UConn marches
toward Fined Four
Pete DiPrimio
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
DAYTON, Ohio — Kristy Curry
faced the future with microphones
in her face and camera lights in
her eyes.
“I’m thrilled to death about next
year,” the Purdue coach said. “I’m as
excited as I’ve ever been with the
players we have back and the ones
we have coming in.”
The Boilermakers’ 73-64 Elite
Eight loss to top-seeded Connecticut
on Tuesday night cost them a shot at
this weekend’s Final Four in Atlanta,
but not, it seems, at future ones.
So there was Curry, standing in a
carpeted University of Dayton Are
na hallway.
“There’s a lot to look forward to,”
she said. “And a lot to be proud of.”
Start with Tuesday’s late surge
that cut a 22-point deficit to six and
left Purdue (29-6) wondering about
what might have been.
“You wish you could do things dif
ferently,” guard Erika Valek said.
“You have so many regrets. But all
you can do is remember so you’ll
work harder in the off-season.”
Valek and fellow juniors Shereka
Wright and Beth Jones vowed to
keep the memory fresh.
“We want to get back to this point,
and even further,” Wright said, “but
it’s going to take the off-season to get
where we want to be.”
That would be where Connecticut
is, two victories away from a second
consecutive national championship
and third in the last four years.
And without a senior on the ros
ter, the Huskies (35-1) could ex
tend their dominance into the fore
seeable future.
Surprise and parity are for the
men’s game. The women follow form
and favorites rule, which is why all
four regional finals featured top
seeds against second seeds.
On Monday, top-seeded Ten
nessee and Duke advanced to the Fi
nal Four. On Tuesday, Connecticut
made it three of four, with only
Texas’ upset of Louisiana State pre
venting a No. 1 sweep.
That meant little to Purdue, which
had visions of its third Final Four
trip in the last five years dashed.
“You could see the hurt in their
eyes,” Curry said. “It just wasn’t
meant to be.”
The matchups favored Connecti
cut from the start. Jones drew All
America Diana Taurasi, which was
about as fair as getting Tiger Woods
in match play. The bigger, stronger,
faster Taurasi played like the re
gional’s most outstanding player
she was, driving and dictating and
dominating en route to 21 points
and six rebounds.
“She’s just a very good, very smart
player,” Jones said.
For 32 minutes the Huskies turned
Purdue into Pacific, punishing with
defense, thriving with offense.
“We can make it look easy,” coach
Geno Auriemma said. “And then
sometimes it gets away from us.”
Connecticut opened with 30.8
percent shooting, which was terrific
compared to Purdue’s 7.6 percent.
The Boilermakers blew layups and
jumpers. They missed against fierce
pressure and no pressure at all.
They played intimidated, exact
ly what they had insisted wouldn’t
happen.
“We did things we never do,”
Wright said. “We didn’t step up. We
didn’t accept it. We waited too long
to attack.”
The result was a 41-2 halftime
deficit. Purdue trailed 62-40 with
eight minutes left before a 20-4 run
brought it within six.
But no closer.
© 2003, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne,
Ind.). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Football
continued from page 11
wide open.”
The new guys
Doba and Karl Dorrell are the two
newest coaches to join the Pac-10
fraternity. Doba replaces Mike Price,
who left to become the head coach
at Alabama, at Washington State.
Dorrell takes over for Bob Toledo,
who was fired after leading UCLA to
an 8-5 overall record.
Both have experience in the con
ference. Doba spent the last 14
years by Price’s side and had been
the team’s defensive coordinator
since 1994.
Dorrell played for UCLA from
1982-85, and was a graduate assis
tant for the Bruins in 1988. Before
his hiring, Dorrell had been the wide
receivers coach with the NFL’s Den
ver Broncos. He also spent the 1999
season as offensive coordinator with
the Washington Huskies.
Both Dorrell and Doba inherit
teams that have the potential to fin
ish in the top half of the Pac-10.
That march begins in the spring.
Washington State started its prac
tices Tuesday, while the Bruins be
gin today.
“We brought in some new coach
es with some new ideas,” Doba
said. “They won’t be a whole
lot different.”
Remember him?
As Oregon gets ready to start
spring practice Saturday, a look
back at the team’s past unveils a
player of the week.
No, not in NFL Europe. Tony
Graziani, who played for the Ducks
from 1994-96, was named the Are
na Football League’s Offensive Play
er of the Week on Tuesday.
The No. 7-ranked passer in Ore
gon’s history, Graziani threw for
319 yards and six touchdowns in
Los Angeles’ 64-63 win over Orlan
do on Sunday.
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
We have special university rates.
Call 346-3712
please recycle this paper!
WE RUN THE
BOOKSTORE
UO Bookstore Board of Directors
ANNUAL MEETING
Wednesday, April 16
3:30 p.m. EMU Fir Room
UO Students and Faculty:
Gain valuable experience by being a member of the UO Bookstore
Board of Directors. Board members receive a $50 monthly stipend
to attend a monthly meeting.
Come to our Annual Meeting and see what this 80-year-old tradition
is all about.
• Prize drawings
• Drinks & Snacks
• Nominations for office
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
BOOKSTORE
For more information, e-mail neggert@oregon.uoregon.edu.