Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Dailv Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
Georgia lech vs. Connecticut
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
Oregon's
women
deserve
spotlight
The Oregon men's football team won
four of its last five games.
Surprising.
The Oregon men's basketball team
passed its first test via winning its season
opening game over Fresno State, the de
fending Western Athletic Conference
champions.
Expected.
The Oregon men's cross country team
finished 21st in the nation.
Respectable.
but despite the somewhat successful ef
forts of the Oregon men's teams, it's just
not their year to shine.
Why?
This is going to be the year of the Duck
women. The year when the women's
sports shine true in the finest fashion. The
year the women prove they deserve the
same respect and fan base that the men's
sports attract.
It's a revival year. A year when athletes
have returned from injuries and regula
tions that sidelined them last year. Now
those athletes have and will become the
stars.
Turn to THOMAS, page 6
Oregon’s
defense
bettering
its play
The Ducks are improving
their defense, as evidenced
by consistent rebounding
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Oregon is satisfied with its defensive
performance in its opening game against
Fresno State on Friday night.
The Ducks should be.
After being out
BASKETBALL 0re«on held Fres
_ no State to just one
offensive rebound
in the second half and gained the edge, 31 -
29, by game's end.
"We're a better team defensively this
year," Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
In their first two exhibitions, the Bull
rebounded in the
first half, 19-14,
Turn to MEN, page 6
Second-half surge nets win for Ducks
The Ducks survived their first road test
at Gonzaga while Corrie Mizusawa tied
an assists record in Oregon’s victory
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
A six-point possession by Oregon's Carolyn
Canes and Cathrine Kraayeveld was the final lead
change in Tuesday's game.
The No. 24 Ducks took charge six minutes into
the second half and slowly built up a lead, even
tually winning, 73-57, in front of 1,017 fans at
The Kennel.
"We were struggling a little hit with the first
time in a new gym and we were all just trying to
get our bearings," Ganes told KUGN after the
game. "It was nice to be able to come in and really
try to help get the flow of the offense going."
The flow turned Oregon's direction when — with
the Ducks (3-0) down, 40-39 — point guard Cor
rie Mizusawa inbounded the
ball to forward Kedzie Gun
derson at the top of the
BASKETBALL three-point arc. Gunderson
- found Ganes inside, and
Ganes made the basket and
was fouled, giving Oregon the 41 -40 lead.
On the missed free throw, Kraayeveld grabbed
the rebound and found Ganes inside, where she
made the shot and was fouled again.
Ganes missed her second opportunity at a
three-point play, but Kraayeveld again came
down with the rebound. The senior hit a turn
around jumper to make it a 45-40 game.
After a turnover by Gonzaga (1-2), Ganes made
another two-point shot, with an assist by Mizusawa.
"That really took the air out of their sail," Ore
gon head coach Bev Smith told KUGN after the
game . "A big six-point swing with very little time
off the clock."
The Ducks and Bulldogs went into halftime
tied at 28. The teams had six ties and eight lead
changes in the first half.
"We really had some people step up big time,"
Smith said. "Particularly Carolyn Ganes. In the sec
ond half, she found that space that they were leav
ing her with the defensive attention they were giv
ing to (Kraayeveld) and she really stepped up big."
Ganes came off the bench and scored 15 points as
the Ducks' second-leading scorer. Forward Andrea
Bills led the way with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"Coming into this game, we had a long week
off after our tournament," Smith said. "We talked
about our 24th ranking, a (Pacific-10 Conference)
school coming into (Gonzaga) and we've got to
give this our 'A' game."
Mizusawa, the junior transfer from Saint Mary's
(Calif.), tied an Oregon single-game record with 14
Turn to WOMEN, page 6
Danielle Hickey Senior Photographer
Eleanor Haring came off the bench to score eight points in the Ducks’ 73-57 victory against Gonzaga.
Rough season leaves Ducks looking for more
Danielle Hickey Senior Photographer
I Oregon players said they have much to smile about for the future.
The Ducks consider the
2003 season a learning
experience and are
looking forward to 2004
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
The Pacific-10 Conference can be a
rough place for young volleyball players.
With athletes like LISC's April Ross,
California's Mia lerkov and Stanford's
_Ogonna Nnamani
1 i iyr dominating
!L# U IrV matches, inexperi
VOLLEYBALL enced teams can,
_ at times, be over
whelmed.
With 12 freshmen and sophomores,
the Oregon volleyball team suffered
through such growing pains this season,
finishing with a 3-24 overall record, in
cluding an 0-18 ledger in the Pac-10.
Success this season, however, was not
based solely on wins and losses for Ore
gon. With all 14 players expected back
next year, the Ducks spent the 2003 sea
son learning valuable lessons on what it
takes to compete in the nation's top con
ference.
I lead coach Carl Ferreira said that to ex
pea such a young team to be at the top of
the Pac-10 immediately would be unreal
istic. Instead, players and fans should have
patience, and for the time being, focus on
the improvements the team made during
the season rather than wins and losses.
"For us as a program, it's important to
understand who we are and what we're
doing," Ferreira said. "Society teaches us
that the way to measure success is the
scoreboard."
Turn to VOLLEYBALL page 6