Women’s
continued from page 7
The Ducks were 10-of-15 from
beyond the arc, only two short of a
team record. They made seven in
the first half, the fourth time
they’ve done that this season.
But more important, it was a to
tal team effort for Oregon against
the Cougars. All 12 players
scored, with Craighead finishing
second to Williams’ 24 points
with 13 of her own.
“We had outstanding energy at
the beginning of the game,”
Smith said. “We were very sharp,
and I thought we shot the ball
very well.”
Shooting well would be an un
derstatement. At 56 percent from
the field, the Ducks set a season
high. Williams was perfect in her
shooting, and Craighead was not
much worse at 5-of-6. Even the
charity stripe treated Oregon
well, as Duck sharpshooters were
12-of-17.
Gunderson, playing in her first
collegiate game in her home state,
came off the bench and set a career
high with 12 points. She also col
lected seven rebounds.
“Going home is always a good
point in time,” she said.
Senior Edniesha Curry, playing
in a lesser role, finished with six
points. But her nine assists led the
Ducks’ barrage of 26, and was only
one under her career high, set
when she played for Cal-State
Northridge.
“When we get anything over 14,
15 assists, we’re playing good team
basketball,” Smith said. “Twenty
six assists is just a team that is
playing well together.”
With two runs of nine or more
points, the Ducks were able to
jump out to a large lead at half
time, 49-23. Oregon was 7-of-9
from beyond the arc, and shot bet
ter than 60 percent in the half.
The second stanza was not
much different as Williams took
control early on. Her three-pointer
and two jump shots sent the Ducks
to a seven-point run in the first
two minutes. From that point on, it
was smooth sailing for Oregon.
With the win, the Ducks have
given themselves a better chance
to earn a possible fourth seed in
the conference tournament. Ore
gon State defeated Washington 73
71 in overtime to create a three
way tie for fourth place.
USC and Oregon State are also
10-7. If Oregon can defeat Wash
ington on Saturday, and if USC
loses to Stanford this coming
weekend — as they are expected
to — the Ducks could even finish
tied for third.
Of course, that would be a four
way tie for the spot as the Beavers
are expected to defeat Washing
ton State on Saturday and the
Trojans will probably do the same
to California.
Welcome to the wild world of
the Pac-10.
“When you’re playing against
teams like Oregon State that have a
little bit of pizzazz, I think it turns
into really good women’s college
basketball,” Smith said. “It’s really
gearing up and is indicative of
what’s going to happen at
McArthur Court for the Pac-10
Tournament (next week).”
E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Men’s
continued from page 7
guard Luke Ridnour, who drained a
career-high 25 points. Freddie
Jones added 18 points as five Ducks
scored in double figures. But Ore
gon’s shooting as a team was the
most impressive statistic from
Thursday night’s contest. The
Ducks set season highs for field
goal shooting (63 percent), three
point shooting (61.5 percent) and
free-throw shooting (92.9 percent).
Oregon’s 115 points were its
most ever in a Pac-10 game and tied
for third-most in Duck history.
“We just got in a really good
rhythm out there,” Ridnour said.
“We played together as a team and
just had fun with it."
Washington State wasn’t com
pletely invisible Thursday night.
The Cougars hung around Mac
Court for about seven minutes be
fore disappearing. With 13 minutes
left in the first half, Freddie Jones
partially blocked Washington
State’s Marcus Moore, and Ridnour
hit a long jump shot on the break to
put Oregon ahead 15-13. From
there, the Ducks went on a 24-10
run, and the Cougars never got back
into the contest.
Moore provided Washington
State’s lone highlight Thursday
night. After scoring 3.5 points
against Oregon, in January, he
notched 34 on Thursday.
With 3:48 left, Jones wowed the
crowd with one of his trademark
dunks, after Johnson grabbed a steal
and passed all the way down court
to a streaking Jones. The senior
guard threw down a reverse two
hander that simply rocked the Pit.
Ridnour closed out the first half
with a flourish of his own, scoring
seven straight points to give Oregon
a 54-33 halftime lead. After hitting
two free throws, Ridnour blocked
Thomas Kelati from behind and hit
a pretty reverse lay-in on the other
end. On the next possession, he hit
a three pointer on a fast break.
“We happened to be really hot
tonight," Jones said. “We just got
out to a big lead and never really
looked back.”
The second half featured the
three-point avalanche that buried
the Cougars even more. At one
point, the Ducks hit eight treys in a
seven-minute stretch.
Even 6-foot-10 Mark Michaelis
hit a three.
6-foot-9 Jay Anderson hit a pair
of threes.
Those two players had shot a
combined 4-for-13 from three-point
land this season before Thursday
night. They went 3-for-4 against
Washington State.
Michaelis, who played 13 min
utes, and Anderson, who played
eight, joined other bench players in
logging quality minutes during
Thursday’s contest. Ben Lindquist
played 13 minutes and super sub
Kristian Christensen notched three
minutes of playing time. All 12
Ducks who played scored at least
one basket.
“I was happy for them,” Oregon
head coach Ernie Kent said of his
subs. “They got out there, played
hard and played well.”
With other teams in the Pac-10
beating up on each other Thursday
night, the Ducks emerged as co
leaders of the conference. USC top
pled Stanford, 77-58, to move into
a tie with Oregon for the conference
lead. California beat UCLA to re
main in the hunt for the conference
championship.
Those contenders will battle
more on Saturday, so Oregon again
faces a must-win game against
Washington. The Huskies beat the
Ducks in Seattle, 97-92, in January.
Oregon and Washington will
square off at 7 p.m. Saturday.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
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