready, willing and able to cut a deal, then 1 am sure we would be ready, willing and able to cut a deal," Farrell said. Bowl President Steve Schmader said Monday that Oregon “has a strong suit," but the selection committee is still looking at at least two to three other teams for its at-large bid to the Dec. 27 bowl. Schmader said the committee could have its final decision as early as Sunday and at least by early next week. While Farrell and the Humanitarian Bowl officials appear interested in the Ducks, the outcome of those two games have a large bearing on Oregon’s bowl opportunities. If Colorado loses to Nebraska and Arizona Turn to BOWL, Page 8