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Lame Duck women lose on the
road to Cougs
Oregon still
holds a half
game lead in
the Pac-10
race after
Saturday’s loss
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Up north in the frozen Palouse,
where locals experience Pacific
10 Conference women’s basket
ball as often
as a hot win
ter day, a
small crowd
erupted into
Saturday
night celebra
tion inside
Friel Court.
Confetti
fluttered onto
RUNGE players’
shoulders.
Brightly colored streamers fell
from the rafters. By the magni
tude of the party, one might think
that Washington State had just
won the Pac-10 title.
Well, it didn’t ... but the
Cougars did knock off the defend
ing conference champions.
Forward Joanna Smith’s three
pointer with 14.6 seconds left
capped a dramatic, 67-64 Wash
ington State victory in Pullman,
Wash., over the injury-stricken
Oregon women’s basketball team.
A crowd of 730 fans — a huge
turnout for a women’s game in
Pullman — watched the Ducks
crumble down the stretch after
leading through the first 30 min
utes of play.
Oregon head coach Jody Runge
said her team lost its composure.
“It was, individually for some
players, a good effort,” Runge told
KEZI-TV, as the song “Celebra
tion” echoed through the arena.
“But I think as a team, it was not
a great effort as far as executing
and getting in sync, and clicking,
and doing the things we do typi
cally a lot better than we did
tonight.”
The loss snapped Oregon’s 30
game winning streak against
Northwest schools. .
The Ducks (11-4 overall, 4-1
Pac-10), playing without injured
starting forwards Angelina
Wolvert and Lindsey Dion, were
locked in a 62-62 tie with 1:56 re
maining.
All seemed well when Oregon
center Jenny Mowe blocked a
shot, followed by a jumper from
Kourtney Shreve with just more
than a minute remaining. Wash
ington State (8-8, 3-3) couldn’t re
spond on the offensive end, and
the Ducks came up with the re
bound and a two-point lead as
seconds ticked away.
But starting at the 30-second
mark, all that could go wrong for
Oregon did.
Mowe was intentionally fouled
in the backcourt and missed the
front end of a one-and-one shoot
ing opportunity, squandering a
possible four-point lead.
Then, Smith’s three-pointer,
which bounced twice on the rim
Turn to Women’s, page 9A
((It was,
individually
for some
players, a
good effort.
Jody Runge
Women's
head coach
_n
M
Laura Smit Emerald
Oregon junior center Chris Christoffersen was a key inside presence for the Ducks in Saturday’s victory over WSU.
UO changes lineup,
beats depleted WSU
■ Oregon doesn’t start Jones and Bracey in its win
against Washington State, which only suited up
seven players
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
It was a day of lessons at McArthur Court.
Washington State head coach Paul Graham suspended six
players from the game against Oregon for a violation of team
rules and sent them back to Pullman, Wash., Saturday morn
ing.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent didn’t start his two best
players in an attempt to light a fire under his team after three
straight losses.
The results helped the Ducks and hindered the Cougars in
Oregon’s wire-to-wire 81-66 victory Saturday afternoon in
front of a crowd of 8,861.
“This was a must-win,” Oregon freshman Luke Ridnour
said.
The Ducks improved to 11-4 overall and 2-3 in the Pacific
10 Conference and handed the Cougars (7-8,1-5) their 29th
straight Pac-10 road loss.
The six suspended Cougars account for 40 percent of the
team’s scoring. So, maybe Kent was trying to level the play
ing field when he didn’t start Freddie Jones and Bryan
Bracey, who combine for 40 percent of the Ducks’ scoring.
In their place was Oregon freshman Luke Jackson, who
caused a jump ball with great defense on the first play of the
game, and senior Flo Hartenstein, who scored the first points
of the game on a layin.
The change in the starting lineup ignited the Ducks to an
11-5 lead and set the pace for a win that Oregon desperately
needed after falling to Washington in overtime two days ear
lier.
From the time that Thursday’s game ended and Saturday’s
KENT
Turn to Men’s, page 9A
Short-handed Cougars run out of gas against the Ducks
Washington
State’s bid for a
win at Mac
Court was shut
down with just
seven players
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
Before the game even started
Saturday, the Oregon men’s bas
ketball team had a huge advantage
against Washington State.
That’s because the Cougars
could hardly fill out the starting
lineup card.
Six Washington State players —
including head coach Paul Gra
ham’s son, Nick — were suspend
ed prior to the game for violating a
team rule, leaving just seven play
ers to suit up in the 81-66 loss to
Oregon (11-4 overall, 2-3 Pacific
10 Conference).
“We are a team, and any time
players’ actions take away from
what the program is trying to ac
complish, those players must be
held accountable,” said Graham,
who is in his second year as the
Cougars’ head man. “Sometimes
young people don’t do what they
should do, and when they don’t,
they get punished. ”
The Cougars (7-8,1-5) were giv
en no breathing room against an
Oregon squad that was looking to
prove itself after a close loss to
Washington two days earlier. Five
Cougars played more than 33 min
utes, with three — Milton Riley,
Marcus Moore and Mike Bush —
resting for no more than two min
utes the entire game.
“They played their ass off and
never complained,” Graham said.
“They were out there fighting, and
that’s all I ask them to do, and that’s
the reputation I want our team to
have.
“Let’s not make any excuses. We
got beat and our guys screwed up,
and we might’ve got beat anyway,
but at least we would’ve had some
more horses to suit up.”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
knows what Graham is going
through, and knows what it’s like to
establish that desired reputation.
“Paul is a great guy and a really
good coach,” Kent said. “And he’s
doing all the right things he needs
to do to establish his program. I’ve
been in that exact same situation.
I’ve even had to let some guys go
because of some serious problem,
and he’s done the same thing. And
I understand that.”
The six suspended players were
Turn to Cougars, page 9A
ii They
played their
ass off and
never com
plained.
Paul Graham
Cougar head
coach
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