imm—
NBA
= Chicago vs. Miami,
IBS(3), 5p.m.
Emerald
CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
Motve, according to Oregon team doctor Robert Crist, will most likely miss the remain
der of the season due to tendinitis in her right knee.
Mowe may not return this season
Oregon center Jenny Mowe
experienced pain i>i her knee
when she returned to practice
after missing six straight games
By Ryan Frank
Sports Editor
There was another indication Tuesday
that Jenny Mowe could miss the remain
der of Oregon’s season due to an inflamed
tendon in her right knee.
Oregon team doctor Robert Crist said
Tuesday it is likely Mowe will not be able
to return to the team before the end of the
season.
Mowe, who has missed six straight
games, returned to practice to see if she
could play without pain.
Despite much rest, the at
tempt was unsuccessful,
Crist said.
Because Mowe rested
her knee and still had
problems with swelling
and soreness, Crist said it
is unlikely she could return to the team
and get into shape before the end of the
season.
However, Oregon officials must still pe
tit ion the NCAA fora medical hardship for
Mowe not to lose a season of eligibility.
They cannot petition until the end of the
season and there is no guarantee she will
receive the hardship.
“In my experience, I think Jenny will
cpialify [fortlie hardship],” Crist said.
Charity stripe?
Despite hitting 24 of 26 shots from the
free-throw line against California last Fri
day, the Ducks have combined to shoot
just 63.8 percent from the line this season.
Their worst performance at the line
Turn to WOMEN, Page 12
Kent wants
more fire
from fans
Head coach Ernie Kent feels
an intense, packed Mac Court
crowd could bring Oregon
seven to 10 points per game
By Chris Hansen
Assistant Spoils Editor
Although Monday night's crowd of 7,355
— over 2,000 shy of a sellout — was disap
pointingly small for a game against a top-10
team, Oregon head coach Ernie Kent was
pleased with the support from those who
showed up.
“I thought the crowd was awesome,”
Kent said. "It felt like the olden days, see
ing all that green and yellow and being vo
cal at times.”
It’s no secret that Kent is a big supporter
oi MCArtnur t.ourt and
tlie advantages it holds
for his team.
The problem this sea
son, though, is that the
games haven’t sold out,
and except for the stu
dent section, those who
do come spend more time sitting on their
hands than clapping with them.
The pockets of empty seats in the court
side reserved and season-ticket sections for
the game against No. 7 Stanford on Mon
day was embarrassing. Especially since up
until last year much of those seats went to
University students, who would spend
games getting up close and personal with
the opposing team’s players.
“It is important for a young team to have
a crowd behind it,” Kent said. “Mac Court
is such a great place to play that the crowd
can give you anywhere between seven and
10 points a game if they are really rocking.”
Kent has tried his best to get the crowd
involved. During the Ducks’ Pacific-10
Conference opener against California last
Saturday, Kent often turned to the seats be
hind the Oregon bench and waved his arms
up in the air, imploring the crowd to come
to life. And this was a game Oregon was
easily winning.
“Students are students and they are go
ing to be great and they are going to be into
the game and they are going to bring a great
party atmosphere,” Kent said
“But it is going to take some people who
are our age to cut loose a little bit and turn
back the clock and come here a little bit more
fired up. We need to get this place rocking
and get the intensity. Even though it’s a new
scoreboard, 1 still want to see it swinging.”
Turn to FANS, Page 12
Oregon is living up to Finley’s high expectations for the season
Amateur
Wrestling News
ranks senior
Jeremy Ensrud
first in the Pac
10 and fourth
in the nation
at 1J4 pounds
By Joel Hood
Sports Reporter
Head coach Ron Finley began the season
with the belief that the 1997-98 Oregon
wrestling team had a chance to be the best
ever at the University. Through three
months of the fall season, the Ducks have
done nothing that would suggest otherwise.
Oregon (4-0 overall, 3-0Pacific-10Confer
ence) is just two weeks away from the bulk of
its conference schedule and, Finley said,
competing at a higher level than ever before.
“I’m just so impressed with the way this
team has come together this season,” Finley
said Saturday after Oregon's improbable
first-place finish at the Great Plains Tourna
ment in Lincoln, Neb. "We’ve faced some
very good teams and everyone has seemed
to raise his level of play.”
Last Saturday, the No. 30 Ducks defeated
tournament host and No. 7 Nebraska, No. 21
West Virginia, No. 31 Indiana, No. 32 North
Carolina, No. 36 Missouri and a partial
squad from No. 3 Minnesota en route to their
first team tournament title of the season.
It’s easy to see why Finley has called the
1 WRESTLING
performance “one of the
best tie’s ever had at Ore
gon,” and why he has such
high hopes for the Ducks
this season.
Amateur Wrestling
News currently ranks Jere
my Ensrud as the top wrestler in the Pac-10
and fourth in the nation at 134 pounds. En
srud, who posted his ninth career tourna
ment title with a 10-3 win over Nebraska’s
Brian Cannoyer in Lincoln, has compiled a
19-1 record this season and was the only
Duck to win his championship match on
Saturday.
At the current pace, Ensrud would move
into seventh place on the Ducks all-time win
list by the end of this season.
Back from injury
Perhaps the biggest impact from a wrestler
who has returned from an early season in
jury has been that ofredshirt freshman Doug
Lee, who finished second Saturday at 177
pounds. Since his return to the lineup on
Dec. 14 against Cal Poly SLO, Lee has a 8-4
record and remains undefeated in Pdf:-10
play.
Ducks get the votes
According to the most recent conference
poll, eight Oregon wrestlers rank in the top
four of their respective weight classes in the
Pac-10. An important number because the
Ducks will need a strong starting eight to chal
lenge defending Pac-10 champion Arizona
State at the end of the season, Finley said.
Back home
Oregon hosts its second home meet of the
season Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at McArthur
Court against No. 15 Lock Haven.
FINLEY