Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Friday, January 25,2002
i- —
Best Bet
tennis: Australian Open,
6:30 p.m., ESPN
Bills leads
Oregon with
10 boards
against USC
■The Ducks equal the Trojans on
rebounding and stuff star forward
Ebony Hoffman in the paint
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
All year, the focus for the Oregon
women’s basketball team has been
on rebounding.
On Thursday night, the Ducks
crashed the boards.
After getting outrebounded by 18
in the first meeting of the year in
Los Angeles, Ore
gon stayed even
with Southern
California, the
second-best re
bounding team in
the Pacific-10
Conference, and
pulled out a 75
65 victory at McArthur Court on
Thursday.
“Down there we got slaughtered
on the boards,” Oregon guard
Shaquala Williams said. “That was a
big focal point tonight. We wanted to
outrebound them and we tied them,
but that’s better than being outre
bounded.”
Freshman center Andrea Bills,
making the first start of her career,
led the way for the Ducks with a ca
reer-high 10 rebounds to go along
with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Bill made the start to counter
USC’s Ebony Hoffman, a 6-foot-2 for
ward who torched the Ducks for 27
points and 11 rebounds in the Tro
jans 83-73 win on Dec. 22.
The adjustment worked to near
perfection.
After picking up two quick fouls,
Hoffman went to the bench at the
16:44 mark of the first half and did
not return until 3:45. Hoffman fin
Turn to Women’s side, page 12
Ducks’ defense stymies USC in win
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior guard Edniesha Curry (00) goes up for one of her five rebounds against the Trojans’ Carmen Krause (14) and Jessica
Cheeks (10) on Thursday. Curry added 14 points, five assists and three steals in Oregon’s 75-65 victory.
■The Ducks defeat USC
at McArthur Court for the
first time in three years
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s basketball
team knew the consequences of
Thursday’s game against Southern
California.
Win, and it puts the Ducks right
back in the thick of the Pacific-10
Conference race. Lose, and the
chances of a high seed in the confer
ence tournament begin to slip away.
If nothing else, Oregon made a
statement to the rest of the Pac-10.
With their 75-65 win over USC (10
9 overall, 6-4 Pac-10) at McArthur
Court, the Ducks ended a two-game
losing streak, improving their record
to 6-4 in conference play, and putting
them back in the mix.
“I think we made a statement to the
start the second half of the Pac-lOs,”
senior guard Edniesha Curry said.
The Ducks were able to negate the
play of USC sophomore Ebony Hoff
man, allowing the 6-foot-2 forward to
post only 13 points and seven re
bounds. Earlier this season against
the Ducks (11-8 overall), Hoffman
victimized them for 27 points.
Oregon freshman Andrea Bills start
ed for the first time this season, and
helped neutralize the focal point of the
Trojans’ offense, forcing Hoffman out
early in the first half due to foul trouble.
“We talked about not letting her get
established inside,” Bills said. “With
out her inside play as a bigger pres
ence, they had to go to other people,
and that worked well for us.”
Bills nearly missed a double-dou
ble, posting nine points and a ca
reer-high 10 rebounds in 24 min
utes of play.
“I think Andrea Bills did a great
job,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith
said. “I thought she played a real
smart and tough game considering
she’s a freshman. And quite frankly, I
don’t consider her that any more. ”
A week after shooting just 27 percent
against Oregon State, the Ducks shot 55
percent from the field against the Tro
jans, but were still unable to make their
Turn to Women’s, page 10
Oregon men given wake-up call in surprising loss at Washington
Adam Amato Emerald
Luke Ridnour gave his family and friends reason to cheer in his return to his home state, as the Blaine,
Wash., native scored 23 points and had seven assists against the Huskies.
■ Four Ducks score in double figures,
but a poor defensive effort leads to the
Huskies recording the upset victory
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Feeling flustered, depressed and confused, the
Oregon men’s basketball players spent 30 minutes
Thursday night coming to grips with the reality that
first place had slipped from their grasp.
The No. 19 Ducks had just been lowered off their
pedestal in a humbling 97-92 loss to the less-talent
ed Washington Huskies at Bank of America Arena
in Seattle.
Oregon dropped to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the Pacif
ic-10 Conference and witnessed its Northwest rival
Huskies celebrate a potential season-changing win that
improved them to 7-11 and only 2-7 in league play.
But a half hour after the game, the Ducks slid
right back to the top of the unpredictable Pac-10
thanks to California’s 92-91 overtime victory over
Southern California, leaving the Trojans tied with
the Ducks at 6-2.
Still, first place status aside, Oregon’s stumble
against Washington exposed the weakness of this
Ducks team that had been kept hidden during the
recent winning streak. In road losses at Massachu
setts, Portland, Minnesota and Arizona State, the
Ducks failed to turn a close game in the final min
utes in their direction.
While Oregon showed it could do that within the
comforts of McArthur Court, the Ducks couldn’t fol
low their own advice and prove
they could do the same on the road.
“We just talked about this in
the locker room where I said,
‘Fellas, I don’t know if you real
ize this, but we’re playing for a
Pac-10 championship, we’re
playing for the number one seed
in the West (bracket of the NCAA
Tournament),” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said.
“That’s what’s at stake. That should be enough of an
urgency for us to come ready to play.”
Oregon’s last lead of the game Thursday was
81-80 with 3:00 to play. That was the 11th lead
change since Oregon jumped ahead 60-59 for its
Turn to Men’s, page 10