Oregon daily emerald., February 15, 2001, Image 7

Thursday
Best Bet
NCAA Basketball: Oregon men at Washington State
7 p.m., KEZI
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
UO wrestling drops Civil War match on road
■The Beavers even the
season series in the
intrastate rivalry, which
dates back to 1953
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
CORVALLIS — In the state of
Oregon it rains. And when it
rains, it pours.
The Oregon wrestling team
sustained its
fifth straight
dual match
loss
Wednesday
night at the
hands of
heated rival
Oregon State at Gill Coliseum in
iRisrnvit
Corvallis.
The Beavers won seven of 10
matches en route to a 25-10 vic
tory against the No. 18 Ducks.
“There were matches tonight
that we should have won on pa
per,” Oregon head coach Chuck
Kearney said. “But we don’t
wrestle on paper, we wrestle on
the mat. The bottom line is they
came out excited.”
Oregon fell to 7-8 overall and
4-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference
while Oregon State moved into
a tie for second place in the con
ference with an 8-2 league
record and 12-7 overall.
“It wasn’t a perfect score,”
said Oregon State head coach
Joe Wells, whose team avenged
a 22-16 loss in Eugene on Dec.
13. “But we might have helped
ourselves in the seeding for the
Pac-10 meet. It’s a big win.”
The Ducks suffered their
worst loss since a Jan. 6 loss to
No. 3 ranked Iowa. Oregon
wrestlers won the first and last
matches of the night, but lost all
but one in between. The Ducks
also had to overcome the loss of
heavyweight Eric Webb, the
team leader in wins, due to a
concussion and sophomore
Casey Hunt with a knee injury.
“The loss of Eric had a little
bit to do with it,” Kearney said.
“Eric is big emotionally for us
and the guys are used to seeing
him win and get fired up by it.”
Turn to Wrestling, page 12A
Azle Malinao-Aivarez Emerald
Kenny Cox (left) lost to Shane Cunanan of Oregon State in the Ducks' 25-10 loss Wednesday.
Adam Amato Emerald
Head coach
Jody Runge
(far left) and
junior Jamie
Craighhead
(in sequence)
slid to a four
game losing
streak on the
road in the
past two
weeks.
Coach Jody
Runge is trying
to light a fire
under the
Ducks, but
players say her
tactics may not
be the most
effective
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s basketball
team seemed in good spirits as it
scrimmaged full-court toward the
end of Wednesday’s practice.
Starters wore the green jerseys.
Down 68-65, green-team guard
Jamie Craighead pulled up from
three-point land and drained it
with 17 seconds remaining.
The reserves, donning white,
readied their offense as the final
seconds unfolded. The ball
found its way to point guard
Alissa Edwards, who let fly a
trey of her own.
“Game,” one of Edwards’ team
mates said, as the ball hung in the
air.
The shot looked good, but —
clang—just short.
So it’s been for these Ducks this
season.
For the first time in eight years,
Oregon has lost six of its past seven
games. The Ducks are a dismal 3-8
on the road. When the team has
needed a leader, nobody has
stepped up to the challenge.
After Wednesday’s practice, as
each player earned the right to
leave by sinking four consecutive
free throws, the truth of the team
emerged as players vented their
frustrations.
The Ducks are not having fun.
“I just think we want to have fun
because we haven’t had a whole
lot of fun this year,” senior forward
Angelina Wolvert said. “We just
want to play hard and win and take
care of the rest of the season as best
we can.”
“We want to be out of this cor
ner so badly,” senior forward
Lindsey Dion said. “But it seems
at times that the harder we try,
the worse it gets.”
On different wavelengths
The window of opportunity to
capture a third Pacific-10 Confer
ence title narrowed when Oregon
endured another tough loss at
Stanford’s Maples Pavilion last
Thursday.
Two nights later, the window
slammed shut.
California beat the Ducks for the
first time in its program’s history.
While Cal players celebrated vic
tory, Oregon head coach Jody
Tu rn to Turmoil, page 8A
On Tap
Who: Oregon’s
women vs.
Washington
State
When: 7 p.m.
tonight
Where:
McArthur Court
L
Oregon basketball hopes to improve against Cougs
■ With Wolvert and a still-banged-up
Dion in the rotation, the Ducks look
to end their four-game losing skid
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
With all apologies to Rolaids, the Oregon
women’s basketball team has a new way to
spell “relief’: M-A-C C
O-U-R-T.
After two weeks on
the road, and six of
their past eight away
from McArthur Court,
the Ducks (12-9 overall,
5-6 Pacific-10 Confer
ence) are home tonight
for a 7 p.m. tipoff against Washington State
with high expectations of snapping a four
game drought and regaining control of their
postseason plans.
In eight years under head coach Jody
Runge, the Ducks have never lost five con
secutive games.
“The community has been very compas
sionate since we’ve been back in town, and
that’s a really big factor for us right now,”
Runge said. “I’ve heard nothing but ‘Why
do you have to play so much on the road?
That’s horrible.’ Our fans warrant dearly to
be a factor in our success, and I’m sure
they’ll be here in full force [this weekend].
“And I’m looking forward to it; it’s some
thing we’ve missed.”
The Ducks have not been the same since
their first meeting with Washington State
(9-12, 4-7) in Pullman, where Oregon lost
its first Pac-10 game of the season 67-64.
Since that Jan. 20 game, the Ducks are 1-6.
Joanna Smith, a Washington State senior,
Turn to Women, page 12A
■The men will try to get their
season back on track by having fun
in Washington
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
When the Oregon men’s basketball team
last played Washington State on Jan. 20, the
Ducks were apprehen
sive after dropping a
close game to Washing
ton the previous Thurs
day. Oregon managed to
beat the Cougars, 81-66,
in Eugene.
Now, the Ducks are
apprehensive after los
ing three straight games, for various rea
sons, and dropping fast in the Pacific-10
Conference. If Oregon loses both games this
weekend, it could find itself last in the con
ference.
But the Ducks are still in good spirits.
Now, instead of talking about NCAAs and
NITs, Oregon talks about having fun and
enjoying the rest of the season.
“We’re still capable of having a great fin
ish,” said Ernie Kent, Oregon head coach.
The Ducks will try to put the season back
together north of the Oregon-Washington
border.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Oregon
guard Freddie Jones said. “They’re two
tough teams, and they’re going to come out
and battle us. We’ve got to battle back.”
The Northwest rivalries have been in
tense recently. Three of the Ducks’ last five
games with Washington have gone into
overtime, while the Ducks have gone to
overtime in Pullman the past two seasons.
From a nuts-and-bolts perspective, Kent
said he hopes Oregon’s offense can get back
Turn to Men, page 10A