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