Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald. com
Monday, November 19,2001
Ducks can do no worse than Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl
■ Oregon becomes the first
Pac-10 team to win back-to
back conference crowns since
Washington did it from 1990-92
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
* By doing absolutely nothing Satur
day, Oregon was assured the oppor
tunity to finish its season in 2002.
Thanks to Washington’s 26-14
victory over Washington State, the
sixth-ranked Ducks clinched at
least a berth in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl
in Tempe, Ariz., which is where this
season’s Pacific-10 Conference
champion will go.
Even if Oregon (6-1 Pac-10) should
lose to Oregon State on Dec. 1, the
Ducks would finish in a tie for first
with Washington (6-2), Washington
State (6-2) and Stanford (6-2), which
all finished league play Saturday.
Oregon would still get the Fiesta
Bowl berth since it has the four-way
tiebreaker advantage of not having
been to the Rose Bowl the longest.
“We know we’re at least going to
the Fiesta Bowl, and that’s awe
some,” Oregon head coach Mike Bel
lotti said. “When people tell you be
fore the season that you’re the
odds-on favorite to win the confer
ence championship, certainly there’s
a sense of pride and a sense of, ‘OK,
now we have to live up to that. ’ And I
think we have lived up to that. ”
Also, there remains the possibility
of Oregon sneaking into the Jan. 3
Rose Bowl, but the Ducks didn’t re
ceive much help Saturday with Flori
da, Tennessee and Miami all winning.
The Ducks would need to finish first
or second in the final Bowl Champi
onship Series rankings, where they
currently are fourth with the latest
standings to be released today.
The Ducks expressed happiness
in clinching the school’s first New
Year’s Day bowl berth since the
1996 Cotton Bowl and to have be
come the first Oregon team to share
—at least — a Pac-10 title in consec
utive years.
Last season, Oregon’s Civil War
loss at Oregon State kept the Ducks
out of the Rose Bowl and forced
them to be co-champions with the
Beavers and the Huskies.
“Yeah, we were tri-champions or
whatever you want to call it, but we
had an empty feeling inside,” tight
end Justin Peelle said.
The feeling Saturday wasn’t one
of jubilation. For Oregon, the time
to celebrate will come after the Civil
War, if the team beats the Beavers to
claim sole possession of the crown.
“No, not yet,” said linebacker
Kevin Mitchell in response to
whether it felt like Oregon had won
the Pac-10. “We’ve got one more
game. And for us to come out solo
champs will be an even greater
thing than what we’ve accom
plished so far.”
Student tickets for the Dec. 1
Ducks-Beavers game at Autzen Sta
dium are available at 9 a.m. today.
Jeff Smith is the assistant sports editor
for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be
reached at jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com.
Ducks rebound to win against Miami of Ohio
■With an 83-65 win over Miami of Ohio, the women’s
basketball team improves to 1 -1 on the year
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
Now that’s more like it.
A day after losing its first home opener in 25 years, the Oregon
women’s basketball team rebounded—literally—to defeat Miami
of Ohio 83-65 in front of3,846 fans at McArthur Court on Sunday.
In a 75-57 loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday, the
Ducks (1-1 overall) were oversized in the paint and it showed
in the final stats, where Oregon was outrebounded 38-26. On
Sunday, though, three Ducks tallied five rebounds each en
route to a 3 7-31 advantage on the boards.
“It was better, but it can be better, ” first-year head coach Bev
Smith said of the rebounding. “We made some good adjust
ments from (Saturday)... but there are a million things we need
to focus on.”
The Ducks shot just l-of-16 from three-point land Saturday,
but were 7-of-19 against the Redhawks on Sunday. After miss
ing all seven of her shots Saturday, senior guard Jamie Craig
head, the team’s top returning scorer from last season, was 4
for-4 on threes Sunday and scored 16 points.
“We can’t live and die on (three pointers), but it’s hard for
our team not to shoot when we have such great shooters,”
Smith said.
Junior guard Shaquala Williams scored 16 points, with the
team shooting 50 percent from the floor against Miami.
“Defensively, we were all on the same page (Sunday) and we
did a good job of making them take tough shots,” Williams
said. “We weren’t going at 150 miles per hour, which is what it
felt like (Saturday).”
* Oregon led the Redhawks 45-41 at the half, but a three
pointer by Miami’s Heather Cusick cut the lead to one. In the
next 16 minutes, though, Miami would hit just four field goals,
' giving way to a 24-point Oregon lead on a Kedzie Gunderson
jumper with 4:43 to play.
