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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2000)
Tennis! key biscayne, Fla. (AP) — For Venus Williams, 19 could be retire ment age. Williams, who has yet to play a match this year, might give up tennis to focus on her education and investments, her father said Tuesday. “She’s considering that very seriously,” Richard Williams said. “On a scale of 10, I’d say she’s a 7 or a 71/2 [to retire].” Williams said he advised his daughter to take at least the rest of this year off. She has been sidelined since No vember, citing tendinitis in both wrists. “She has been playing a longtime now, and she needs time off to rest,” Richard Williams said. “She needs to get more education.’’ NBA! Two members of the Seattle SuperSonics, in cluding starting center Horace Grant, were hurt when trying to break up a brawl between teammates Gary Payton and Vernon Maxwell. The scrap happened during practice Sunday when Payton and Maxwell started exchang ing barbs. It escalated into a fight, which Grant and Chuck Person helped to end by pu 11i ng thei r tea mmates away from each other. Grant sat out Monday night’s game against San Antonio with a bruised shoulder and Per son, who was already on the injured list, aggravated his sur gically repaired left knee. The Seattle Post-lntelli gencer reported Tuesday that the scene became so intense in the locker room after prac tice Sunday that Payton picked up a chair and Maxwell went to find a free weight, presumably to use as a weapon. Both men had to be restrained again and were escorted from the locker room separately. The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that Grant’s shoulder injury was a result of a weight that was thrown. Grant did not comment, except to tell the Times, “I was a victim of circumstance.” NCAA basketball: Mateen Cleaves and Morris Pe terson of Michigan State are among the 10 players selected to the 24th annual John R. Wooden All-American team, it was announced Tuesday. Cleaves, a 6-foot-2 guard, is the only member of the team similarly honored last year, and he and Peterson are the only two Wooden All-Ameri cans playing in the Final Four this weekend. Others on the team are Shane Battier and Chris Car rawell of Duke; Marcus Fizer of Iowa State; A.J. Guyton of Indiana; Mark Madsen of Stanford; Kenyon Martin of Cincinnati; Chris Mihm of Texas, and Troy Murphy of Notre Dame. Best Bet High school basketball McDonald’s All-American Game 5 p.m., ESPN Sports Wednesday March 29,2000 Volume 101 .Issue 119 Emerald Season recap: Three hard-to-replace seniors depart, but head coach Ernie Kent expects his team to be in good shape with those who return along with four incoming recruits By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald All season long, the Oregon players talked about making some noise at the Big Dance. They knew this was a special year. The chem istry was right on. The talent was there. The Pa cific-10 Conference wins were being recorded one after another. All that was left for them to do was step up in the national spotlight in the month of March, play their game ... and, of course, win. The opportunity to do such was there for them. On a silver platter nonetheless. The Ducks simply had to make one defensive stop when it mattered most and a NCAA Tournament win would have been theirs for the first time since 1960. But alas, Seton Hall’s Sha heen Holloway drove the length of the court and com pleted the game-winning buck et in the final seconds of over time. Oregon’s season abruptly came to a halt. “We’ve been on both sides of those shots be fore,” senior point guard Darius Wright said. “It’s not a good feeling. Your stomach kind of sinks just like when you’re on a roller coaster.” Almost two weeks have passed since that fate ful drive to the hoop, but the memory figures to linger for quite some time. Head coach Ernie Kent knows how much a win in the NCAAs would have meant to his program, but he doesn’t want the devastating defeat to di minish what his team achieved. Which was the most wins since 1945 (22), the most Pac-10 wins ever (13) and the first time since the mid-70s that the Ducks have reached the postseason in back-to-back seasons. “It’s been a big year for Oregon basketball, and I’m extremely, extremely proud of my guys,” Kent said. “We’ve got to stop and reflect back at what this team has been able to accomplish, and not dwell on what got away from us against Se ton Hall.” Turn to Basketball, page 9 (clockwise from right} Big things are expected 1 ing guard Freddie jones, who knows he must the leadership load left by Oregon's three te Alex Scales, A.D. Smith and Darius Wright all the bar for Oregon basketball' and wilt before : _ Ducks win second straight in California Pam Sowden leads the Oregon women’s golf team to victory in San Diego by sharing her third individual title By Peter Hockaday for the Emerald One extra birdie and a little help from the California Gold en Bears gave the Oregon women’s golf team its second straight won Tuesday at the Ex ecutive Women’s Golf Associa tion/ Lady Aztec Invitational in San Diego. Oregon won the tournament by four strokes over the Gold en Bears. The Ducks bettered their first round score by a stroke Tuesday, while Califor nia did nine strokes worse in their second-round effort. The win was the second for the Ducks in two weeks, and their third victory of the year. Oregon won the Colby/Santa Clara Invitational in Carmel, Calif, during March 20-21. Oregon senior Pam Sowden won a share of the individual title, tying Brigham Young’s Carrie Summerhays with a one-over par 145. Sum merhays was three-over par on her fi nal round, while Sow den shot an even-par 72. California’s Vikki Laing finished a stroke behind the leaders. Sowden’s victory was her second of the year, yet she re mains unranked nationally. Sowden won the Nittany Lion Fall Invitational in October. The Auckland, New Zealand native has been the Ducks’ top finisher in five of their eight tournaments so far this year. Four of Oregon’s five starters finished in the top 15. Junior Jerilyn White improved on her first round performance by three strokes, shooting a final round one-over par to finish in a tie for sixth. Senior Kylie Wilson, the winner at the Colby/Santa Clara Invitational a week ago, shot consistent golf and fin ished in ninth place. Senior Angie Rizzo rounded out the Ducks’ top-15 finishers, shoot ing a 151 and ending up in a Turn to Golf, page 8 Tourney leaders 1. Oregon 298-297 — 595 2. California 295-304 — 599 3. Baylor 306-2%—602 4.SanFrandsco 301-310 — 611 5. Kent 305-307 — 612
