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WEDNESDAY
November 25,1998
Oregon rolls to easy victory in first road game
The Ducks
make quick
work of the
Buffaloes and
show that they
can win on
the road
By Joel Hood
Oregon Daily Emerald
Lindsey Dion scored a career-high 10
points and four other Ducks scored in
double digits as the Oregon women’s bas
ketball team used a 15-4 second-half run
to cruise to a 75-63 victory against Col
orado at the Coors Event Center in Boul
der, Colo.
Oregon’s sophomore guard scored all 10
of her points in the second half and helped
the Ducks’ claw back from a 37-34 half
time deficit in their first road game of the
season.
Oregon (3-1) jumped out to a 10-1 first
half lead before Colorado responded with
back-to-back three pointers. From that
point, the Buffaloes went on a 16-7 run to
extend their lead to 23-17 with seven min
utes, six seconds remaining in the first half.
But Oregon was able to chip away at Col
orado’s lead. As the first half wound to a
close, Lisa Bowyer hit a three-point bucket
at 1:20 to cut the Buffalo lead to 36-28, and
Natasha O’Brien hit two free throws to
bring the Ducks within four.
"Colorado was doing a
good job defensively,
and I think we just kind
of went stale on offense
for awhile,” Oregon head
coach Jody Runge said
after the game. “We did a
scrappy job of getting
back into it at the end of
the first half.”
Dion’s 10 points eclipsed her previous
career-high of nine that she scored last sea
son against California. Her six rebounds
were also a career high.
“It was like I was having an out-of-body
experience,” Dion said. “When Jody calls
on you on the bench, you’d better be ready
to step in there. This is a huge confidence
builder for us.”
Meharry led Oregon with 17 points off
the bench, and forward Angelina Wolvert
added 16 points and eight rebounds, as
Oregon shot 56 percent from the field in
the second half.
The Ducks extended their lead to eight
points when forward Nicole Strange hit
Wolvert slicing to the basket with 7:54 re
maining. Oregon extended its lead to 10
just seconds later when Dion hit a 15-foot
jump shot from the top of the key.
For the fourth straight game, Oregon had
more than 20 turnovers. However, the
Ducks out-rebounded Colorado 42-34 in
the game and 17-8 on the offensive glass.
The Ducks next host a four-team tourna
ment at McArthur Court beginning Friday.
Oregon plays Brigham Young in the first
round of The Pepsi Shootout on Friday and
then either plays in the championship or
consolation game on Saturday.
(( It was like I
was having an
out-of-body
experience.
When Jody
calls you on
the bench,
you d better be
ready to step
in there. ^
Lindsey Dion
Oregon guard
Ducks go
on the road
to face Salukis
Oregon faces its first road test of
the season as it travels to
Southern Illinois on Saturday
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
Venturing away from the friendly con
fines of McArthur Court for the first time
this season, the Oregon men’s basketball
team will begin a two-game road trip with
an 11:30 a.m. nonconference matchup at
Southern Illinois on Saturday.
The adversity presented by playing away
from home will challenge the young
Ducks, according to head coach Ernie
Kent.
Being on the road is
going to force us to grow
up, come together and
get better, win or lose,"
Kent said. “Hopefully
it’s by winning, but re
gardless, you’re going to
go through this lunge in
things, and that’s what
we need to go through right now in the
next stage of this very young season.”
Oregon (1-0) completed its exhibition
season and three-game homestand with a
105-77 drubbing of Global Sports on Mon
day. The Ducks defeated Coppin State 77
62 in their only regular-season game thus
far on Nov. 15 and crushed Australia’s
Franskton Blues 103-53 on Nov. 12 in their
first exhibition game.
The Salukis (1-1), who finished 14-16
last season, are coming off a 65-62 loss at
Murray State and a 59-58 home win over
Virginia Commonwealth to start their sea
son. First-year head coach Bruce Weber, a
Purdue assistant for 18 seasons, hopes for
big games from returning starters Monte
Jenkins and Chris Thunell to even the se
ries in the second meeting between Oregon
and Southern Illinois.
On Monday, forward A.D. Smith contin
ued his impressive early-season play by
leading the Ducks in both points and re
bounds with 23 and 17, respectively. Fel
low starting forward Alex Scales provided
another all-around performance with 13
points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Starting center Mike Carson had his best
showing of the season with i" points on
six-of-seven shooting and four rebounds in
Turn to BASKETBALL, Page 12
Amanda Cowan/Emerald
Jed Weaver, who
received an award
for Oregon's most
improved player
Sunday, drags two
Arizona State comer
backs in the Ducks’
51-19 victory on Nov.
14.
Oregon must now play the waiting game
A bowl berth is on the horizon,
but which one is the question
the Ducks have to think about
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
In the wake of Oregon’s 44-41 double
overtime loss to Oregon State in Corvallis
Saturday, the Ducks find themselves in seri
ous jeopardy of not qualifying for the favor
able Culligan Holiday Bowl in San Diego.
Instead, Oregon may get a bowl-game
invite from either El Paso, Texas, or
Hawaii to play during the holiday break.
Should UCLA retain its spot in the na
tional championship game in Tempe,
Ariz., on Jan. 4, Arizona is still eligible for
the Rose Bowl, thus leaving the Holiday
Bowl to choose between Oregon and, most
likely, Southern California.
Should the Bruins tumble into the Rose
Bowl, Holiday Bowl executive director
John Reid and his staff would be obligated
to choose the Wildcats, leaving the Ducks
in a less-desirable spot.
Despite the loss to the Beavers, Oregon
FOOTBALL
sun appears to oe a ta
vorite to play in San
Diego if Arizona gets a
Rose Bowl berth.
“It’s a very subjec
tive thing,” Reid said.
“[Losing] obviously
didn t nelp, but it did
n’t by any stretch of the imagination elimi
nate them. They have a history of out
standing fan following and a very exciting
offense led by a San Diego quarterback. In
general, they are a very attractive team."
Oregon quarterback Akili Smith was
bom in San Diego and attended nearby
Grossmont Community College, where he
was named a junior college All-American
before transferring to Oregon.
A big factor in the Holiday Bowl com
mittee's decision is how well a team is able
to fill area hotels and how well its oppo
nent matches up.
“When you consider any team for your
game, you toss everything into a hat and
add it all up,” Reid said.
Rushing attack sputters against Beavers
Almost lost in all the hysteria following
the Civil War loss was how futile Oregon’s
rushing attack really was. The Ducks
could muster just 29 yards all game and
actually had negative 16 at halftime.
Starter Herman Ho-Ching tallied 4 yards
on 12 carries, while the Ducks were led by
Turn to FOOTBALL, Page 12