Oregon daily emerald., March 16, 1998, Page 13, Image 13

OREGON (76)
Min FG
O'Brien ... 35 5-12
Curtis.34 5-10
Wolvert ... .33 6-9
Hughes ....37 3-11
Bowyer . . .12 0-0
Piers.3 0-0
McKnight .19 2-3
Strange ...19 2-4
Dion.4 0-1
Benson 4 0-0
Totals.200
FT R A P
1- 2 7 0 13
6-7 2 0 17
11-14 10 1 23
2- 2369
0-0 3 4 0
0-0 0 10
4-4 2 0 10
0-0424
0-0 0 10
0-0 0 0 0
23-50 24-29 33' 15 76
Shooting: 46.0.3-point: 6-11 (O'Brien 2-4, Cur
tis 1 -1, Hughes 1 -4, McKnight 2-2) 'two team
rebounds
Halltime score: Oregon 40, Rutgers 40
OBEGOH DUCKS VS. BUTGEBS SCARLET KNIGHTS
Saturday’s Star
Tomora Young (right) hit five of 10 from
behind the three-point line and eight of
18 from the field to finish with a game
high 23 points in 33 minutes.
Play of the Game
Young’s three-pointer with 27 seconds
left gave the Scarlet Knights the 79-76
lead and turned out to be the dagger in
the Ducks’ heart.
Quote of the Day
“I think we thought we were better than
they were, and that's what makes it
really upsetting."
— Natalie Hughes, UO guard
Up Next
The Ducks season comes to an end
after losing in the first round for the
third time in the last five seasons. Only
one senior graduates from their starting
lineup.
RUTGERS (79)
Min FG FT R A
Lilian).21 0-10-0 0 0
Miles .31 5-12 3-5 17 1
Clemente . .18 1-3 0-0 4 0
Young .33 8-18 2-2 1 2
Pointer.29 7-11 3-6 5 7
Gilmore . . .12 0-3 0-0 1 1
Eggleston ...7 0-1 0-0 0 0
Honeycutt .. .4 1-1 0-0 2 0
Stewart ...25 5-13 1-2 4 1
Boonen .4 0-0 0-0 0 0
Sutton-Brown16 3-6 2-3 4 0
Totals.200 30-69 11-18 40' 12
Shooting: 43.5. 3-point: 8-20 (Young 5
Pointer 0-1, Gilmore 0-1, Stewart 3-8) *
tpam rphniinric
p
o
13
2
23
17
0
0
2
14
0
8
79
i-10,
■two
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Lisa Bouyer plays tough defense on Rut
gers ' Natasha Pointer.
Loss to Rutgers
sums up season
The women lost a key player to
injury against Rutgers but, as
usual, never threw in the towel
By Alex Pond
Sports Reporter
If ever a game could be indicative of an en
tire season, it was Oregon’s loss to Rutgers in
the first round of the NCAA Tournament on
Saturday.
Two things will be remembered about this
season.
The first is the injuries that struck key
players — the tendinitis tha kept 6-foot-5
center Jenny Mowe sidelined lor the majori
ty of the season and the torn ACL that
knocked freshman standout Brianne Mehar
ry out for the last 11 games.
The second is the way the Ducks held to
gether and fought their way into the tourna
ment for a fifth straight season.
Two things will also be remembered about
the Ducks’ game against Rutgers.
One is that the injury factor struck again,
taking out Lisa Bowyer in the first halfwith a
separated shoulder.
The second is that, once again, Oregon
didn’t quit, fighting until the bitter end with
Turn to SEASON, Page 17
McKnight, Wolvert carry tKe Ducks
i
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Kirsten McKnight passes the hall during the Ducks’ game against Rutgers. McKnight
camein to Saturday's game averaging 1.7pointsper game andfinished uith lOpoints.
Kristin McKnight scored 10
points, including two three
pointers, in her last game
By Alex Pond
Sports Reporter
Oregon ....76
Rutgers. ..79
AMES, Iowa — Natalie Hughes strug
gled, Natasha O'Brien was average, and
Sonja Curtis was solid.
It was, however, performances from two
players at the oppo
site ends of their Ore
gon careers that car
ried the Ducks to a_
near-upset of Rutgers
in the first round of the NCAA Tournament
on Saturday.
Pressed into emergency duty after start
ing guard Lisa Bowyer was sidelined with
a separated shoulder, senior Kirsten McK
night saved probably the best game of her
career for last, scoring 10 points on two of
three shooting from the field, including
two for two from the three-point line —
and she hit all four of her free-throw at
tempts.
Wolvert, in the first tournament game of
her career, didn’t look, act or play like a
freshman. She came up big, tying for game
high honors with 23 points and pulling
down 10 rebounds.
“I'm not sure if she knows what it is to be
a freshman,” Oregon head coach Jody
Runge said. “She’s physically gifted to be
able to compete at this level as a freshman.
She makes mistakes, but she competes.
When she does make a mistake, it doesn’t
get to her confidence. She keeps playing
hard.”
Wolvert did it all for the Ducks, hitting
six of nine field-goal attempts and 11 of 14
attempts at the free-throw line. She de
manded the ball inside and played with a
fire and intensity rarely seen from a fresh
man, especially one playing on the big
stage that is the NCAA Tournament for the
first time.
She carried Oregon down the stretch,
scoring the Ducks’ last eight points.
Wolvert hit two free-throws that gave Ore
gon a 76-74 lead with one minute, six sec
onds left in the game.
That pair of free-throws came after a bit
Turn to UO, Page 17
Oregon sweeps weekend doubleheaders
The Ducks
improved their
record against
top 25 teams to
6-1 with two
wins over No.
12 0SU
Saturday
By Joel Hood
Sports Reporter
Sunny skies made the Oregon softball
team’s highly anticipated home opener
against Oregon State an event for the whole
family.
Jennie Cook’s right arm turned Saturday’s
Civil War into an execution.
The junior pitcher threw a three-hit shutout
in the Ducks’ 2-0 opening game victory, then
came on to relieve freshman Bethany Smith
in the fifth inriing of Game 2 to earn the 5-3
win and empjiatically close out a two-game
sweep pf tjiat'Np. l2'Ba&vers in front of 483
fans at Howe' Field* ■ * ■
11-5 this season
regon Slate and
fhe*Game 1 victory against Portland State on
Friday — was the only one not impressed
with her performance.
“We needed to come out and win all four
of the games, and we did,” Cook said. "I was
n’t surprised when Rick [head coach Gamez]
put me in the second game. I knew I had to be
ready in case he called on me: it happens a
lot.”
The Ducks drew even with Oregon State in
the second game after pinch runner Jackie El
lis took third on a double steal in the fourth
inning, then came home when the throw to
second sailed into center field.
With the score tied at 3-3 in the fifth. C.C.
Burns singled up the middle to start another
yu--(qDuT!1(S .Page T 4
I_ ___I
CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
Jennifer /yfelbaum scores a runjnjhe Ducks 5-J.un}i_over
Oregon StaleSaturdygit yfffc r r . r