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St Mary’s prepared for WNH
■The Gaels should prove to be
a tough opponent for the Ducks
in the first round of the WNIT
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Entering tonight’s Women’s Na
tional Invitation Tournament game
between the Ducks and St. Mary’s
(Calif.), all the talk seems to be cen
tered on Oregon’s nine straight
postseason appearances.
The Gaels are seen as an after
thought because they play in the
supposedly weaker conference
(West Coast), and do not have as
outstanding of backcourt, or even
as strong of a tradition, as the
Ducks do.
Lost in the discussion is the fact
that St. Mary’s has a four-year post
season streak of its own, highlight
ed by two NCAA Tournament se
lections. The team’s WNIT berth
this season is their second in three
years.
St. Mary’s record of 16-12 overall
and 9-5 in conference play is not
that impressive considering the
Gaels went 25-5 last year. But it is
also a record that is not indicative
of the team’s ability.
“We had a tough schedule,” St.
Mary’s head coach Michelle Jaco
by told the Contra Costa Times.
“Out of all the teams in our confer
ence, we had one of the toughest
schedules. One of the reasons we
did get in was our schedule. Even
though we didn’t get a lot of wins,
we tried to play those tough teams
and came close.”
Of those teams, St. Mary’s took
on two Pacific-10 Conference
squads this season, beating Califor
nia by three but losing to Washing
ton, 62-55.
After finishing second in the
WCC Tournament with a loss to
Santa Clara in the championship,
the Gaels were almost assured of
being left out of the Big Dance. Get
ting an invitation to the WNIT was
supposed to be tough considering
conference foe San Francisco fin
ished with two more wins and one
less regular season loss.
However, the WNIT selection
committee thought two WCC teams
were worthy, and the Gaels now
find themselves in Eugene.
“This is huge for the team,” Jaco
by said. “It’s good for recruiting and
it’s also good for tradition. It’s a
great opportunity. I don’t think we
care where we play. We just want
ed to play.”
While the Ducks have 6-foot-3
standouts in sophomore Cathrine
Kraayeveld freshman Andrea Bills,
St. Mary’s has its own twin towers.
And they really are twins.
Jerkisha Dosty is the WCC Player
of the Year, stands 6-foot-2, and av
eraged 17.6 points per game. She is
a force on the boards, having pulled
down an average of 8.4 per game.
Her sister, Jermisha, stands 6
foot-3, averages 14.4 points per
game, 11.9 rebounds per game, and
earned the West Coast Conference’s
top honor last season.
If the Ducks want to stop the St.
Mary’s attack, they will have to fo
cus on the twins in the post.
That may be a tough proposi
tion, though. St. Mary’s had nearly
200 more rebounds than its oppo
nents this season, and averages 43
per game. The Ducks, on the other
hand, average just more than 36
per game.
“We watched some film and the
one thing that the coaches said is
that they’re a good rebounding
team,” Kraayeveld said. “And that’s
been one of our focuses all year,
and we need to take that into con
sideration.”
The Gaels are also a strong defen
sive team, almost the polar oppo
site of Oregon’s run-and-gun style
offense.
Averaging 71.6 points per game
on the offensive side of the ball, St.
Mary’s counteracts that low num
ber by allowing just 67.6 points per
game. Six times this season the
Gaels held an opponent to 60
points or less in a game, which in
cluded three times where their op
ponent failed to score at least 50.
“It’s going to be a big, physical
game,” Oregon senior Jamie Craig
head said. “The key is going to be
rebounding. We have to keep peo
ple off the boards, and our guards
are going to have to pick up the
slack and get some rebounds.”
As if the Gaels aren’t matched up
with the Ducks well enough, there
is one thing on St. Mary’s side. The
Gaels just want to prove their
doubters wrong.
“This team really wants to step
up and prove that our wins and
losses don’t really show how good
it is,” Jacoby said. “We just want to
play well. We still haven’t gelled
yet and I think we can do that in the
WNIT.”
E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon’s Alyssa Fredrick (right) and Kedzie Gunderson (left) battle for a loose ball with Washington State’s Britney Hawks in the Pac-10
Tournmament at Mac Court on March 1. The Ducks host St. Mary’s tonight in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Mac Court.
Womens
continued from page 7
tendance for the third straight year.
“It’s a great thing for us to be at
Mac Court. There’s no better way to
start a tournament,” Smith said. “If
we are successful in the first game,
we’ll get a chance to host the sec
ond round, so that’s really great mo
tivation to keep on winning.”
If the Ducks do get past St. Mary’s
— a physical team known for its re
Li
bounding — they will face the win
ner of the Hawaii-Oregon State
game in Corvallis on Thursday.
“If you’re a competitor, you get
up for every game,” Oregon guard
Shaquala Williams said. “I know
everyone wants to win, and we’re
looking forward to the chance to
play three or four more games. ” ♦
Despite not reaching the NCAA
Tournament for the first time since
1992, the Ducks are confident
heading into the WNIT. The experi
V, 0 «
ence will also be good for the team’s
four freshman, who are taking their
first postseason exam.
“We’re just going to try to make the
most of the situation,” Smith said.
“It’s not the NCAA, but it’s the
postseason and there’s still games
to play,” sophomore forward
Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “We still
have to play hard and show that
we’re a good team.”
E-mail sports editor Adam Jude
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
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