Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, November 27,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NCAA Basketball:
Kansas v. North Carolina
6:30 p.m., ESPN2
Adam Amato Emerald
Junior Cathrine Kraayeveld led the way for the Ducks on Tuesday night with a double-double. In
Oregon's first loss, Kraayeveld accounted for 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Ducks’ offense stalls
in first loss of season
Oregon loses to the team that upended
the Ducks in their season opener last year
Women’s basketball
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
In Oregon’s first-ever visit to the state of
Wisconsin, the women’s basketball team found
history awaiting.
The Ducks never found the right path in their
first away game, as the Wisconsin-Green Bay
Phoenix handed Oregon its first loss, 69-53.
Oregon’s 16-point loss was the largest margin
of victory for an Oregon opponent since the
Ducks lost to the Phoenix last year 75-57, in
Oregon’s home opener.
Wisconsin-Green Bay put pressure on Oregon
all night, and the Ducks could not convert. In the
first half, Oregon shot 29 percent on just 7-of-24
shooting and committed 14 turnovers.
“Wisconsin-Green Bay is a team that plays
very well,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith told
KSGR radio. “We were not ready to play against
that kind of pressure that they put on us. They
put a lot of pressure on the ball and definitely
take you out of your rhythm offensively.”
Offense is what Oregon struggled with from the
beginning. The Ducks never led, and the only tie
was in the first two minutes when both teams
had two points.
Oregon would keep it close in the first 10 min
utes, after a baseline jumper by sophomore Kedzie
Gunderson to bring the Ducks within three.
But then the offense went stagnant, and after
back-to-back three pointers by the Phoenix four
minutes later, the Ducks trailed 24-10.
Oregon found itself down by 19 at one point
but battled in the final minutes of the first half to
reduce the lead to 34-20.
In the start of the second half, junior Kayla
Steen hit back-to-baek shots to bring Oregon as
close as 10 with 17:30 left to play.
The Ducks’ offense continued to struggle in an
attempt to establish rhythm, and the Phoenix
would go on a 10-0 run to lead 56-36.
Oregon would only come as close as 15 points
after that. A three-pointer by Phoenix senior
Sara Boyer pushed the lead to 20, and that was
the final straw for the Ducks.
Oregon ended the night better than it started,
with 39.6 percent shooting from the field.
//Wisconsin-Green Bay is a team
that plays very well. They put
a lot of pressure on the ball and
definitely take you out of your
rhythm offensively"
Bev Smith
Oregon head coach
Wisconsin-Green Bay also shot 40.3 percent. The
two teams also tied in the battle of the boards at
35 apiece.
But Oregon’s 25 turnovers and 2-of-14 shoot
ing from downtown would be too much to over
come in the end.
Junior Gathrine Kraayeveld led the way for
Oregon with a double-double on 11 points and
Turn to Women's, page 6
Men’s hoopsters rest, prepare
for two more Kansas tuneups
The Ducks will look to work
on rebounding and defense
against Pacific and Portland
Men’s basketball
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
The No. 10 Oregon men’s basketball
team will be working on turkey and re
laxation — emphasis on relaxation —
just as most other Americans will be over
the short Thanksgiving holiday.
But the Ducks will also be thinking
about rebounds, zone defenses and
free throws.
Oregon will take on Pacific on Satur
day in their first of two tune-ups before
racing No. 2 Kansas in the Pape Jam at
the Rose Garden on Dec. 7. The Ducks
will also face Portland — a team that up
set Oregon in the preseason last year —
Wednesday. Both games will be played at
McArthur Court.
After Oregon struggled to an 86-77 win
over California-State Northridge on Mon
day night in the title game of the John
Thompson Challenge and the Ducks’ sec
ond game in as many nights, head coach
Ernie Kent said his team would take it
easy for a while.
“That’s pretty hard on us, back-to
back games like that,” Kent said. “We
probably pushed that throttle a little too
much (Sunday night) in terms of not get
ting a lot of rest, because it certainly
showed tonight.”
The Ducks said they learned from
Monday night s scrappy, hard-fought
contest.
“This should help us, because we
found a lot of things that we need to work
on,” center Brian Helquist said.
Helquist and the rest of the Oregon
team will focus on rebounding and de
fense as they head toward a matchup
with Pacific. The Ducks were outre
bounded by Grambling State and North
ridge by a combined 87-77 in the two
games of the Challenge. And after hold
ing the Tigers to 26-percent shooting in
the first contest, the Ducks allowed the
Matadors to hit 48.4 percent of their
shots Monday.
“What I’m going to go back and work
on after we rest this basketball team is
getting back to a rhythm, getting back
Turn to Men's, page 6
Adam Amato Emerald
Luke Jackson (bottom) and Oregon will face Pacific on Saturday.
Wrestlers face off against East Coast competition
Oregon’s wrestling squad faces
nine teams, including three ranked
in the top 25, in Saturday’s meet
Wrestling
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
After finishing third in its first tournament
of the season, the Oregon wrestling team will
take on top teams from across the country in
Saturday’s Mat-Town USA Invitational.
The tournament, in Lock Haven, Pa., will
feature 10 teams, including Oregon, 15th
ranked Nebraska, 19th-ranked Penn State
and 23rd-ranked Purdue. The yearly touma
ment is hosted by Lock Haven University of
Pennsylvania.
On Saturday, Oregon competed in the
Body Bar Invitational at Cornell. The Ducks
finished third against eight East Coast teams,
trailing only 14th-ranked Edinboro and 16th
ranked Cornell.
Redshirt junior Jason Harless, in the 133
weight class, and redshirt sophomore Luke
Larwin, in the 165 weight class, both finished
third in their weight classes, the highest
Duck finishers at Cornell. Oregon got points
from nine different wrestlers, including Har
less and Larwin.
“We wrestled real hard,” head coach Chuck
Kearney said. “The effort level was outstand
ing, and we did a lot of positive things that we
can build on.”
Helping Harless in the 133 weight class were
sophomore Martin Mitchell and redshirt
freshman Skyler Woods. Mitchell and Woods
placed fourth and fifth, respectively, adding to
Oregon’s points.
Woods beat Drexel’s Joe Cristaldi, the tour
nament’s No. 2 seed, 5-1 in the first round.
Another weight class with more than one
Duck scoring was the heavyweight class. Se
nior Eric Webb and redshirt freshman Neil
Phillips both earned points for Oregon.
“Neil showed us some signs of things we
hadn’t seen before,” Kearney said. “He wres
tled really well.”
Sophomore Shane Webster won two match
es in the 174 weight class before pulling out of
the meet because of a sore muscle, which the
coaching staff played cautiously so Webster
would be healthy for Saturday.
The Mat-Town USA meet features 12
wrestlers who are ranked in the top 10 in their
weight class. One of those wrestlers, Oregon’s
Webb, suffered an injury at the Body Bar
match and will not participate in Saturday’s
tournament. Representing Oregon at heavy
weight will be Phillips.
Senior Tony Overstake is the only other
ranked Oregon wrestler, at No. 12 in the 149
weight class. He has not wrestled at that weight
class this season, but Overstake was the Pacif
ic-10 Conference champion last year at the
Turn to Wrestling, page 6