Thursday
Best Bet
NCAA Men’s Basketball: California at UCLA
7 p.m., Fox Sports Net
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
This girl just wants to have fun
.:
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior forward Brianne Meharry has provided the Ducks with a consistent presence on the floor in a season that has lacked consistency.
■ Senior forward Brianne
Meharry’s health and consistent
play have given the Ducks a boost
druing a rough season
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
In face of all the problems that the
Oregon women’s basketball team has
seen this season, Brianne Meharry has
been the bright spot.
The senior forward — surrounded by
injuries, illnesses and tempers — has
been one of the only Ducks who has
consistently been on the court during
this tumultuous season.
Her encouraging smile and success
ful attitude have lifted the Ducks in
times of despair and given the team a
shot at reaching an eighth-straight post
season tournament.
“It’s been crazy,” Meharry said of the
season. “It seems like everyone’s had
some big thing happen to them.”
Other than a minor ankle sprain that
kept her out of two games in the presea
son, “Bri” has played in every game
and been one the Ducks’ main contrib
utors. In a career-high 39 minutes Sun
day, Meharry scored 15 points and
grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds. In
Pac-10 play, she is averaging 11.1
points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
“Justto have that senior stability and
leadership is a big part of a team’s suc
cess,” senior forward Lindsey Dion
said. “I think it was frustrating for Bri
to be the only one that was healthy and
able to go 100 percent the whole time.”
Oregon’s sixth-place standing and
now near-impossible goal of making
the NCAA Tournament has taken its
toll on the senior class, who expected
nothing less than a third straight Pac-10
title this season.
“Because I am the most healthy of
the seniors, I sometimes think maybe I
should’ve done more,” Meharry said.
Her status as a starter is not always
certain, but Meharry has adjusted to the
role of sixth-man.
“I’ve always been the sixth-man, I al
Turn to Meharry, page 12
On Tap
Who: Oregon vs.
Arizona St.
Where:
McArthur Court
When: 7 p.m.
tonight
Hit’s
been crazy.
It seems
like every
one's had
some big
thing hap
pen to
them.
Brianne
Meharry
senior
forward
UO basketball ready to rumble with Arizona State
■ Oregon has little room for error
when it tries to avenge its earlier loss
to Arizona State in tonight’s rematch
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Out of the 12 losses that the Oregon men’s
basketball team has endured this season,
there’s no doubt which one shook them up
the most — and still does.
It was less than a month ago.
The Ducks were coming off a superior 79
67 upset victory over then-No. 7 Arizona.
Their confidence was sky high, and they
spoke with sincerity about their newfound
chances at making a run at the NCAA Tour
nament.
And then, it all blew up in their faces.
The Arizona State Devils, who had won
just one league game at the time, ran the em
barrassed Ducks out of McArthur Court in a
99-72 laugher on Feb. 4.
Although to the Ducks, there was nothing
funny about the cold reality that the NIT was
their most likely destination.
But now, even that is in question, as Ore
gon prepares for its rematch with Arizona
State at 6 p.m. tonight at Wells Fargo Arena
in Tempe, Ariz.
“I thought it was a very embarrassing game
for us when we played them at home,” Ore
gon head coach Ernie Kent said. “That
should be motivation enough. The biggest
thing is we get a chance to redeem our
selves.”
The Ducks (13-12 overall, 4-11 Pacific-10
Conference) are coming off a winless homes
tand and now must secure one more victory
to be eligible for the NIT. Most likely, though,
they will need to win two of their remaining
three games to secure a postseason berth.
And to the players, there’s no better team
to try to get that first win
against than Arizona State
(11-14, 3-11). The one
player who appears to be
the most excited about
tonight’s game is Anthony
Norwood, a Tucson native
who has not let the 27
point defeat to ASLJ escape
his mind.
“I know I am [excited],” Norwood said.
“Because that last game was just horrible. It
was like a nightmare. Personally, I want to go
back and show them that that wasn’t us.
“It’s revenge.”
Turn to Men’s, page 14
■The Oregon women hope to kill
themselves a giant when they take
on Arizona State
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
As the Arizona schools prepare to play
Oregon in the quake-riddled Northwest,
perhaps they should be the ones shaking in
their boots.
With three games remaining and its RPI
rating at 67, the Oregon women’s basketball
team would love nothing more than to
knock off ASU and Arizona, two schools
which respectively sit in and near first place
in the Pacific-10 Conference.
“We want to be the giant killers this year,”
senior forward Angelina Wolvert said.
“We’re obviously not going to win a Pac-10
title, and our chances to go into the tourna
ment are getting slimmer — actually, they’re
probably not there anymore — but we want
to be the giant killers this year now and go
out and cause problems for people at the
top.”
That team on top is Arizona State, whom
the Ducks face at 7 p.m. today at McArthur
Court.
When Oregon traveled to the desert to
take on the Wildcats and Sun Devils early in
February, the games’ circumstances were
different. The Ducks, ranked No. 22, held
the Pac-10 lead, and appeared on their way
to an eighth-straight NCAA postseason.
Meanwhile, both the Arizona schools were
unranked.
The tables turned, however, when Ore
gon lost both games.
Now, the Ducks are unranked, and —
with a touch of irony — Arizona State is
ranked No. 22, holds the conference lead
and is heading to the Big Dance.
“They’re a tremendous
challenge for us and I
think our kids feel confi
dent about how we
played them last time,”
Oregon head coach Jody
Runge said. “We just
need to put our best foot
forward. I think if we
play the way we played against USC and
Washington, we have a great shot at it.
Hopefully the home court advantage will
help us out.”
Arizona State is led by a pair of junior
transfers. Guard Amanda Levens is averag
Turn to Women’s, page 14