Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, March 12,2002
Craighead just looking for ‘fun’ in WNIT
■The senior guard has played more
than 100 games for the
Ducks, but she isn’t done yet
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
For Jamie Craighead, the numbers
speak for themselves.
In her career, the senior has made 166
three-pointers (second all time), includ
ing 53 this season. For her career, she
has shot 37 percent from beyond the
arc, sixth best in Ore
gon history.
But the number
that may be the most
outstanding is the
first one listed on a
statistical sheet:
games played.
For her career,
Craighead has played in 102 contests
for the Ducks. Of those 102, the last 35
have been starts.
In her 100th career game, played two
weeks ago against Washington State in
the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament,
Craighead helped pace the Ducks to vic
tory with eight points, including two
three-pointers.
In three games in the tournament, the
Elma, Wash., native contributed 25
points. More importantly, she provided
a presence from outside, hitting on half
of her three-pointers (6-of-12).
• Now that the Ducks have failed to
make it nine straight NCAA Tourna
ment appearances, does the appeal
of the Women’s National Invitation
Tournament for Craighead seem
good enough?
“It’s just going to be a lot of fun to
play again and get some games back
here at McArthur Court and to maybe
play some opponents like the Beavers
and Huskies again,” she said.
Of the Ducks’ four postseason games
during Craighead’s career, she has
played in two, contributing 24 points.
However, she has not shot well from be
yond the arc, hitting on 6-of-27.
But don’t expect those kind of num
bers against St. Mary’s (Calif.) on
Wednesday. Armed with the possibility
Turn to Women’s, page 8
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior Jamie Craighead has brought hard work and determination to the Ducks in her four years at Oregon. Although she
knows her time in Eugene is soon to end, Craighead wants to make a lasting impression on the team.
UO tennis
serves up
perfect
weekend
■Wins over Santa Barbara
and Sacramento State extend
the men’s winning streak
By Peter Martini
for the Emerald
The winning streak extended to six
matches for the Oregon men’s tennis team
with two victories over the weekend.
The No. 66 Ducks won at UC-Santa
Barbara. 5-2, on Sunday and beat Sacra
mento State, 6-1, on Friday.
Against Santa Barbara. Oregon won
two out of three doubles matches to take
the early lead. Fresh
man Sven Swinnen
and junior Oded Teig
won 9-8, and fresh
man Manuel Kost
and sophomore Chris
King won 8-3.
Junior Jason
Menke and sopho
more Martin Pawlowski lost the only
doubles match for the Ducks, 9-7.
“We played well in doubles, and that
took some pressure off of our singles,”
head coach Chris Russell said.
Oregon needed to win three singles
matches to earn the victory and it got
four singles victories. Teig won 6-2, 6-1
at the No. 2 spot for the Ducks.
Swinnen, King and sophomore Greg
Dubourdieu won matches in the bottom
of the lineup to help Oregon improve to
11-2 overall this season.
“Our depth has been incredibly
valuable for us. They haven’t lost in
about four matches, and that takes
pressure off the top of the order,” Rus
sell said of the bottom three singles
Turn to Tennis, page 6
New-look Wildcats breeding confidence toward Big Dance
■Arizona has recovered from
a slow start and will have
plenty of momentum heading
into the NCAA Tournament
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
They hardly resembled the team
that Oregon easily handled in De
cember and early January.
The No. 7 Arizona Wildcats won
three games in three days in Los An
geles over the weekend to be
crowned champions of the Pacific
10 Conference Tournament, which
returned for the first time since 1990.
Arizona entered the season with a
roster loaded with youth, and head
coach Lute Olson said that the inex
perience played a large part in the
105-75 and 90-80 losses to the Ducks.
Since those losses, the Wildcats
have blossomed, with juniors Jason
Gardner and Luke Walton stepping
into their leadership roles and
freshman Salim Stoudamire play
ing beyond his years.
Stoudamire, who went to Lake Os
wego High, had a career-high 29 points
in the Wildcats’ 81-71 victory over USC
. on Saturday in the Pac-10 Tournament
championship game. Olson thought
that his team’s
three wins
would earn Ari
zona a No. 2
seed in the
NCAA Tourna
ment, but in
stead, the Wild
cats are a No. 3
seed in the West region.
“I’m sure the thing that made us a
three was the two losses to Oregon
because Oregon got a two seed,” Ol
son said Monday. “It’s probably un
fortunate that we played them as ear
ly as we did with our young team,
and then when we played them
again we did not have Luke Walton.”
The Ducks, who are ranked 11th in
the latest Associated Press poll, re
ceived the No. 2 seed in the Midwest
and must only beat Montana and the
winner of the Wake Forest-Pepperdine
game to advance
to the Sweet 16.
As a No. 3
seed, though,
Arizona will
most likely
face a danger
ous Gonzaga
team in the
second round,
given that the
Wildcats get
past UC-Santa
Barbara. Gonzaga, ranked sixth,
qualified as the bracket’s biggest
shocker with a No. 6 seed.
“I was surprised,” Olson said. “I
thought Gonzaga vvould be one of
the top four seeds in the West. But
it shows that when you play in a
league where there are not ranked
teams, it’s out of your hands.”
And when you do play in a league
with a lot of ranked teams, it obvi
ously helps. Four Pac-10 teams were
in Monday’s Associated Press top
25 poll (Arizona, Oregon, No. 18
USC and No. 24 Stanford), while un
OLSON
ranked California and UCLA joined
those four to give the league a strong
presence in the NCAA tourney.
Those six teams would have
probably been selected for the Big
Dance regardless of the results of
last weekend’s Pac-10 Tourna
ment, but the overall consensus
was that the conference tourney
did a lot of good.
“I think it got our confidence
going,” Walton said. “It helped
our young guys to play in a one
and-done situation where you
have to win.”
Even Olson, who has made no
secret of his disdain for a league
tournament, saw the positive side
of the weekend in getting his
team some postseason experi
ence. But it still didn’t change his
overall viewpoint; he said he
thinks if the league’s going to
continue with the conference
tournament, then it must shorten
its schedule.
“Let’s take a look at the athletes
and make a decision based on
what’s best for them for a change,
instead of for the budget,” Olson.
“It is ridiculous to go through 21
games in your conference.”
Isn’t it ironic?
Fox Sports Net signs were all
around the Staples Center
while the network extensively
covered the first two days of
the tournament.
But the cable channel could not
be received at the hotel where the
teams and the media stayed at.
“Somebody blew it on that,” Ol
son said.
Bring on Duke?
This Final Four prediction
comes from the Los Angeles Daily
News: Duke.Gonzaga, Oregon and
Maryland.
As for the championship? The
newspaper projects a final score of
Duke 96, Oregon 90.
E-mail assistant sports editor Jeff Smith
at jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com.