Sports Editor.
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Monday, February 10,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NHL: San Jose at Detroit
5 p.m., ESPN2
Cal silences Oregon’s home advantage
The Ducks can't overcome
a second-half Golden Bear spurt
and drop to 6-5 in the Pac-10
Men’s basketball
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
California did something Saturday
that no team has done in a long time.
The Golden Bears silenced Oregon’s
notoriously loud Pit Crew.
During a timeout with 10:44 left in
the second half of Saturday’s game, you
could’ve heard a hot dog turning at a
McArthur Court concession stand. The
score stood 57-48, California, after Ore
gon had been up for most of the game.
The sold-out crowd swelled with fu
rious noise again as the Ducks led a
charge and got as close as six points
with 2:45 left, but Cal hit free throws
down the stretch, kept Oregon at arm’s
length and won the game, 86-75.
“We really wanted this game,” Ore
gon center Matt Short said.
But instead, the Ducks lost their sec
ond game in three tries and, today, Ore
gon (16-6 overall, 6-5 Pacific-10 Con
ference) should drop out of both
national polls for the first time since
mid-January 2002.
The Bears (16-4, 9-2 Pac-10) used a
strong second-half run to topple the
Ducks. Oregon scored only 10 points in
the first 14 minutes of the second half,
as Gal went on a 30-10 run that all but
ended the Ducks’ chances.
But Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
said the key to the Ducks’ loss was con
tained in the first half, not the second.
“In the first half, we had several op
portunities to push the lead to 10 or 12
points, but we felt like we rushed some
things, made some tough decisions,”
Kent said. “And each time we did that,
Gal made us pay.”
Gal truly made Oregon pay in the
second half. Gal shot 68.4 percent from
the field in the second half, and when
the free throws mattered down the
stretch, the Bears made just enough to
get the win. Gal hit 16 of 20 free throws
in the final 2-1/2 minutes, when Oregon
was fouling on almost every possession.
For a while, it looked like Oregon
might get back into the game despite
Gal’s second-half dominance. With 5:57
left and the Ducks losing by 16, Ore
gon’s Luke Ridnour fed Short for a dunk
and an extra point when Short was
fouled by Gal’s A.J. Diggs. The Ducks
started a full-court press, which caused
Tu rn to Men's, page 8
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon players (from left) Ian Crosswhite, Brian Helquist, Robert Johnson and Luke Ridnour can't watch the closing
minutes of Saturday's 86-75 loss to California at McArthur Court Ridnour led the Ducks with 19 points but fouled out
Phone calls serve to motivate Cal s Big Three
Despite a night of heckling
phone calls, three Bears
overpower Oregon Saturday
Adam Jude
Senior Sports Reporter
Amit Tamir answered the phone
around 11 p.m. Friday at his Valley
River Inn room and listened to the
Oregon fan on the other end rant
about how the Ducks were going to
“get him” Saturday.
Tamir, one of the most successful
Duck hunters in the Pacific-10
Conference, didn’t get abusive with
the abusive fan.
“I just said, ‘OK, good luck to
morrow,’ and hung up the phone,”
the 6-foot-l 1-inch Gal forward said.
Turns out the Ducks — and their
phoning fans — could’ve used
the luck.
Gal’s “Big Three” of Tamir, Joe
Shipp and Brian Wethers combined
for 62 of the Bears’ 84 points Satur
day to hand Oregon just its second
loss at McArthur Court in 29
games. Oregon’s Lukes — Ridnour
and Jackson — couldn’t match
Gal’s firepower, scoring 28 points
on 10-of-34 shooting with nine
turnovers between them.
Perhaps the Lukes needed a mo
tivational call, like most of the
Bears received at their hotel Friday.
“I liked it. It was funny,” said
Shipp, who had two prank calls to
his room. “It was motivation to
come out here and get a win, to get
back at ’em.”
Gal head coach Ben Braun had
a restless Friday night as well, for
a different reason. He watched
film of Oregon’s win over Stanford
on Thursday, and didn’t enjoy
what he saw.
“I don’t like watching Oregon on
film,” Braun said. “I watched them
dismantle Stanford, and I didn’t
sleep well after that.”
