Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, February 23, 2000, Page 8A, Image 8

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Emerald
Southern California guard Tiffany Elmore is Pac-10 player of the week for her performance against the Arizona schools.
r Pulse, the
Daily Emerald's
inment section,
every Thursday.
Oregon Daily
Women
continued from page 7 A
Because the Ducks’ final game
against Oregon State is also their
final contest of the season, Oregon
could win out the year and still
finish tied with at least one oppo
nent.
Let’s take a look at our confer
ence competitors, from top to bot
tom.
No. 1: Oregon (19-6 overall, 10-3
Pac-10)
The Ducks can certainly reclaim
the Pac-10 title — if they want it
bad enough.
Against Washington last Sun
day, Oregon played like a Pac-10
championship contender.
Shaquala Williams, playing with
flair reminiscent of her freshman
season, had a brilliant, 20-point
game before fouling out in the sec
ond half.
But where Shaq left off, others
resumed. Several players old and
young stepped up to hit key shots
down the stretch to come from be
hind and pull off the 70-69 win.
Oregon’s win was monumental
because it showed everyone —
Ducks included — that Oregon
can win without it’s most potent
offensive player on the floor.
Just like last season, UCLA
won’t win at The Pit. On Saturday,
the Ducks should avenge their
one-point, late-January loss to the
Trojans, unless guard Tiffany El
more, this week’s conference play
er of the week for her work against
the Arizona schools, plays teh role
of giant-killer one more time. And,
of course, the Beavers will fall.
Oregon s resolve will be tested
when it travel to take on Arizona
State and Arizona. The Wildcats
still sting from last weekend’s
sweep, and will be looking to re
deem their season.
Can Oregon win opt, and earn a
share of the title? Yes.
No. 2: Stanford (16-6,9-3}
The remainder of the Cardinal’s
season begins with a hom^stand
against the Washington schdols.
Things get interesting again
when Stanford travels to UCLA,
USC and then returns home to
meet Arizona.
Ranked higher than any other
conference team in the Ratings
Percentage Index, UCLA (No. 25)
doesn’t belong above Stanford
(No. 29) or Oregon (No. 42). The
Bruins will lose to the Cardinal.
Stanford should also beajt Ari
zona at home.
Unless the Trojans play spoiler,
Stanford has a strong chance of
winning out, and an Oregon/Stan
ford title is not unrealistic.
No. 3: UCLA (15-7,9-3) and No.
4: Arizona (20-5,9-4)
The Wildcats are better than
UCLA, but being swept last week
end by the California schools se
verely crippled their title chances.
Losses to Oregon and Stanford
will leave the Bruins in second
and Arizona in third. However, if
the conference “x-factor” pulls out
a win against UCLA Saturday,
then second goes to the Wildcats.
No. 5: The X-factor ... Oregon
State (12-13,8-5)
Picked to finish eighth by
coaches and media before the sea
son, the Beavers have been a sur
prise, with a Pac-10 record of 8-5
and holding on to fifth place.
On the shoulders of seniors Sis
sel Pierce and Reda Petraitis, Ore
gon State leads the conference in
scoring defense (58.6), blocks (5.0
per game) and rebound margin
(+5.6 per game). Pierce leads the
conference with 35 blocks and has
the fourth-best field goal percent
age. Petraitis has a third-best aver
age of 2.54 steals per game and col
lects a fifth-best 7.1 boards per
outing.