Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dai ly emerald .com
Basketball preview
Best bet
NCAA men:
UConn at UNC
2 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Friday, January 17,2003
of basketball
Tasty morsel No, 1
The Oregon men won 26
games last season, the most
since the 1944-45 season
when the Ducks finished the
season 30-15.
Morsel No. 2
The Oregon women have
reached the postseason for
nine-straight seasons, a
mark that has included a
WNIT Championship and
eight NCAA Tournament
appearances.
Trivia Bowl
Luke Ridnour became the
24th member of the Oregon
I ,000-point dub against
Stanford. How many
members have played for
head coach Ernie Kent?
Rank me
The Oregon men and
women in the 2003 Pac-10
rankings
Scoring offense
Women.6
Men...1
Scoring defense
Women.9
Men ............ ,8
Field goal percentage
Women.5
Men ... .2
3-point percentage
Women ..........2
^4en-- ,2
Free throw percentage
Women.. ,8
Men-----,..-- i
Assists
Women.7
Men .1
Rebounding margin
Women_..... ,9
Men.............8
Norse! No. 3
The men and women
combined to go 30-6 at
McArthur Court last season.
Trivia answer
Five 1,000-point members
have piayed for Kent. They
include: Freddie Jones, A.D.
Smith, Terik Brown, Luke
Jackson and Ridnour,
Point
perspective
Senior Alissa Edwards has been
a consistent piece of the Ducks’
offensive weaponry this season
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Sometimes, all an athlete needs is
a little perspective.
Take for instance, the tragic event
that happened at Washington. On
New Year’s Eve, sophomore starter
Kayla Burt collapsed because of
heart problems while waiting to cel
ebrate, only to be saved by three of
her Washington teammates.
“It really makes you think,” Ore
gon senior Alissa Edwards said.
“You have to cherish everything you
have. It’s career ending for (Burt),
and your career could end like that.
You need to play every moment to
the greatest possible.”
Edwards has been playing like
every game could be her last. A sol
id player on the court, the Hermis
ton native wastes no time diving on
the floor for loose balls or mixing it
up with opponents. That style of
play has led to sprains, bruises and
scratches that would keep most
players out of the game. Yet, she’s
managed to post a career-high 17
points against Stanford, and has
shown the rest of the Pacific-10
Conference she is more than just an
average player.
“I want to be the person that peo
ple say, ‘Look, she’s getting on the
floor. We need to be getting on the
floor,’” Edwards said. “Or like, ‘She’s
going for the rebound, so we need to
get rebounds, too.’”
“She’s absolutely been solid,”
Oregon head coach Bev Smith said.
“She’s a rock for us. She’s been, for
us, a quintessential leader.”
She’s a leader who has helped
Oregon to a 2-4 record in Pac-10
play when it seemed in early Janu
ary that the Ducks wouldn’t have
enough firepower for two wins all
season. And had the Ducks upset
No. 6 Stanford last week, Edwards
would’ve been one of the main rea
sons for it.
Not bad for a guard who never
had a position she could call her
own before the season.
As a freshman, Edwards toiled on
former head coach Jody Runge’s
bench, appearing in just seven
games. As a sophomore, she saw in
creased playing time, appearing in
29 contests, starting eight.
And last season, Oregon’s first un
der Smith, the now 22-year-old
started seven of the 35 games she
played in.
A non-stop theme for Edwards was
the fact that she could, and would,
play at the point, shooting guard or
even the small forward position.
“She’s always had the capability
of being versatile,” Smith said,
adding that it has been a major
benefactor to Oregon’s well-being.
Entering the 2002-03 season, it
seemed as though Edwards was set
as the team’s shooting guard. But
that turned out to be a premature
assessment. Shaquala Williams’ dis
missal from the team pushed Ed
wards to the point full-time.
“That really didn’t bother me,”
Edwards said. “Moving to the point
guard has been something that has
always happened. That adjustment
was not very hard at all.”
Edwards has seen the good and
the bad at Oregon. From her fresh
man season, when playing time was
at a premium, to the Runge coach
ing controversy and now the
Williams full-time suspension, she
has been in the thick of things.