But Braun’s game plan to stop
Ridnour and Jackson — by no
means an easy task — worked to
near-perfection, and the Ducks (16
6 overall, 6-5 Pac-10) shot just 36.8
percent in the second half.
Shipp, the Pac-lO’s scoring
leader who had a game-high 23
points Saturday, held Jackson
(nine points) in check defensively.
“We wanted to be physical with
(Jackson) and get him out of his
game,” Shipp said. “We didn’t let
him get on a roll, and that affected
him throughout the game. Our goal
coming into the game was contain
ing the two Lukes and I think we
did a good job of that.”
Ridnour, too, had trouble with
Cal’s switching defense, which pre
vented Oregon’s shooters from get
ting good open looks.
“We wanted to slow down Ridnour,”
Wethers said. “He goes, they go.”
Turn to Big three, page 8
Edwards’ late shot sinks Golden Bears in California
Adam Amato Emerald
Alissa Edwards (12) sank the game-winner against Cal on Saturday.
The Oregon women notch their
19th win over Cal in 20 tries
Women’s basketball
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Senior Alissa Edwards has done
everything but shoot a game-winning
jumper this season for the Oregon
women’s basketball team.
That is, until the Ducks visited Cali
fornia on Saturday.
Behind Edwards’ jumper with 2.4 sec
onds left, Oregon squeaked by the Gold
en Bears, 54-52, at Haas Pavilion
in Berkeley.
Edwards, who began with the ball off
an Oregon inbounds pass, drove to the
left side of the court. California center
Olga Volkova stepped out in an attempt
to defend Edwards, only to have the
Oregon guard step back and sink a 15
foot jumper.
“There were a lot of opportunities we
could have gone to,” Oregon head coach
Bev Smith told KSCR-AM. “We felt con
fident in Alissa Edwards.
“She did a smart thing, and pulled out
and hit a jumper.”
After repeated timeouts by both
teams, California (8-13 overall, 4-7 Pa
cific-10 Conference) inbounded the ball
at halfcourt with 2.1 seconds left. A last
second 3-pointer by Kristin Iwanaga hit
the backboard but not the rim.
The win was Oregon’s fourth straight
over California and 19th in its last 20
contests against the Bears.
“I’m very pleased with the toughness
the team played with, especially after
the Stanford game,” Smith said, refer
ring to the Ducks’ 85-54 loss Thursday.
Neither team was particularly impres
sive on the offensive side of the ball,
with the Ducks (9-12, 5-8) shooting just
36 percent from the field compared to
California at 35 percent.
The same can be said for the 3-point
contest, with the Golden Bears connect
ing on just 2-of-8 treys and Oregon
shooting one better.
But both teams did take care of the
ball, with the Ducks committing 11
turnovers while the Golden Bears had 13.
As expected, the game came down to
the team that was strongest defensively.
“It’s just something that ha^to come
from within the heart,” Smith said.
The battle of the boards settled in
Oregon’s favor, 37-34.
Sophomore Andrea Bills and fresh
men Carolyn Ganes and Yadili Okwum
abua combined for 27 points and 22 re
bounds. Ganes, especially, has come a
long way since the start of the season.
She led the team with 17 points and
tied for the lead in rebounds at eight.
“I think (the post players) did a very
good job on (Timea) Ivanyi,” Smith said
in reference to California’s center. “We
did a much better job on the inside game.
The inside game was very important.”
Oregon, battling for most of the season
with a nine-player active roster, almost
saw that figure dwindle even further.
Sophomore Kedzie Gunderson, who
broke her nose Dec. 19 against Mon
tana, fell to the floor in pain early in the
first half when she was inadvertently hit
in the face by Volkova.
The six-foot forward came out of the
game and it was deemed that she re
broke her nose. However, she didn’t sit
out long, coming onto the floor to start
the second half.
“I thought we had probably lost her,”
Smith said. “She gave us that collective
glue to allow us to hang together.”
Gunderson failed to score a point, but
that didn’t keep her from sprawling on
the floor for loose balls and driving
through the lane in search of a shot.
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.