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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2001)
Oregon Daily Emerald March 13,2001 Senior LAST DAN Oregon endured a rough season, but the Ducks are finally playing at their best By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald If it was bad, it happened to the Oregon women’s basketball team this season. From a September injury of Shaquala Williams, the 2000 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year, to the surprising team meeting last week with Ath letic Director Bill Moos regarding Jody Runge’s coaching techniques, Oregon has been through it all. But in this tumultuous season of ups, downs, flips and spin cycles, Oregon’s current four-game winning streak comes as the team prepares for its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, this time in Salt Lake City to face Iowa at 6 p.m. Saturday. Oregon’s Williams-less leadership core, with the experience of consecutive Pac-10 titles, had no doubts about the team’s potential this season. “I think we're going to be OK, we’re just going to have to work harder, that’s what it comes down to,” senior center Jenny Mowe said prior to the season. “I think there’s going to be people stepping up, and that’s never a problem. We’ve got five sen iors on this team, and that's going to help a lot. “It’s going to be a great year.” Sophomore Kourtney Shreve was given the ball on opening day as starting point guard. She led the team to a 4-0 start in both the preseason and Pac 10 play. But as Shreve’s shots began to fall short, so did the Ducks’ hopes of another Pac-10 title. In a Feb. 10 loss at California, Shreve was just 1 for-12 from the floor in 27 minutes. Since then, sophomore Alissa Edwards has taken on greater responsibility at the point and helped the team get to die NCAA Tournament. “Alissa Edwards has pulled this team together and run the team at the point guard position,” head coach Jody Runge said. The road has not been kind to the Ducks this season. The Ducks lost three straight to ranked op ponents on the road in December, including a loss at Utah, the place they’ll be playing Saturday. Turn to Analysis, page 8B Map of Bracketville Your dance schedule, to see who’s playing who and where page 4-5 Men’s NCAA tourney Five Pac-10 teams have high hopes for a lengthy run in the Big Dance page 7
