Oregon wears out Wolves
in blowout win at McArthur
The Ducks used height to
their advantage Sunday
in a 58-point win over
NAIA foe Western Oregon
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
In Oregon's women's basketball
game against Western Oregon on Sun
day, there was one major problem: The
Wolves could
n't see the bas
ket over the
Ducks, let
alone shoot
the ball.
With a 5
foot-4-inch starting point guard and its
tallest player equal to die average height
of Oregon's starters, the Ducks easily
trampled Western Oregon, 87-29, in
front of 3,150 fans at McArthur Court.
"It was a good picture of how good
we can be," forward Cathrine
Kraayeveld said. "I think we can be even
better than that. It just showed how
well we ran through our offense."
The offense was the easy part. Ore
gon had 39 points in the first half, and
that would have held it the entire game
Instead, the Ducks continued to
pound away on offense every time they
had possession of the ball — and even
when diey didn't Oregon had 15 steals,
including three clean picks by point
guard Corrie Mizusawa that she ran the
length of the court for uncontested
layups. Mizusawa also added 11 assists
— her second time in as many games
with double-digit assists.
But the game wasn't for showboat
ing their offense prowess, the Ducks
said. They had keys to work on during
the game.
"The three things that were looked
at were certainly defensively keeping
people in front of us, really jumping
to the ball and finishing plays, re
bounding," head coach Bev Smith
said. "We accomplished those better
in the second half."
In the second half, the Ducks
grabbed 25 rebounds — including 17
defensively, many of which were collect
ed to the sound of the shot dock buzzer.
Three times in the first half, Western
Oregon turned the ball over on a shot
dock violation. Five consecutive sets in
the second, and more sporadically
throughout the half, saw shots go up as
the clock ticked to zero and the buzzer
began to sound — most of the attempts
ending off-target in the hands of a Dude
"We were great on defense," center
Andrea Bills said. "We still have a lot
of stuff to work on, but that just
shows how hard we were playing on
the defensive end to get so many shot
dock violations."
Although it looked like an easy
win, the Ducks were still happy to be
playing against someone else.
"It's definitely hdping us," Mizusawa
said. "We had a couple main points
that we wanted to focus on to get ready
to play next week in our tournament.
Especially defensively, getting back in
transition defense because that's one
thing that killed us on Wednesday."
The Wolves had 10 three-point at
tempts in the game, sinking three of
them.
Offensively for Oregon, forward
Carolyn Ganes led the charge with 22
points off the bench. Starters
Kraayeveld and Bills each added 17,
with nine of the former's points com
ing from three-point range.
"No matter how easy it was, we still
had to go in there and fight for floor
position," Bills said. "We've got to
learn to be stronger and take things
from this game."
Everyone on the bench who was
suited up for the game saw at least 10
minutes on the court and contributed
at least two points. Even freshman
guard Cicely Oaks, who did not play
in Wednesday's game against Strakon
ice, played the final 10 minutes and
39 seconds of the game. Oaks made a
three-pointer, grabbed three defensive
rebounds and grabbed one steal
while she was on the floor.
The Ducks, as a unit, made the
point that it wasn't about making it as
big of a win as possible. Instead, it was
about working on the little things.
"We respect the game and what the
game demands," Smith said. "It's not
who's in front of you, it's not the
scoreboard, it's certainly what we have
to do to get better.
"Who we are is Oregon. Oregon will
always play defense, Oregon will always
get back in transition and Oregon will
limit second chance opportunities and
that's what you play to — your potential
and not just what the scoreboard says."
The Ducks have the week for prac
tice before hosting the Women's
Sports Foundation Classic on Satur
day and Sunday.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
Danielle Hickey Senior Photographer
Oregon’s Carolyn Ganes led the Ducks with 22 points in an 87-29 victory Sunday.
Duck post players dominate undersized opponent
Oregon’s post players play
an integral role in the Ducks’
win Sunday; Carolyn Ganes
leads UO with 22 points
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
If Sunday's exhibition game was
an episode of "Wild Discovery",
Oregon post players would have
been the hunters while an under
sized Western Oregon team acted as
their prey.
Carolyn Ganes, Cathrine
Kraayeveld and Andrea Bills domi
nated the paint against a Wolves
squad whose tallest player — Eugene
native Kristi Hill-Rudolph— stood 6
feet 1 inch tall.
The trio combined for 56 points
in Sunday's 87-29 win against
Western Oregon.
Oregon shot 57 percent for the
game, with most of its shots com
ing from within 10 feet. Even when
the Ducks couldn't get a decent
inside look, there was always
someone open on the perimeter
after Western Oregon was forced to
double-down defensively.
Oregon head coach Bev Smith
said the Ducks looked to utilize
their size advantage entering the
game, but failed to do so early in
the contest.
"I thought that our post players,
certainly in the first 10 minutes, were
not being as aggressive and burying
people as they needed to," Smith
said. "Then I thought (Bills) came in
after her second shift and really
dominated and (Western Oregon)
had to make some adjustments."
After building a 14-3 lead with
12 minutes 16 seconds remaining
in the first half, Bills took Smith's
words to heart, scoring Oregon's
next 10 points. Bills finished with
17 points on 7 of 10 shooting.
Bills said the Ducks were enjoy
ing themselves on the court, while
outscoring the Wolves 42-6 in the
paint.
"It was a lot of fun," Bills said.
"The coaches just emphasized us
going inside and posting up hard.