“It’s good to get a win,” Williams said, “but it’s nicer that
we’re together with a sense of cohesiveness. ”
In a game that Williams described as “ugly,” the Ducks had 25
turnovers and gave up 20 offensive rebounds to Wisconsin
Turn to Women’s, page 6
Adam Amato tmeraia
Oregon guard Jamie Craighead battles for the ball as Miami of Ohio opponents attempt to
wrestle it away during Sunday’s 83-65 Ducks victory at McArthur Court in front of 3,846 fans.
UO harriers
set for run
at NCAA title
■The men’s cross country team
travels to Greenville, S.C., to compete
in the NCAA Championships
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
It all comes down to one last race.
The No. 14 Oregon men’s cross country
team has fought its way into the NCAA
Championships in Greenville, S.C., and to
day the Ducks will run for the national crown.
This year’s invitation marks the Ducks’
27th appearance in the NCAAs since 1963
and their second trip under third year head
coach Martin Smith, who is looking forward
to the challenge ofthe national competition.
“One of the most important things is that
we’re not just excited to be there, but try to
run well and finish as high as we’re capable
of,” Smith said.
The last time the Ducks won the national
championship was in 1977, but they have
come close in other years, with 14 top-10
finishes since then, including three runner
up titles. In its last NCAA Championship
meet in 1999, Oregon placed sixth.
Two-time All-American junior Jason Hart
mann, who finished 35th last year (he received
an individual invitation to the national race by
finishing second at the Western Regionals) and
37th in 1999, is the only Duck harrier who has
run in the Championship meet.
The other Oregon runners who will accom
pany Hartmann to the Furman University
Turn to Cross country, page 6
Blowout times three: Ducks dominate America’s Youth Classic
■The Oregon men’s basketball
team improves to 3-0 on the
season with three victories
at its own tournament
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The opponents changed. The re
sults did not.
Oregon dominated its own
America’s Youth Classic tourna
ment with three blowout wins over
the weekend, finishing with a 97
67 victory over Long Beach State on
Saturday night. The Ducks also
beat Alabama State by 40 points on
Thursday and Western Michigan
by 43 points on Friday.
“It was good to fight through our
fatigue and get three wins in three
days,” Oregon sophomore point
guard Luke Ridnour said.
The Ducks capped their tourna
ment with the 30-point blowout of
the LBSU 49ers on Saturday night.
The game was off to a sloppy start un
til a reverse, two-handed backhand
alley-oop dunk by Oregon senior
guard Freddie Jones got the crowd,
and the Ducks, into the contest. That
dunk put Oregon up 7-0, and the
Ducks would increase their lead to
as many as 21 points in the first half.
Saturday’s game was dominated
by the Ducks and a team in black
and white pinstripes—the officials.
Two players fouled out as the refer
ees called 24 total fouls in the first
half and 3 7 in the game.
Still, the Ducks managed to put to
gether a solid effort on both sides of
the floor and improved to 3-0 on the
season. Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent said he was impressed with his
team’s effort during the weekend.
“The fans will look at it as three
blowout wins,” Kent said. “We see
it as our system totally and com
pletely working.”
Jones was named the tournament’s
Most Valuable Player for his gravity
defying dunks and tough defense.
Jones had his best night statistically
against Long Beach State, scoring 16
points and adding three steals in 26
minutes of floor time. With the steals,
Jones moved into fourth all-time at
Oregon in that category.
“This really belongs to Luke (Rid
nour) and all the other guys who
came out here and helped us get
three wins,” Jones said of the honor.
Junior forward Robert Johnson
was the only other Duck to be
named to the five-player all-tourna
ment team. Johnson was a rebound
vacuum for Oregon over the week
end and collected a total of 25
boards in the three games. Long
Beach State’s James Williams, Al
abama State’s Joey Ball and Western
Michigan’s Steve Reynolds were
also named to the team.
As the Ducks prepare to face Rick
Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals at the
Pape Jam in Portland next weekend,
the team members said they will take
a few lessons from the tournament.
“I think we learned that we just
need to come out and play our game
and we’ll win,” Jones said. ‘‘Wedon’t
want to be an up-and-down team. ”
Oregon will face Louisville at 7:30
p.m. Saturday at the Rose Garden in
Portland.
Peter Hockaday is a sport reporter. He can be
reached at
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.