Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
)effsmith@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, March 5,2002
Oregon enters top-10 for first time in 27 years
■ The Ducks jump into the top 10
but will be without their back-up
center for an unknown length of time
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
More historic numbers keep popping
up in regards to the banner season the
Oregon men’s basketball team is having.
The Ducks captured their first league
championship since 1944-45 and first
outright title since 1939.
They beat UCLA at Pauley Pavilion
for the first time since 1984.
They finished the Pacific-10 Confer
ence schedule with a 14-4 record,
which was their best league mark since
that ’39 championship squad went 14
2 in the Pacific Coast Conference.
And now they
can add an Asso
ciated Press top
10 ranking to the
list. Oregon vault
ed into the No. 9
spot in Monday’s
AP writer’s poll
for the first time
since being
ranked eighth on Feb. 4,1975.
The 1974-75 Ducks reached the top
10 after starting out 15-2, but then lost
six straight to fall out. Both Oregon head
coach Ernie Kent and assistant coach
Greg Graham were players on that Ore
gon team and realize the magnitude of
bringing the Ducks back to the elite lev
el and winning the Pac-10 title.
“Ernie and I have been waiting for
this for about 30 years,” Graham said.
“We’ve been here a long time. It’s been
neat to have a bunch of ex-players call
ing us and giving us encouragement
and telling how much it means to them.
“So it’s double special for us.”
The news wasn’t all good out of the
Oregon camp Monday, though. Junior
center Brian Helquist will miss this
week’s Pac-10 Tournament with a
strained right knee, and it’s question
able whether he will return for the
NCAA Tournament.
Helquist suffered the injury in Ore
gon’s win at USC last Thursday, scoring
two points in 11 minutes. He sat out
Saturday’s UCLA game and had his
knee checked out Sunday.
Because he didn’t tear any ligaments,
the Ducks are hopeful of his return —
most likely in the Sweet 16 if Oregon
were to make it past the first weekend
with two wins. But nothing will be
known for sure until Helquist goes
Turn to Men’s, page 5
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon coach Ernie Kent was a player for the Ducks the last time the program cracked its way into the Top-10 back in 1975.
Williams named to All-America team for second time
■The junior guard averaged 17.7
points per game this season
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
After leading the Oregon women’s
basketball team to its ninth straight
winning season, junior guard Shaquala
Williams was named to the Kodak Dis
trict VIII All-America team Monday.
The 5-foot-6 Portland native
ranked second in the Pacific-10 Con
ference with 17.7 points per game
this season and led Oregon (17-13
overall, 10-8 Pac-10) with 4.1 assists
a game. Williams is also on pace to
set a Pac-10 record for free-throw per
centage, currently shooting 91 per
cent from the charity stripe.
Williams was named the Kodak All
American for the second time in her ca
reer. She joins Nicole Powell and Lindsey
Yamasaki of Stanford, Felicia Ragland
(Oregon State), Kayte Christensen (UC
Santa Barbara) and Jerkisha Dotsy (St.
Mary’s) on the West Coast team.
Williams was named Pac-10 Player of
the Year in 2000 and Freshman of the
Year in 1999. Last year, she sat out the
season after tearing the anterior cruciate
ligament in her knee.
Forty-eight finalists from eight dis
tricts were named All-Americans. The
Women’s Basketball Coaches Associa
tion will select 10 players for the All
American team later this month at the
Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
E-mail sports editor Adam Jude
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
Adam Amato Emerald
Shaquala Williams (3), hugged here by Edniesha Curry, was selected
as a Kodak All-American after averaging almost 18 points per game.
Me ARTHUR COURT
ASU stops
Stanford
in Pac-10
tide game
■Arizona State upsets top-seeded
Stanford to claim Pac-10 crown
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
Turns out someone was able to stop
Stanford.
Sparked by another second-half
charge from
Amanda Levens,
Arizona State
ended Stanford’s
22-game winning
streak Monday
night to capture
the crown at the
inaugural Pacific
10 Conference
women’s basketball tournament at
McArthur Court.
With the 70-63 win, the third-seeded
Sun Devils (24-8) secured the Pac-lO’s
automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“I fully expected to be playing for the
championship,” Arizona State head
coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I’m
very proud of our kids. This is the
toughest group I’ve ever had.”
Stanford, the No. 2 team in the coun
try, who swept all 18 Pac-10 games in
the regular season, lost for the first time
since Dec. 16, when it lost to Tennessee.
The Cardinal (30-2) are still a likely No.
1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t really care — we’re going to
the NCAA Tournament,” said Stan
ford’s Nicole Powell, the Pac-10 Player
of the Year and tournament MVP who
had 19 points and 10 rebounds against
ASU. “We’re more determined, and
we’re going to be ready.”
Melody Johnson and Cian Carvalho
each added 13 points for the Sun Dev
ils. Stanford’s Enjoli Izidor scored a sea
son-high 20 points.
Levens, an all-tournament selection,
scored 17 of her 22 points in the second
half to lead Arizona State’s comeback
— much like she did in Sunday’s win
over Oregon.
Trailing 35-31 at the break, Levens
scored 11 points in the first nine min
utes of the second half. Her free throw
with 12:24 left gave the Sun Devils a 43
42 lead, and they never trailed again.
“I’ve never beaten Stanford since I’ve
been at ASU, so this is nice,” Levens
said. “People were saying they weren’t
sure we were going to get an at-large bid
(to the NCAA Tournament), so we
wanted to go ahead and decide our
selves.”
The game was not decided until the
closing minute, when the Sun Devils
sank 7-of-10 free throws. Stanford had
cut a six-point Arizona State lead down
to 55-53 with 5:06 left but could not get
any closer.
Much like they did in a 64-58 win
over Oregon on Sunday, the Sun Devils’
tenacious defense held Stanford to 36
percent shooting in the second half
while forcing the Cardinal to commit 21
turnovers (to ASU’s 14).
“Arizona State just played a great
game — they were very aggressive,”
Turn to Women’s, page 6