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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2001)
Ducks fend off Beavers in hostile Civil War ■ Guard Kourtney Shreve hits two clutch free throws to lift Oregon past Oregon State By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald CORVALLIS — Nobody said that three-peating as Pacific-10 Confer ence champions would be easy. Nor did anyone say it could be harmful to the Ducks’ health. But the first step of the journey was both Friday night in Corvallis, as the Oregon women’s basketball team (8-3 overall, 1-0 Pac-10) bruised and bat tered its way to victory, 71-67, over Oregon State (8-3, 0-1) in the first of two Civil Wars. A raucous green and orange crowd of 3,044 witnessed a game so physi cal that both teams were issued dou ble personal fouls and double techni cal fouls — in one possession. M mr xsaater*! Sweet! Dairy Queen has a Duck Buck coupon this term. ■ The Ducks didn’t secure the win until sophomore point guard Kourt nev Shreve hit two free throws with 16.2 seconds remaining, and Felicia Ragland, OSU shooting guard and premier Pac-10 player, threw up an airball from near the free-throw line. “It was tough tonight, there’s no doubt about it,” Oregon head coach Jody Runge said. “They really want ed it and they played very, very hard.” Senior forward Brianne Meharry led the Ducks with 21 points, con necting 8 of 13 from the field and 5 for-6 from the free-throw line. “Our team was extremely fo cused,” said Meharry, who sprained her left ankle Dec. 16 against Utah and is playing with slight soreness. “This is the most excited that we have been for any game that we have played this year. We were definitely prepared for this game and taking it very seriously.” Ragland single-handedly kept Ore gon State in the game, posting 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, falling short of the rare triple-double. Her trio of three-pointers, all quick pull-ups from the top of the arc, came just when it seemed as if Oregon would break the game open. Her fi nal trey, with 56.2 seconds left, nar rowed the score to 68-64. Ragland then stole the inbound pass and scored a quick layup to make it a two-point game, but the Beavers missed three of four free throws in the final minute. Oregon made three-of-four from the stripe in the same span. “We made a lot of mental mistakes down the stretch,” Ragland said. “We’ve got to stay focused to the end. I thought we did well down the stretch, but we had a few key turnovers.” “Felicia is unbelievable when it comes to shooting the basketball and she definitely did a great job of mak Tom Patterson Emerald Oregon’s Lindsey Dion continues to recover from injuries incurred earlier this season. ing big plays to keep them in it down the stretch,” Runge said. “But I thought our kids did a tremendous job of defending tonight, and a much better job of keeping them off the of fensive boards.” Senior forward Lindsey Dion had 14 points and a team-high four assists for Oregon, and senior forward An gelina Wolvert scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Emotions boiled over near the end of the first half when Dion dove for a lose ball, colliding with Ragland and knocking her to the floor. Ragland im mediately jumped up and got in Dion’s face, but cooler heads pre vailed and the players were separat ed. Dion and Ragland were issued technical fouls. Before the collision, Dion and Ore gon State forward Brina Chaney were issued double personal fouls when they locked and tangled in the key. The most pivotal outburst of the game happened with 3:59 to play and the Ducks leading 62-60. Meharry and OSU center Ericka Cook bumped, tripped and fell in a heap while running down the court. “I went down on tire floor against Cook — she’s a very good defensive player—and she kicked me,” Mehar ry said. “I don’t know if it was on pur pose or an accident, but the ref caught it, and there was a lot of contact there. “When I got up and tried to run by her and bumped her, the whole crowd saw that and screamed, but the refs caught the first foul. ” Meharry made both free throws on the one-plus-one opportunity. “I wouldn’t say it was an end-all play, but I’m curious that he blew his whistle before she tripped, then looked like he didn’t know what to call,” Oregon State head coach Judy Spoelstra said. 1 Your University Health Center would like to announce new weekend hours! Saturday & Sunday, 10a.m. - 2p.m. JS, 010835 UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTER We’re a matter of degrees ▲
