Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamj ude@dailyemerald. com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Friday, February 8,2002
Best Bet
Winter Olympics:
Opening Ceremony,
7:30 p.m., NBC
Neuheisel criticizes
Oregon’s recruiting
■The Huskies head coach says there’s a recruiting
‘war’ between Oregon and Washington
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s a dirty business, and Rick Neuheisel apparently
doesn’t like the way the game is played.
Offensive lineman Albert Toeaina joined his cousin,
fullback Matt Toeaina, Thursday as the newest member of
the Oregon football team. Toeaina, the lineman, is the sec
ond recruit to join the Ducks after verbally committing to
Neuheisel, the Washington head coach.
“There’s a war going on in the Northwest,” Neuheisel
told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Wednesday. “I’m up
for the fight — let’s go.”
Albert Toeaina, one of the top offensive line prospects in
Turn to Recruiting, page 12A
UO men slip at Stanford in OT
■ Oregon loses its 16th-straight at
Maples Pavilion, 90-87, in overtime
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
STANFORD, Calif. — Moments after
the final buzzer sounded, despite com
ing to grips with a heartbreaking defeat,
the Oregon men’s basketball players
could realize what a spectacular game
they had just been a part of.
Maybe if this were a different Oregon
team, such as last season’s version, a 90
87 emotionally and physically draining
overtime loss at Stanford would be a
back-breaker.
Especially so when considering that
Oregon had the three-point lead in the
end of regulation before Stanford’s Tony
Giovacchini knocked home a clutch,
long-range three-pointer to force the ex
tra session.
But after battling, battling and bat
tling some more for 45 minutes of
NCAA Tournament-style play in front
of 7,391 at hostile
Maples Pavilion, the
Ducks showed the
maturity of a first
place team — which
they still are.
Oregon (17-6, 9-3)
now shares first
place with 9-3 Ari
zona and can do no worse than remain
on top of the standings with a split on
this Bay Area road trip.
“We’re fine,” point guard Luke Rid
nour said. “Saturday’s for the league
title.”
Still, the sting of this loss, in a game
that featured 29 lead changes, will be
tough to forget about.
“It hurts, but we just have to put this
behind us,” forward Luke Jackson said.
It probably won’t ever go away for
players such as senior Freddie Jones,
who played the last game of his career
at Stanford and tied his career-high
with 36 points. Jones led an offensive
output that also included 18 points
from Ridnour, 17 from Jackson and 10
from Robert Johnson.
Jones wanted to experience his first
victory in Stanford and help deliver his
program its first win at Maples Pavilion
since Jan. 13, 1986. But the winless
streak rolls into next season.
“We felt like we brought a team down
Turn to Men’s, page 10A
No. 2 Stanford inks win at the Pit with freebies
■The Cardinal hit 17 free throws
in the final four minutes to give
Oregon its third straight loss
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
For what it’s worth, the Oregon
women’s basketball team nearly up
ended the second-ranked team in the
country Thursday night at McArthur
Court.
Nearly, however, is never good
enough — especially for a team trying
to push it’s way back into the NCAA
Tournament picture.
Oregon City native Lindsey Yamasa
ki scored a game-high 24 points as No.
2 Stanford won its first game at
McArthur Court in four years with a
77-72 victory over the Ducks. The Car
dinal (23-1 overall) are 13-0 in the Pa
cific-10 Conference.
With its third straight loss, Oregon
drops to 7-7 in Pac-10 play (12-11 over
all), putting its hopes
of a ninth consecu
tive NCAA Tourna
ment appearance in
doubt.
“We felt we could
beat them,” Oregon
junior guard
Shaquala Williams
said. “For some reason, Stanford brings
out the best in us.”
Oregon’s best came in the opening
minutes of the second half, when the
Ducks outscored the Cardinal 21-6 to
take a 52-46 advantage with 12:43 re
maining.
In a one-minute stretch, reserve
guard Alissa Edwards ignited the
Ducks with three straight buckets, her
only field goal attempts of the game.
Edwards sank a three-pointer at the
13:37 mark to give Oregon its first lead
since midway through the first half. As
Stanford point guard Nicole Powell
tried to bring the ball upcourt after the
trey, Edwards swiped the ball and
drove past Powell for an easy, left
handed layin.
After a steal by Cathrine Kraayeveld,
Edwards found herself wide open on
the right side and swished an open
jumper, giving Oregon the six-point
lead, its largest of the game.
“We don’t notice the score,” Ed
wards said after the game. “We just try
to play hard for 40 minutes.”
Oregon knew Stanford’s run was
Turn to Women’s, page 10A
Adam Amato Emerald
Stanford senior Lindsey Yamasaki drives past Oregon’s Andrea Bills in the Cardinal’s 77-72 victory Thursday. Yamasaki, an
Oregon City native, scored a game-high 24 points in her first victory at McArthur Court.
Despite loss,
Oregon gains
confidence
■The Ducks experience a boost
in confidence after a close loss
to the Cardinal at Mac Court
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The score read 77-72 in favor of
Stanford, but for the Oregon women.
Thursday's game may be something to
file in the win column.
The Ducks (12-11 overall, 7-7 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) desperately needed
to play well against the No. 2 Cardinal.
With four games left in the Pac-10 sea
son, confidence is as important as ever.
“The way we played, I think we
came out with a victory even though
the scoreboard didn’t show that,”
freshman center Andrea Bills said.
Oregon was not expected to hang
tough with the Cardinal (23-1, 13-0),
but matched Stanford almost point for
point imtil the last three minutes of the
game. With less than 13 minutes left in
the second half, the Ducks even held a
six-point lead.
The second-ranked Cardinal, how
ever, proved to be too much in the end.
But if there was silver lining in a
loss, the Ducks definitely found it.
“I thought we played with maxi
mum effort, and that’s all you can ask
of the team,” first-year head coach Bev
Smith said. “I thought the effort was
there, and I’m proud of the way the
team responded.”
Stanford earned its first victory at
McArthur Court since 1998, but had to
do it in front of a harsh crowd. Despite
the dismal weather conditions out of
the Pit, 4,830 people showed up and
made their presence known.
Stanford still has to come back to
Eugene for the inaugural Pac-10 Tour
nament, and the Ducks know that.
“After this game, we’re thinking we
can go out and compete with any
body,” Bills said.
However, the Ducks will need to
play well in their final four confer
ence games to move up to a higher
seed for the tournament.
Currently, Oregon is ranked sixth
Turn to Women’s side, page 9A