Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, January 18, 2002, Image 9

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    Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Best Bet
NCAA basketball:
Gonzaga at Pepperdine,
7:30 p.m., FSN
Friday, January 18,2002
i- -
Sophomore
Sensation
Since becoming a starter Dec. 28, Cathrine
Kraayeveld has made a name for herself,
on the team and in the Pac-10
by ManK Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
When Roger Hansen first laid
eyes on Cathrine Kraayeveld
in a Lake Washington High
School uniform, he knew she
was going to be something special.
“The first time she stepped on the
court she hit eight out of nine three
pointers,” said Hansen, Kraayeveld’s
high school coach. “Everyone just said
‘Holy smokes.’”
According to Hansen, Kraayeveld set
a record for Lake Washington that day
with her eight three-pointers. Amazing
ly, it was her first career game for the
Kangaroos. She had transferred as a jun
ior from Bellevue Christian that season,
and went on to lead Lake Washington
to a second-place finish in the Washing
ton state Class 4A playoffs. As a senior,
she took them to the semifinals.
But the accolades don’t stop there.
The Seattle Times named her Prep
Athlete of the Year both seasons at
Lake Washington. Kraayeveld earned
first-team all-state honors her senior
season and was the MVP of the King
Co Conference. The list doesn’t stop
there, but naming all of her awards
would just take too long.
Point is, Kraayeveld is one heck of a
player.
“She’s probably the most talented
and complete player I’ve seen in my
10 years of coaching,” Hansen said.
Flash forward to the present and
Kraayeveld, now a sophomore, is a
force to be reckoned with for the
Ducks. The 6-foot-3 forward has a
laundry list of statistical achievements
so far this season.
Kraayeveld j^s fifth in the Pacific-10
Conference in shooting percentage
(.509), 10th in rebounds per game (6.2)
and sixth in blocked shots (18).
But there is more about her than just
statistics. Kraayeveld is a versatile in
side strength tor the Ducks that Ore
gon has not seen in years. She can post
up and put the ball in the hoop from a
few feet away, or she can go to the
perimeter and sink an 18-foot jumper.
“She brings a little more, a new di
mension, because she can shoot inside
and out,” senior Alyssa Fredrick said.
“It helps us spread out defenses a lit
tle more, and have them not just focus
on her inside or outside game. They
kind of have to guess with her. ”
And have they ever guessed. Since
becoming a starter Dec. 28 against
Washington, the Kirkland, Wash., na
tive has averaged almost 11 points per
game and set a career high 18 points
against Washington State. The most
impressive facet of her game has been
rebounding.
In her six games since becoming a
starter, she has averaged 9.3 boards
per game.
“I think that’s been one of the things
I’ve focused on the whole season, try
ing to be more consistent at that, be
cause that is what we really need on
this team,” Kraayeveld said about her
improving rebounding prowess.
Oregon head coach Bev Smith has
been impressed with Kraayeveld’s
play as well.
“I think Cathrine has certainly
made some strides and I think that
giving her starting opportunities and
the fact she has taken advantage of
those opportunities to be our leading
rebounder, and at times our leading
scorer, has caused her to have some at
tention paid to her by her opponents,”
Smith said.
Stanford paid attention to
Kraayeveld in Oregon’s most recent
game, forcing her to shoot 2-of-ll
from the field. She was, however, also
able to snag a career-high 14 rebounds
against the Cardinal.
Turn to Kraayeveld, page 10
Adam Amato Emerald
Forward Cathrine Kraayeveld (33), a native of Kirkland, Wash., is an increasingly important member of the Oregon offense,
and is tearing up the Pac-10 in only her second collegiate season.
All similarities aside, the Gvil War
will have to be played on Saturday
While the two
teams have
a lot in common
this year,
Oregon holds a
46-19 series
advantage over
Oregon State
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
The similarities are scary.
First, the records: Oregon enters
Saturday’s 1 p.m. women’s basketball
Civil War at McArthur Court with a 5
3 mark in the Pacific-10 Conference
(10-7 overall). Oregon State is also 5-3
(9-9 overall).
The Ducks boast one of the confer
ence’s best backcourts in Shaquala
Williams and Edniesha Curry. The
Beavers could say the same about
their flashy guards, Felicia Ragland
and Leilani Estavan.
Ragland was the 2001 Pac-10 Play
er of the Year. Williams won the same
award in 2000.
Oregon’s Bev Smith and Oregon
State’s Judy Spoelstra are the head
coaches at the schools for which they
played. Both were All-Americans in the
early 1980s, competing against each
other for the state’s bragging rights.
Then there are the weird, are-these
even-real? statistical similarities.
Entering this week, Oregon has shot
285 three-pointers this season (mak
Turn to Women’s, page 12
Ducks look to end road woes with Civil War victory in Corvallis
■The Ducks have dominated
Oregon State recently, but are
just 1 -4 on the road this season
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Remember this: Anything can hap
pen in a rivalry game.
No. 23 Oregon (12-4 overall, 5-1 Pa
cific-10 Conference) will battle Oregon
State (8-8,1-5) in a game that is impor
tant to one team’s conference title
hopes, at least. The first Civil War
matchup of the season is at the Beavers’
Gill Coliseum, where the Ducks have
won eight of the last nine.
Oregon has taken 15 of the last 16
contests overall in the series, a streak
that dates back to 1994. Last season the
Ducks won the two games by a com
bined 27 points.
Despite Oregon’s dominance, the
mantra is the same every year for the
Ducks.
“It’s going to be a tough game, espe
cially up there, and this being the Civil
War,” Oregon guard Luke Ridnour said.
“They’re going to come at us, they’re go
ing to want it pretty bad, and we’ve got
to want it.”
Because in a rivalry game, anything
can happen.
This season, the Beavers are led by 6
foot-7 junior forward Phillip Ricci, who
sat out last season after knee surgery.
Ricci averages 16.7 points and 7.2 re
bounds per game.
“They are a much-improved basket
ball team over the last year, with a guy
that’s playing at an all-conference level
in Ricci,” Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent said.
Turn to Men’s, page 12
Adam Amati
! Emerald
Oregon
point guard
Luke Ridnour
drives against
Oregon State’s
Mike Cokley in the
Ducks’ 84-66
Civil War victory
last season.
This year’s first
Civil War takes
place Saturday
in Corvallis.