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