Sports Editor:
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Friday, January 10,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet.
NBA: Boston at Dallas
5 p.m., ESPN2
Women pull out thriller over California
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Junior Kayla Steen (4) led the late Duck charge and ended the game with nine points as Oregon toppled California, 70-67 on Thursday.
Oregon went down to the final seconds with
the Bears and found its way to victory.
Women’s basketball
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
It was a thriller Thursday night at McArthur Court.
A missed three-point shot by California in the final 10 sec
onds of the game ensured the Oregon women’s basketball
team its second win in Pacific-10 Conference play, 70-67.
Junior Kayla Steen did everything she needed to for her
Ducks, going 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 30
seconds to help move Oregon to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the
Pac-10.
“It was an important win for us,” Oregon head coach Bev
Smith said. “We came back and we were tough in the end.
Kayla is a very good shooter and we talked about getting the
ball in her hands.”
It was a battle from the beginning tipoff for both teams.
In a back-and-forth first half, neither team could establish
a solid lead.
At 9:30 on the clock was the first point when either team
would lead by more than a basket, as Cal took the lead off a
free throw, 20-17. Oregon would go on to trail by as many
as five after that point until a timeout was called.
As the Ducks walked back onto the floor they headed into
an 8-0 run to lead 27-24 with just under six minutes left.
After a continuous battle for control, the teams walked
into the locker room with the Golden Bears leading 38-36.
Through the first 20 minutes, both teams saw eight ties and
six lead changes.
Oregon had to be happy with the score, considering Cal
shot a blistering 73 percent from the field and 9 of 12 on the
free throw line.
“We did really not keep people in front of us,” Smith
said. “We had to be much more aggressive and we had to
outplay them.”
Turn to Women's, page 12
California’s turnaround shows in loss to Ducks
Despite a close loss to Oregon,
California looks to be heading
in the winning direction
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
The scoreboard may have read
70-67 in favor of Oregon on Thurs
day night at McArthur Court, but for
California, the contest was a good in
dication of what is soon to come.
The Golden Bears, winless in
their last nine games at Mac Court,
pushed the Ducks to the brink,
only to see Oregon pull out a close
victory. But all indications show
that California is heading in the
right direction.
“(California head coach) Caren
Ilorstmeyer is doing a very good
job,” Oregon head coach Bev
Smith said. “Her teams, whether
at Santa Clara or California, have
had that identity as a very hard
working team.”
The Golden Bears (5-7 overall, 1
2 Pacific-10 Conference) have
failed to finish the season with a
winning record since the 1992-93
campaign when they finished the
year 19-10. That same season also
marked the last time California had
a winning record in Pac-10 play,
when it ended the season in fourth
place with a 10-8 record.
In 2001-02, a 7-21 overall record
seemed to show that the Bears
would be on the fast track to anoth
er losing year in Berkeley.
But that’s not the case. Already
having beaten Arizona State for its
first Pac-10 win of the season, Cali
fornia headed into Mac Court, usu
ally an arena of horrors for the
Golden Bears.
“This is the best we’ve played at
Mac Court to this point,”
Ilorstmeyer said. “We’re not even
necessarily concerned with wins
and losses. It’s all about playing well
right now.”
The Golden Bears shot almost 74
percent in the first half in the loss,
but saw that dip to 39 percent in
the second half.
They were led offensively by jun
ior Nihan Anaz’ 22 points, while jun
ior Timea Ivanyi, a physical presence
at 6-foot-4, was perfect from the field
on eight shots. However, her fifth foul
with 1:48 may have ultimately led to
California’s demise.
Still, Horstmeyer was all smiles
when asked about her center’s play,
and ultimately, the confidence and
aggressiveness her team played widi.
“Coming off Georgia (a 91-64
loss), it tells us about the character
Turn to Cal, page 12
Bears maul Oregon in Berkeley
Amit Tamir again torches the No.
12 Ducks in an 88-72 Cal win
Men's basketball
Adam Jude
Senior Sports Reporter
There’s something about the Oregon
Ducks that brings out the best in Amit
Tamir. And there’s something about the
Bay Area that brings out the worst in
the Ducks.
Tamir, California’s 6-foot-ll sopho
more center from Jerusalem, Israel, con
tinued his hot hand against Oregon, scor
ing a game-high 25 points in the Golden
Bears’ 88-72 win Thursday night at Haas
Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.
Tamir scored a career-high 39 points in
Cal’s 107-103 double-overtime victory
over the Ducks in Berkeley last year.
“Tamir seems to just love seeing Ore
gon walk in the gym,” Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent told KUGN-radio after the
game. “We’re still not there yet. We’re
pretty good at home, but we’re still figur
ing things out on the road.”
Luke Jackson had 17 points on 2-for-5
shooting (12-of-14 free throws) and Luke
Ridnour added 14 points on 4-for-14
shooting, as the No. 12 Ducks (10-3 over
all, 1-2 Pacific-10 Conference) shot .444
against the Bears (9-2, 2-0). Oregon also
committed 19 turnovers in its first con
ference road game of the season.
“I felt like we never had momentum
from start to finish,” Kent said. “It ended
up being a tough lesson for us.”
On a positive note, the Ducks held a
30-29 rebounding advantaging, which has
been a sore spot for Oregon all year.
The Bears shot .536 for the game, in
cluding 7-of-18 three-pointers. Tamir’s
trey with about five minutes left gave Cal
a 76-56 lead, the largest of the game. Ore
gon never led in the game.
“We’ve got to understand that we’re go
ing to get everybody’s best game,” Kent
said. “If you’re not ready for that, you’re
going to put yourself in a hole.”
Gal jumped out to a 9-2 lead early as
Oregon committed six turnovers in four
minutes.
Andre Joseph entered the game early
and hit consecutive three-pointers to get
the Ducks within one at 9-8. lie finished
with 12 points.
Joe Shipp (22 points) hit a short
jumper in the closing seconds of the first
half to give Gal a 43-33 lead at the half,
capping off a 14-4 run. Oregon had gone
on an 11-0 run earlier in the half to tie the
game at 27.
Oregon’s Ian Grosswhite, a redshirt
freshman center, continued to struggle
Wednesday, scoring just four points and
fouling out late in the game. He had just
two points in two minutes in a win over
Arizona State last week and four points
on 2-of-12 shooting in a loss to Arizona.
Grosswhite, who prior to this road trip av
eraged 10.3 points per game, has made 5
of-21 field goals in the last three games.
Turn to Men's, page 12
I..mi
Adam Amato Emerald
Luke Ridnou r went 4-for-14 from the floor and had 14 points for the
Ducks in their losing effort in Berkeley, Calif. They moved to 10-3.