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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2003)
Sports Editor: Hank Hager hankhager@ dailyemerald .com Oregon Daily Emerald SPORTS Best bet NCAA basketball: Michigan State vs. Kansas 6 p.m., ESPN Tuesday, November 25,2003 Hank Hager Behind the dish Clemens becomes captain of UO ship More than one time after Oregon's vic tory over Oregon State on Saturday, head coach Mike Bellotti made it a point to praise quarterback Kellen Clemens. Just as quickly, though, he wanted to make sure that it was understood that the redshirt sophomore has room to grow. "He didn't play a perfect game," Bellot ti said. "I told him when he came off the field that the great thing about this is he still has room for improvement. "Several of his scrambles he used his athleticism and showed greater speed than 1 think anybody thought he had. I was pleased. He became the captain of the ship, in a sense." Cool, calm and collected, Clemens found the gaps in Oregon State's defense and exploited them. He showed poise in the pocket, picking the best times to tuck the ball in his arms and tun with it. His numbers weren't sterling, but his mastery of the offense was. He waited as long as need be on his 15-yard loft to Ter rence Whitehead in the first quarter. He bulleted the ball to Demetrius Williams in the back of the end zone in the second and found a wide open Dante Rosario in the third. "He made plays," Bellotti said. "He threw a couple of passes that were great individual efforts." Clemens proved that in the next two seasons in Eugene, he will be an offensive leader for the Ducks. He will lead Oregon to winning seasons, extending the team's bowl streak to nine and its season-win ning streak to 12. That would be ideal, of course, but if he can play with the same kind of confi dence he exhibited against California, UCLA and Oregon State, the Ducks will be in an idealistic world. Clemens is a leader in the truest sense. All season, he has deflected questions surrounding his personal confidence to the team's. He says his confidence hasn't wavered, despite the poundings at the hands of Washington State, Arizona State and Washington. And why should it? Oregon, after all, is just four points away from being 9-3 instead of 8-4. Clemens has played a big role in that. He's lost a starting wide receiver in Keith Allen, a fullback in Luke Rowley, a starting offensive lineman in Joey Forster and seemingly tight end after tight end to injuries. That's just on the offensive side of the ball. He's been able to take the rag-tag Ducks and mold them into a capable offensive unit. He doesn't seem to play favorites on the field, getting the ball to each of his receivers, creating a bal anced offensive attack. Clemens has uti lized Sarnie Parker's speed and has tak en advantage of the apparently sure hands of Williams. Turn to HAGER, page 12 Oregon faces first road test tonight Adam Amato Photo Editor Cathrine Kraayeveld will lead Oregon tonight when the Ducks take on Gonzaga in Spokane. Oregon defeated Gonzaga, 83-72, last season at McArthur Court. The Ducks battle with Gonzaga during their first road game of the season By Jon Roetman Sports Reporter The Oregon women's basket ball team faces its first road test of the season tonight against Gonzaga at The Kennel in Spokane, Wash. It will be the first action in more than a week for the No. 24 Ducks (2-0), who last played Nov. 16, defeating then-No. 9 LSU, 76-67, at McArthur Court. Junior point guard Corrie Mizusawa said the Ducks have taken advantage of their lengthy preparation time between games and are looking forward to step ping back WOMENS BASKETBALL on the court. ' I _ think it's been good practice for us based on our (victories over Valparaiso and LSU)," Mizusawa said. "We're definitely excited to go to Gonza ga and get ready to play." After being crowned champi ons of the Women's Sports Foun dation Classic nine days ago, the Ducks are making sure not to take upset-minded Gonzaga for granted. After confidence-build ing wins against Valparaiso and LSU, along with games against Kansas and North Carolina State coming this weekend, it would be very easy for the Ducks to overlook the Bulldogs. "We're in their house and their kennel," Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. "We have a big target on our back. We're a Pac-10 school, and they're going to give us their 'A' game and we have to bring ours." Oregon has never lost to Gon zaga in seven meetings dating to 1986, including last year's sea son-opening 83-72 victory at McArthur Court. Gonzaga is led by junior Ash ley Burke. Hie 6-foot-1 forward is averaging 17.5 points per game while connecting on 74 percent of her shots. Sophomore forward Ashley Anderson is the only oth er Bulldog averaging double fig ures at 14.5 points per game. An derson is also the team's top rebounder with six per game. Gonzaga's main outside threat is junior Raeanna Jewell. The 5 foot-10 guard is averaging 8.5 points per game and has con nected on three of seven three point attempts. As a team, the Bulldogs are struggling from the outside, connecting only 26 per cent of the time from behind the arc. Perimeter shooting struggles aside, Gonzaga is shooting 50 percent as a team. Along with the Bulldogs' tal ented trio, the Ducks know they'll have to battle the added pressure that comes with playing as a top 25 team. "It's a little more pressure on us, but we just have to go into every game playing the way we know we can play," Mizusawa said. "We did that against Valpo and LSU, so hopefully we can do that (tonight)." Mizusawa is third on the team in scoring at seven points per game, but more importantly, she has done an excellent job of dis tributing the ball among her teammates. Mizusawa has creat ed open shots for teammates at all spots on the floor, while aver aging nine assists per game. Senior forward Cathrine Kraayeveld has been the main beneficiary of Mizusawa's pass ing skills. Kraayeveld leads Ore gon with 25.5 points per game, scoring both inside and outside. The 6-foot-4 forward has con nected on nine of 18 three-point attempts and is shooting 50 per cent from the floor overall. Kraayeveld is also averaging 10 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per Turn to TEST, page 12 Ducks take 21st in NCAA Championships Eric Logsdon and Ryan Andrus earn All-American honors and the Ducks nab a 21 st-place finish By Scott Archer Freelance Reporter Oregon wanted to finish in the top 20 in the nation at the end of the cross country season. It came close; the Ducks finished at No. 21. The Ducks entered the 2003 NCAA Championships in Waterloo, The race was a reflection of the way the season had gone for the Ducks. There was a terrific finish by Oregon's three All-Americans. But the rest of the team failed to provide an extra push that could catapult the team in% gg fg gysT Ha# 1LP ITm. CROSSCOUNTRY Iowa, hoping to have peak performances as a group — something they hadn't done all year. into the top 20 finish the Ducks knew they were capable of produc ing. Oregon was led by Eric Logsdon, as the junior finished the race 29th overall, finishing the 10,000-meter race in 30 minutes, 13 seconds. Ryan Andrus finished 51st overall in 30:25, followed by Brett 1 lolts, who finished in 30:39, good for 70th overall. Both Logsdon and Andrus earned All-America honors again this year. "Through the first mile I was around 75th or 80th, and was still stuck back at 60th after the halfway point," Logsdon said. "I didn't get into the top 50 until between the sev enth and eighth kilometers, and from there I passed a ton of people." But it was Oregon's final two run ners that finished 198th and 205th, respectively, that kept Oregon from moving a few spots up in the finish. Shane Ahlers finished with a time of 31:46, while Noel Paulson fin ished 31:50. "This race has been symbolic of Turn to NCAA, page 10 Eric Logsdon led Oregon at the NCAA Championships, finishing 29th overall. Geoff Thurner Oregon Media Services