But she has also been involved in
some of the best things the Ducks
have had to offer. From two NCAA
Tournament appearances to a
WNIT Championship last year, she
has tasted success every season.
“Four years is a long time,” Ed
wards said. “We’ve had our good
times all four years, and we’ve had
bad times and a lot has happened. I
think it has made both Kourtney
(Shreve) and I grow as people and
as basketball players. I’m just proud
that I’ve stuck through it.”
Opposing coaches haven’t neces
sarily defended the Ducks’ offense
differently with Edwards at the
point instead of Williams. But they
do understand the importance of
Edwards’ play, much like Smith,
and have given the guard recogni
tion for her strong performances to
this point.
“Her senior leadership is a great
advantage for Oregon,” California
head coach Caren Horstmeyer
said. “She really helps to keep
them settled.”
“She’s really come along a lot in
the last four or five games and im
Adam Amato Emerald
Bev Smith calls Alissa Edwards a'quintessential leader7on the Oregon team.
Alissa Edwards File
Senior guard
Hermiston, Oregon
High School: Hermiston
Oregon: Played in 35 games as a junior,
starting seven...had the best assist-to
turnover ratio for the Ducks last
season...made a career-high 1 7 points
agair.s his
season...also set a career-high with five 3
pointers made against Stanford...while as a
prep athlete at Hermiston, earned letters in
basketball, volleyball and softball.
Edwards
proved in (her) role,” said Oregon
State head coach Judy Spoelstra,
whose Beavers take on the Ducks
on Saturday in the first installment
of this season’s Civil War.
The Civil War marks a final mo
ment for Edwards. It will be the fi
nal regular-season contest for the
senior at Gill Coliseum in Corval
lis. Edwards admitted she has be
gun to think about some of her
“lasts” this season, but hasn’t real
ly let it get to her.
“Kourtney and I talk a lot about
it,” Edwards said. “Like we’re al
most done. (But) you’ve got to
look past ‘this being the last’ and
focus on what’s coming up and not
worry about what’s our last thing
until it’s over.”
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Men's
continued from page 1B
Freddie Jones.
“Where we miss Freddie the
most is on offense. He would al
ways draw the other team’s top
defender,” Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent said. “That would
mean another good defender was
on Ridnour, but players like Luke
Jackson were freed up. Now, Jack
son is drawing the No. 2 defender,
and it’s a little tougher for him.”
Even when Jones had that top
defender on him, he always
seemed to come up with the big
shots at the end of games. The
drive and finger roll against Texas
in the Sweet 16. The jumpers to
beat UCLA and USG at the end of
the regular season.
Now, three threats have been
distilled to two, and opposing de
fenses are keying on the two. In all
of the Ducks’ wins this season, a
third or fourth Oregon player has
stepped up to help “The Lukes.”
The Ducks have had four players in
double figures 10 times this season,
nine of them wins. In the four loss
es, Ridnour twice has been the sole
player to score in double-digits.
The lesson? When other players
help the stars, the Ducks win
games. But that’s obvious. So who’s
going to step up?
It starts under the basket, where
Oregon’s rebounding struggles have
been well-documented this season.
The Ducks’ mantra has been that
rebounding and defense key their
transition game, and it’s true; in
each of their losses they have been
grossly out-rebounded.
Overall, the rebounding margin
isn’t bad — the Ducks are being
out-rebounded 37.7-36.6 on aver
age. But in the four losses, Oregon
has been out-boarded 167-115, or
an average of 42-29.
But hope isn’t all dim for the
Ducks. With two games this week
against lesser competition —
Portland State and Oregon State
— Oregon should be rested and
ready for four-straight games
against struggling competition in
Washington, Washington State,
UCLA and USG. The Ducks get all
the California schools at home in
the second half of the season, and
the season’s last weekend —
which Oregon played well in last
year — is in Arizona.
For Oregon to make a run in
the NCAA Tournament again, the
Ducks will need to focus on re
bounding and defense. An offense
that averages 86.3 points per
game doesn’t need much work.
But the Ducks will need to do it
now, do it here.
And stop all the head-scratching.
Contact the sports editor
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.