The guards were finding us and if
(the ball) came in, we were able to
pass it back out for the open shot."
After a relatively quiet first half,
Ganes finished with fury, scoring
16 of her 22 points in the second
half, while connecting on 11 of 14
shots for the game. She also
grabbed seven rebounds.
Ganes also credited Oregon's
back court for feeding post players
both down low and on the move.
"Even in transition, (the guards)
were able to hit us on the run,"
Ganes said. "We were just playing
really well inside and outside."
Kraayeveld scored the game's first
two points on a layup, giving the
Ducks a lead they wouldn't relin
quish. She finished with 17 points
on 7 of 9 shooting and was also able
to take her game outside, connecting
on 3 of 4 from three-point range.
Kraayeveld said front-court play
ers did a good job of scoring inside
without forcing their shots.
"We've got to notice (smaller
opponents) and take advantage of
that when we can," Kraayeveld said.
"Not forcing anything, but if we are
open, take our shots. All the posts
did a good job."
Oregon front-court players were
also a major reason that Western
Oregon shot 21 percent for the
game, induding 2 of 22 in the sec
ond half. Defensively, the Ducks
challenged every shot, blocking six
of them.
Even when the Ducks couldn't
get a hand on a shot, their constant
pressure made a difference. Several
Western Oregon players missed
open layups, altering their shots in
fear of having them blocked.
Despite the blowout win, Smith
said the Ducks are an experienced
group and will not take false ideas
from the game. She added that
players realize points in the paint
won't come so easily against larg
er opponents.
"Our players have been around
the block a little bit," Smith said.
"They understand who they played
today and they understand that cer
tainly next week it's going to be a lot
different."
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
Panova falls in consolation finale of ITA Championships
Junior Daria Panova reaches
the consolation finals at ITA
Nationals but loses in a
hard-fought three-set match
Alex Tam
Sports Freelancer
The Oregon women's and men's ten
nis teams did not end the fall season of
__their year-long
DUCK
TENNIS
schedule the
way they want
ed to.
Junior Daria
Panova, com
ing off her tournament victory at the
ITA Regional}) two weeks ago, advanced
to play at the ITA National Intercolle
giate Indoor Championships at Ann
Arbor, Mich., during the weekend.
There were high expectations for
Panova, who was ranked seventh na
tionally and seeded sixth in a field of
32. In the first round of the singles
main draw, however, Panova was up
set by Karin Coetzee of Wake Forest in
straight sets, 7-5, 6-1. Coetzee is cur
rently ranked No. 53 in the nation.
Panova found more success when she
moved to the singles consolation brack
et. The third-year Duck came from be
hind to defeat No. 15 Luana Magnani of
USC after losing the first set 2-6,6-4,6-1.
"I feel like when I'm on the court
everyone can beat me," Panova said
before the tournament. "It's not that
I'm stronger or faster, but I feel like I
can fight until the end and I can fight
harder than my opponent."
Panova moved on to the semifinal
round after beating Florida's Jennifer
Magley in a hard-fought match that end
ed 6-4, 7-5. Panova pressed on against
Elizabeth Exon of Michigan in a straight
set victory, 6-3,6-4, despite a hometown
crowd rooting for the Wolverine
The run ended at the consolation
finals when Panova was defeated by
Shadisha Robinson of Georgia in a
highly competitive match that was de
termined in the final set, 6-4,4-6, 6-4.
On the doubles side, Oregon was
represented by Panova and senior
Courtney Nagle. The duo is ranked
No. 13 nationally as a team. The two
received one of four at-large bids to
the national tournament and it
marked the first time in Oregon
women's tennis history that a doubles
team competed at the event.
In the first round, Nagle and Panova
were forced to the consolation brack
et when the No. 3-seeded team of
Georgia's Agata Cioroch and Robin
son defeated the Duck duo, 8-5.
Nagle and Panova continued their
struggles and lost in the consolation
quarterfinal round to Marshall's No.
41 team of Jessica Johnson and Ash
ley Croh, 8-6.
Men in L.A.
The men's tennis team competed at
the USC Intercollegiate tournament in
Los Angeles, Calif., but did not fare as
well as they had hoped. The Ducks fea
tured five players in the singles draw and
only two advanced to the next round.
Senior Chris King pulled off the
only win in the singles draw for the
Ducks on the first day when he defeat
ed San Francisco's Andrew Hogan, 6
1, 6-3. King, however, lost in the sec
ond round to Brian Swatt of San
Diego in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Junior Manuel Kost, ranked 31st
nationally, earned a bye for the first
round and defeated his second round
opponent, Linas Cicenas of Loyola
Marymount, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Kost strug
gled in the third round, though, and
lost to UC Santa Barbara's Alex
Anselmb, 6-2, 6-2.
Two Oregon teams competed on
the doubles side but neither could
sustain a winning formula to succeed.
They combined for only one win.
The Ducks doubles team of sopho
more Arron Spencer and Kost learned
that only doubles win when they han
dled San Diego's Emil and Tom Novak,
8-5. USC's No. 2 duo of Parker Collins
and Daniel Langre defeated Spencer
and Kost in the quarterfinals, 8-2.
Head coach Chris Russell saw that
his young squad needed to continue
developing and to gain as much expe
rience as possible.
"We are doing well with the funda
mentals," Russell said. "Our execution
needs to get better. We came down
here to get some matches in, and we
did that."
Alex Tam is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.