©regonSCmeralti
WEDNESDAY
November 4,1998
Best Bet
Bowling
PBA Indianapolis Open
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Williams dazzles in Oregon’s season-opening win
Center Jenny
Mowe sbou’s
she is healthy
again with 22
points and 14
rebounds
By Joel hood
Oregon Daily Emerald
If Shaquala Williams had any butterflies
in her stomach before Wednesday’s game, it
must have taken all of three seconds for
them to evaporate.
Making her first appearance in a Duck
uniform, the freshman point guard dazzled
the 2,928 in attendance with an array of one
arm rocket passes, no-look assists and a half
dozen other moves to lead the Oregon
women’s basketball team to a 99-65 rout of
Alvik of Sweden at McArthur Court.
"We didn’t have a big lead when I entered
the game so I was just trying to get us into
our offense,” said Williams, who finished
with nine points and six assists in 23 min
utes. "The guards just needed to be more ag
gressive, so I just went in there to play my
game."
Williams entered the game with just more
than 15 minutes to go in the first half and
promptly raced the length
of the court and fired a
pin-point lob pass to a
streaking Jenny Mowe to
give the Ducks an 15-10
lead.
Mowe, the six-foot-five
center who missed all but
lour games last season
with a knee injury, played 22 minutes and
showed little rust on the offensive end, scor
ing 22 points and recording a team-high 14
rebounds.
However, head coach Jody Runge said her
team has a lot to work on defensively.
“I’m pleased with the effort overall,”
Runge said, “but we had a lot of break
downs defensively and miscommunication
playing zone. I think this is a good wake-up
call for us.”
Forward Brianne Meharry led the Ducks
with 23 points and tallied seven rebounds.
The sophomore also made 11 of 14 free
throw attempts.
The Ducks led by just 13 at the half but
extended their lead early in the second half,
leading by 21 with 11:42 to go, 25 with
10:48 and 31 by the 4:22 mark.
Oregon sophomore Angelina Wolvert hit
six of 12 attempts from the field to score 18
points. She also pulled down six rebounds.
Krista Jay led Alvik with 26 points on 10
of 17 shooting. Johanna Bjorklund was the
only other Alvik player to score in double
figures with 12 points.
(( I'm pleased
with the effort
overall, but we
had a lot of
breakdowns
defensively
V
Jody Runge
UO head coach
Washington Football
I be (University of Washington) Daily
Dane Looker has become Washington's top receiver this season even after beginning his college career as a guard on Western Washington's basketball team.
Looker takes circuitous route to stardom
Dane Looker has gone from
basketball player at Western
Washington to Washington’s
top receiver in just three years
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
“There are two paths you can go by, but
in the Jong run there’s still time to change
the road you 're on. ”
—Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant in “Stair
waytoHeaven"
Washington’s leading receiver was not
always on the path he now travels.
In fact, three years ago Dane Looker was
always conscious of a different type of
traveling as a key member of the Western
Washington basketball team.
But, spurred by Husky quarterback and
former high school teammate Brock
Huard’s appraisal, Looker decided to
change the road he was on.
He has not since looked back as that new
trail brings him to Eu
3 gene for Washington’s
showdown with Ore
gon on Saturday at
Autzen Stadium.
II not tor a tatetul
game of catch with Huard in their home
town of Puyallup, Wash., during his
sophomore year, Looker may have never
made the decision that led to his role as the
Huskies’ top receiver.
“[Brock] called me one night and said
‘Do you want to go down to the gym and
throw with me a little bit?’” Looker says.
“I went down there and started running
some routes, and he told me he thought I
still had the ability to play [at Washing
ton]. He planted a seed in my head and
made me start thinking."
Looker then contacted the Washington
wide receivers’ coach (now their offensive
coordinator), Scott Linehan, to pursue
Huard’s advice, and he eventually decided
to transfer and try out for the Huskies as a
walk-on.
Despite making the team last fall, Looker
was relegated to the scout team because as
a transfer he was ruled ineligible for the
season.
But this season Looker has burst to the
front of the Huskies’ receiving corps. He
made his Division-I college football debut
memorable by burning Arizona State for a
school-record-tying 11 catches for 108
Turn to FOOTBALL, Page 12
Conference
bowl scene
unfolding
The Pac-10 should scud five
teams to postseason bowl games,
including two held at the Aloha
Bowl in Hawaii
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Da ily Emerald
For a few years now, Pacific-10 Confer
ence fans, coaches and players have been
arguing the merits of the Pac-10, calling it
the best conference in the nation.
If parity decides quality, then that would
seem to be a fair claim.
UCLA, which entered last weekend in the
No. 1 slot in the Bowl Championship Series
rankings, narrowly avoided defeat for the
third straight week, this time against Stan
ford.
The Cardinal, still winless in the Pac-10
after five games, came within a yard or two
of knocking off UCLA, the nation’s No. 2
ranked team. Receiver Jeff Allen fumbled
away a sure Stanford victory with the Bru
ins up 28-24, a lead UCLA held through the
final gun.
That win came a week after a precocious
Cal team lost by just 14 points to the highly
favored Bruins, who were coming off a nar
row overtime win over Oregon.
UCLA now finds itself ranked third and
fourth in the polls, as well as third in the
Bowl Championship rankings. The Bruins
must now hope for a loss by Tennessee
and/or Kansas State to guarantee a trip to
the national championship game, held this
year at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4.
Arizona also finds itself rooting for the
Volunteers and Wildcats to lose. Should the
Bruins qualify for the Fiesta Bowl, Arizona
would have a decent chance at qualifying
for its first Rose Bowl. Although the Pac
10’s second-place team is not guaranteed a
spot in Pasaderra should the Bruins qualify
for the Fiesta Bowl, a highly ranked Arizona
would be a good bet to be selected.
The other option for the Pac-10's second
place team is either the Cotton or Holiday
Bowl. The Cotton Bowl will have its choice
of the Western Athletic Conference champi
on or the second-place Pac-10 team. The
Holiday Bowl would get the odd-team out.
Air Force is currently the top-ranked WAC
team and could be a good bet to play in
Texas. Representatives from the Holiday
Bowl were at Saturday’s Arizona-Oregon
game, as well as the UCLA-Oregon game on
Oct. 17.
The third-place Pac-10 team will likely
Turn to PAC-10, Page 12