Wednesday
Best Bet
NBA: Portland at Milwaukee
6 p.m., UPN
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Oregon beats Denver
in the air up there
Anthony
Norwood and
Bryan Bracey
score a
combined 45
points in
leading Oregon
to a victory in
its first road
game of the
year
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Just when the Ducks started to enter their comfort zone, the
Mile High City made its presence felt and nearly forced an
Oregon loss.
Oregon scored the first nine points of the game Tuesday, en
route to a cozy 30-14 lead over Denver. But then the suffocat
ing altitude from the Rocky Mountains came into play for the
Ducks, and the Pioneers took advantage, cutting the lead to
30-24.
The game stayed close throughout, but Oregon (2-0) sur
vived in its first road game of the year, 99-90, beating Denver
in front of a sparse crowd at Magness Arena.
“We hung in there and kept the lead,” Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent told KUGN. “We hit that fatigue wall in this alti
tude up here and we were sucking air a little bit.”
Oregon guard Ben Lindquist, who knocked home a couple
of big threes in his 12-point outing, said that everyone in the
locker room sounded as if they had a cold afterward because
of the playing conditions.
“Within in the first two to three minutes everyone was
coming over to coach saying, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’”
Lindquist said.
The Ducks persevered, though, and kept battling the pesky
Pioneers. In a game where the newcomers had a little trouble
adjusting to the road, the veterans led the way. Junior guard
Anthony Norwood showcased his leadership skills, knock
ing home four three-pointers to account for 12 of his game
high 25 points. Bryan Bracey finished with 20 solid points,
including three smooth treys from beyond the arc.
“[Anthony] understood that we needed him out there, and
needed his leadership,” Kent said. “And Bryan has the green
light, and he hit some nice shots.”
The game was Denver’s season opener, and it had been
looking forward to this one all season after believing that the
Ducks had ran up the score in last season’s 101-53 blowout
at McArthur Court. The Pioneers only trailed 48-41 at half
time, leaving their fans with much reason for hope in the sec
ond half.
The Ducks finally seemed to take control of the game, how
ever, after two Flo Hartenstein free throws upped the lead to
61-46 with over 15 minutes left. But Denver continued to use
its effective full-court defense, and took advantage of Oregon
turnovers to climb right back in it.
Junior guard Anthony Norwood led all scorers in Tuesday night’s victory against Denver with 25 points, which included four
three-pointers. Norwood was praised by head coach Ernie Kent for his leadership and ability to play two different positions.
UO women climb ranks,
ready to open at The Pit
Oregon looks
to defend its
26-1 home
opener record
against
Portland Friday
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Oaily Emerald
Favorite dishes during the
Thanksgiving holiday tend
to include turkey, stuffing
and mashed potatoes.
But the Oregon women’s
basketball team hopes to
have feasted on Pilots by Fri
day night.
The No. 14 Ducks take on
unranked Portland, a mem
ber of the West Coast Confer
ence, 7 p.m. Friday at
McArthur Court. Both teams
have won their last two
games.
Oregon has a historical ad
vantage heading into Fri
day’s matchup. When play
ing home-opening games,
the Ducks are 26-1 at The
Pit.
“It’s a great in-state rivalry,
so we’re glad it’s at home, as
usual,” Oregon head coach
Jody Runge said. “We’re
very excited to get to play
again, I know the kids are ex
cited to get better.”
Oregon sailed to 14th in
the Associate Press poll after
defeating No. 19 North Car
olina State and No. 16 Wis
consin at the GlaxoWell
come Invitational in Raleigh,
N.C. In doing so, the Ducks
toppled ranked teams in
back-to-back games for the
first time under head coach
Jody Runge, and possibly for
the first time ever in Oregon
history.
Stanford, now ranked No.
18, is the only other Pac-10
team in the polls. The Cardi
nal was picked in preseason
polls to win the conference
title.
“There’s pressure on us,
but not as much as we could
have on us,” sophomore
point guard Kourtney
Shreve said. “Now that we
are No. 14 we’ve got to keep
winning, not lose the games
we’re supposed to win and
let our ranking fall like last
year.”
Through two exhibition
games and two preseason
games, the Ducks have con
tinued to define themselves
without injured point guard
Shaquala Williams, their
leading scorer last season.
Angelina Wolvert led Ore
gon in scoring through the
Turn to
Women’s Basketball, page 8
Ducks make home debut
during holiday weekend
■The wrestling
team takes on
Stanford in their
home opener
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
While others are eat
ing Thanksgiving din
ner and putting on a few
pounds, the Oregon
wrestling team will be
carefully watching its
weight while it prepares
for its upcoming dual
match against Stanford.
“Our guys are used to
the holidays being
around wrestling sea
son,” head coach Chuck
Kearney said. “But
they’ll have some
turkey.”
The Ducks make their
2000-01 home debut
Sunday at MacArthur
Court, hoping to make
turkeys out of the visit
ing Stanford Cardinal.
Action begins at 2 p.m.
and admission is free.
“There’s noplace like
home,” Kearney said.
“Mac court is a great
wrestling venue. It gives
people of Eugene a
chance to come out and
support us.”
Oregon brings in a 1-0
Pacific-10 Conference
record against rival
Stanford. The Cardinal
sport a 1-0 non-confer
ence record.
Stanford “is a solid
team with no weak ar
eas,” Kearney said.
“They’re a team in the
top half of the Pac-10.”
The match could be
the season opener for
Oregon star Doug Lee.
The senior All-Ameri
can had to sit out the
Ducks’ first two compe
titions with an ankle
sprain. Although Lee is
working out with the
team, he is listed as
probable for Sunday’s
match.
There will still be
plenty of excitement in
other weight classes, as
the rest of the Ducks
hope to carry their mo
mentum from the last
two competitions into
the match. Oregon had a
good showing at Satur
day’s Southern Oregon
Open and dominated a
dual match against UC
Davis.
Senior Chael Sonnen,
the second-highest
ranked Duck, is ranked
fifth nationally at the
197-pound class and
will take on Stanford’s
Fred Luminoso.
Elsewhere, three oth
er Ducks bring perfect
records into the match.
Junior Shaun Williams
and sophomores Tony
Overstake and Brian
Watson all won their
weight classes at South
ern Oregon after dual
match victories against
UC-Davis.
Sophomore Casey
Hunt is 5-1 on the sea
son with the lone loss
coming from Boise
State’s Gabe Vigil.
“When you have guys
that are 5-0, 6-0, it’s a
Turn to Wrestling, page 8
a There’s
no place
like home.
Mac court is
a great
wrestling
venue. It
gives people
of Eugene a
chance to
come out
and sup
port us.
Chuck
Kearney
Wrestling
Coach yy