Friday
February 26,1999
Best Bet
Professional rodeo
Wrangler World of Rodeo
9 pm, ESPN
Civil War
Ducks aim to solidify standing
Oregon needs a home victory
over Oregon State to keep its
postseason hopes intact
By Tim Pyle
Oregon Daily Emerald
With four wins out of its last five
games, the Oregon men’s basketball team
has rekindled postseason speculation.
A second straight Civil War loss Satur
day at McArthur Court against Oregon
State at 5:35 p.m. would probably bring
such optimism to an instantaneous halt.
Oil Tap
WHAT: Civil War
WHO: Oregon
(14-10,6-9) vs.
Oregon State (12
12,6-9)
WHEN: Saturday
at 5:35 p.m.
WHERE:
McArthur Court
UUllKt? lilt? U LICKS
(14-10 overall, 6-9 Pa
cific-10 Conference),
the Beavers (12-12,6-9)
have seen their fortunes
sag in the second half of
the conference season,
losing five of their last
six games by an average
of more than 18 points
per defeat.
A Pac-10 road record
of 0-8 is a further sign of
uioucM iui uicguu Olalc.
The Beavers managed to stop a 10
game losing streak to Oregon on Jan. 30,
when Oregon State held the Ducks to just
16 first-half points in forging a 48-45 win
at Gill Coliseum.
In that game, the Beavers were led by post
Jason Heide’s 13 points on five-of-seven
shooting and seven rebounds. Forward
Clifton Jones chipped in eight points, 10 re
bounds and a career-high six blocked shots.
And Deaundra Tanner, Oregon State’s
star sophomore point guard who has been
mentioned in the same breath as former
Beaver great Gary Payton, put some final
touches on the victory with key plays down
the stretch. Tanner did so despite struggling
to just nine points on three-for-12 shooting
and two assists vs. three turnovers overall.
“He’s been better, 1 think, overall late
in the game than he has sometimes in the
course of the game,” Oregon State head
coach Eddie Payne said.
But for the Beavers to beat Oregon for
just the third time in the last 14 meetings
and simultaneously subside their road
woes, Tanner will assuredly have to pro
Turn to MEN, Page 13
Nick Medky/EmevaU
Star point guard Deaundra Tanner hopes to drive the Beavers past Terik Brown and the Ducks again.
Ducks focus
on tonight’s
CivilWar
The No. 18 Ducks control their own
destiny in the Pac-10 title race
j -—
By Joel Hood
| Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s basketball team has
never won more than 22 games in a season.
It has also never won a Pacific-10 Confer
ence Championship.
The Ducks have a chance to set one mile
stone and take a large step toward the sec
ond tonight in Corvallis.
Just three games shy of its first conference
title in school history, No. 18 Oregon (22-4
uverau, u-z in me rac-iuj
knows it controls its own
destiny down the stretch.
A half-game up on
UCLA, if the Ducks can
win their remaining three
games the championship
will be theirs—so will an
automatic bid to the
BAIKETMLL
i uurnamem ana a nrst-round game
at McArtliur Court.
Even though Oregon State occupies the
conference cellar with a 3-12 record, Oregon
head coach Jody Runge knows the impor
tance of tonight’s game.
“We're looking forward to a real physical
battle," Runge said. "When we face them,
the stats really do go out the window.”
The Beavers (11-13 overall) have lost five
games in a row and nine of their last 10. But
6-foot-4 junior Sissel Pierce has been a force
at the center position, averaging more than
10 points and five rebounds per game.
Oregon’s players said they are preparing
for a tough, defensive struggle, not unlike
the Civil War game on Jan. 29 that the Ducks
won 59-46. In that game, Oregon hit a sea
son-low 12 shots from the field.
"We need to prepare for rebounding, for
the press and zone defense,” forward An
gelina Wolvert said. “We haven’t been play
ing awesome, we haven’t been shutting
down anyone’s zone or full-court press. But
we’re winning games and 1 think we’ve
done a sufficient job.
"I think if we can keep Sissel off the
boards she’s not going to be a factor."
Even more impressive than the Ducks’
eight-game win streak, the second longest
Turn to WOMEN, Page 13
UO to wrestle the best in Pac-10
The Ducks have four wrestlers with the
potential to capture conference titles
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the first time this season, the Oregon wrestling
team has a chance to show the Pacific-10 Conference
what the Ducks are made of.
Gone is the dual-meet season, in which the Ducks
compiled a frustrating 4-10 record and lost seven meets
by nine points or less.
Now the tables have turned. Instead of competing in
a match that revolves around the team, the Ducks will
wrestle Saturday at the Pac-10 Championships in Palo
Alto, Calif., a tournament that highlights the skill of the
individual.
“This is when the individuals shine,” Oregon head
coach Chuck Kearney said. “This is when the kids
have an opportunity to go out there and win their Pac
10 titles.”
If national rankings mean anything, the Ducks have
plenty of talent in four upper-weight wrestlers: Chael
Sonnen, Sean Morgan, Daryl Christian and Doug Lee.
Kearney said he would not be surprised if each of those
wrestlers earned Pac-10 titles.
After struggling at the start of the season, Sonnen,
ranked No. 8, will travel to Palo Alto riding a nine
match winning streak. Sonnen is the top-ranked
wrestler in the Pac-10 at 197 pounds, and his next vie
WRESTLING
lory win De nis /utn as a duck.
During Wednesday’s practice, the
usually laid-back Sonnen talked seri
ously about the Pac-10 Champi
onships. He said he is ready to com
pete, and he is not going to let his No.
1 Pac-10 ranking go to his head.
“It’s going to be kind of nice, but I’m going to be in a
room with nine of the toughest guys in the Pac-10, and
they’ll all want to kill me,” Sonnen said. “I’m going to
be out there ready to defend myself, because they’re go
ing to be coming at me.”
Morgan won last season’s Pac-10 title at 158 pounds
and will try to repeat his performance on Saturday in
the 165-pound weight class. Morgan, ranked No. 9,
will have to overcome Boise State’s No. 2 Kirk White.
On Feb. 6 in dual-meet competition, White barely beat
Morgan by scoring a controversial takedown in the first
Turn to WRESTLING, Page 13
Nick Medley/F.memld
Oregon senior Sean Morgan hangs on against Brigham Young’s Kris West.