©regonSK€meral& FRIDAY November 13,1998 TRIVIA QUESTION Oregon had two women earn Pac-10 all-freshman team honors in basketball last season. Who were they? Bbx NFL Week 11 Miami vs, Carolina New England vs, Buffalo San Francisco vs. Atlanta Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee Philadelphia vs. Washington N.Y.Jetsvs. Indianapolis Cinncinadvs. Minnesota St. Louis vs. New Orleans Baltimore vs. San Diego Seattle vs. Oakland Green Bay vs. N. Y. Giants Tampa Bay vs. Jacksonville Dallas vs. Arizona Chicago vs. Detroit BCS Rankings 1. Tennessee 2. UCLA 3. Kansas St. 4. Florida St. 5. Florida 6. Texas A&M 7. Arkansas 8. Ohio St. 9. Wisconsin 10. Arizona 11. Nebraska 12. Notre Dame 13. Missouri 14. Oregon 15. Texas 16. Tulane 17. Georgia 18. Penn. St. 19. Michigan 20. Virg. Tech Trivia answer Forward Angelina Wolvert was hon ored after leading Oregon with 133 to tal rebounds and forward Brianne Meharry was hon ored after averaging 13.1 points per game Best Bet College Basketball BCA Basketball Classic 4:30 p.m., ESPN UO men send Australians down under Junior college transfer Alex Scales scored 20 points to lead the Ducks to a 103-53 win on Thursday night By Rob Moseley Oregon Daily Emerald The future of Oregon men’s basketball is here, and it appears to have come in the form of Alex Scales and Frederick Jones. Scales scored a game-high 20 points and added seven rebounds, and Jones gave a dazzling display of his athleticism to the 6,478 fans at McArthur Court for the Ducks’ 103-53 season-opening exhibi tion victory over a touring squad from Australia on Thursday night. “I thought it was a great start to our season, even though it was an exhibition game,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “We needed to play in front of people and have an opportunity to get the ner vousness out.” Scales, a junior college transfer, shot 60 percent from the field and tallied five assists in his Oregon debut. “I was a little nervous, but when you get out there it’s same-old, same-old,” the 6-foot-4 junior said. Senior Terik Brown hit the Ducks' first basket, a three-pointer, just 17 seconds into the game, and Oregon followed with a barrage of shots from behind the arc. The Ducks hit 10 of their 22 three pointers, led by Yasir Rosemond’s four-of-six performance. But the true excitement of the night was generated by the above-the-rim activity of Scales and Jones, the two-time state player of the year from Barlow High School in Gresham. “Coming from high school, it’s just a whole other level,” said Jones, who scored seven points on three of-seven shooting. “It’s a higher level intensity-wise and player-wise, so I really have to step it up.” Jones and Scales woke a relatively dormant Mac Court crowd midway through the second half. Jones hit a spinning lay-up from underneath the basket with 11 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in the game. Scales followed a minute later with a thunderous dunk created by one of his five steals. Rosemond said the Ducks’ athleticism was a marked improvement from last season. “It took a real big step,” said Rosemond, who shared time at point guard last season but played mostly shooting guard on Thursday. “We have more scorers this year. We had Jamar [Curry] last year, he was very athletic, but he didn’t score the ball very well. He didn’t score the ball as well as Freddie and Alex.” Jones, Scales and company begin their regular season Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. against Cop pin State. The Eagles return just one starter from last season’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship team. Coppin State has won six straight conference titles. Oregon Basketball Ducks look to start off strong Oregon is hoping for a good first impression in their opening game against Nevada By Joel Hood Oiegon Daily Emerald It’s only the first game of the season, but there are those on the Oregon women’s basketball team who are taking it mighty seriously. “We already feel some pressure,” fresh man point guard Shaquala Williams said about Oregon hosting its first-round Pre season National Invitational Tournament game against Nevada at McArthur Court tonight at 7 p.m. So much for easing into the regular season. Not happy with the Ducks’ defensive perfor mance in their 99-65 victory against Alvik of Sweden on Nov. 3, head coach Jody Runge said she worked her players extra hard in practice during the last two weeks to shore up those weaknesses. “We just picked up the intensity, ran a lot more scrimmages, a lot more defensive schemes,” Runge said. “We had several breakdowns defensively [against Alvik], We expect Nevada to run more presses and pick up the pace on offense. We have to be ready for that. ” The 16-team field, which features five teams that competed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, will run through the month of November with the tournament’s cham pionship game scheduled for Nov. 20 at a yet-to-be-determined site. “We expect to go undefeated and win the whole thing,” Williams said. “You have to set huge goals if you want to be come a good team. ” Oregon is already a good team. Picked to finished no lower than third in the Pacific-10 Conference by Pac-10 coaches and much of the media, the Ducks return four starters and 10 letterwinners from last season’s 17-10 team that quali fied for a fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under Runge. “This tournament really is an opportu nity for us to show people what we can do,” Runge said. “It’s designed for top-25 bubble teams to answer a lot of questions about where their at.” Oregon’s most pressing questions sur round the health of center Jenny Mowe Kmerakl Brianne Meharry will return to the lineup after tearing her ACL last season. and forward Brianne Meharry, who are both still nursing season-ending injuries from last year. However, Runge said both will be ready to against Nevada. Although regular-season tickets are free, students will have to purchase tickets for each round of the WNTT for $5. Runge said she expects that to have a negative effect on Oregon’s attendance, which could force the Ducks’ to loose their host-school status in further rounds. “It’s disappointing, but there wasn’t anything we could do about it,” Runge said. “We usually have a lot of walk-up sales at the gate. I hope this doesn’t keep new students away.” On lap WHO: Oregon women’s basketball WHAT: Oregon vs. Nevada WHEN: 7 p.m. WHERE: McArthur Court Oregon ready for pivotal competition The Ducks must perform well at Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Nearing the end of their season, the Ore gon men’s and women’s cross country teams say they can almost taste the NCAA Championships in two weeks. But first, the teams must compete at the West Regional Championships tomorrow in Fresno, Calif. The regional competition is the qualifying event for the national cham pionship meet in Lawrence, Kan., on Nov. 23. Ihe West will feature I the NCAA’s race-qualify- [ ing format. Instead of the f standard numb of 22 teams competing, 31 teams will be running the race. The key matchup in the men’s event will feature the No. 3 Ducks against No. 2 Stan ford, which beat Oregon by just two points in Eugene at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships on Oct. 31. Men's head coach Bill Dellinger said Stanford is still “the team to beat.” “We know that this is the qualifying meet, so we must finish first or second to qualify,” Dellinger said. “There has not been a long history [between us and Stan ford], but for the past five or six years, Stan ford has been strong.” All-Americans Matthew Davis and Steve Fein are expected to lead the Ducks in to morrow’s competition. At the Pac-10 Cham pionships, Davis and Fein were Oregon’s top finishers, placing third and seventh, re spectively. Dellinger is also expecting strong perfor mances from Rob Aubrey and Micah Davis. Adam Bergquist rotated into the seven man roster that will travel to California, tak ing the place of Greg James, who is still re covering from the Pac-10 Championships. Lincoln Nehring will run again, as will Andrew Bliss who won a spot on the roster by finishing as the team’s first runner at the Oregon Invitational at Alton Baker Park on Oct. 17. “The guys are running well,” Dellinger said. “This team gives James an opportunity Turn to CROSS COUNTRY, Page 12A