Rugby celebrates opening win against Cardinal
Oregon’s Club rugby team
comes back from a 15-7
Stanford lead to win, 24-18,
in Palo Alto on Saturday
By Kirsten McEwen
Freelance Reporter
Any time Oregon beats Stanford,
it's worth celebrating. At least that's
the Ducks' mentality.
On Saturday, Oregon's Club rug
by team defeat
ed the Cardi
nal. After
outscoring
Stanford 17-3
in the final 40
minutes, Ore
gon celebrated a
comeback win against one of its
toughest opponents.
"We were pretty close in skill lev
Club
Sports
el, but their team had a size advan
tage," Club rugby coordinator Pete
Bayly said. "But we played together
as a solid unit to finish off the
game."
Playing under fair conditions at
Stanford's recently completed mil
lion-dollar rugby stadium, the game
was uneventful for the first 10 min
utes until Stanford scored with a
penalty kick.
Two minutes later, Oregon,
coached by Justin Roome, countered
Stanford's three points with a try and
took a 5-3 lead.
Stanford scored two more tries
before halftime, and the Ducks
found themselves behind at the end
of the first 40-minute half by a score
of 15-7.
Bayly said that although his team
was behind at halftime, it was the sec
ond half that made the difference.
"We started off the second half a
little slow," Bayly said. "After the
first ten minutes, we picked it up
and played solid defense and sound
offense."
Oregon slowly erased Stanford's
lead and allowed the Cardinal to
score three points in the second
half. With 16 minutes left in the
half, Oregon scored the go-ahead
point and held the score at 24-18
until the match ended. Forward
Noah Evans played a key role in
Oregon's 17 second-half points and
Mike Estis controlled Oregon's
backline all game.
Bayly hopes Oregon's win over
Stanford will not only help the team
gain momentum coming into league
play, but that it will put the Ducks on
the map.
"With this win, we hope to catapult
ourselves into a position where a
berth in the Sweet 16 Tournament is
possible," Bayly said.
TROUBLES
continued from page 13
Jackson and James Davis came to
Eugene.
No one in an Oregon uniform has
ever defeated the Sun Devils at Wells
Fargo Arena.
"We've had a couple big leads
and kind of blown it a couple times
down there," Oregon forward Luke
Jackson said. "It's just one of those
places. They got the best of us the
"You don't attack Ike
(Diogu) on defense. Ike's
going to get his points.
You just need to make
sure he doesn't have a
monster game, but I
think you need to make
Ike play defense."
Ernie Kent
Oregon head coach
last three years, but we're going
down there trying to get a win and
we feel like we can do that."
The game is the first of two that
will keep the Ducks in Arizona for
three days. After taking on the Sun
Devils, Oregon will face off against
No. 14 Arizona in Tucson on
Sunday.
When looking back at the season
at the end of the year, the road trip
through the desert could be a piv
otal weekend for Oregon. The
Ducks have never swept the Sun
Devils and Wildcats on the road
during the same trip.
Since the Pac-10 added Arizona
and Arizona State for the 1978-79
season, Oregon has been swept by
the Arizona schools 13 times. The
Ducks have split the road swing
12 times.
That pinpoints why the upcoming
games take on meaning for the Ducks.
With two games left in the first half of
the conference season after this week,
two wins would be vital. Two losses
Emerald
Arizona State’s Ike Diogu leads the Pac-10 this season with 23.1 points per game. He
scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds last season against Oregon.
could also be heartbreaking.
Should the Ducks sweep in Ari
zona, they would be 5-2 in confer
ence play and in good position for
the California and Stanford visits to
Eugene next week. If Oregon splits, it
would be 4-3 and presumably in the
same position in the conference
standings it is now — fourth.
In the event the Ducks lose both,
it would shift them to 3-4, making
the games against the Golden Bears
and the Cardinal virtual
must-wins.
"We know how important each
game is and we're definitely going
down there to win two games,"
Jackson said. "We feel like if we
keep both these teams off the
board and kind of neutralize what
they do in transition, as far as pres
suring us, I think we feel like we
can win two games."
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
THOMAS
continued from page 13
He wasn't even playing three min
utes a game and spent much of last
season on the injured list. But Mdn
nis was averaging 11.9 points, five as
sists per game and playing a consis
tent 32.5 minutes on average.
The trade helps Cleveland because
James doesn't have to worry about
playing the point guard spot. Cava
liers General Manager Jim Paxson
got rid of Miles because of his incon
sistency, attitude and the effect that
attitude could have had on James.
The 6-foot-9 Miles is making $4.1
million in the final year of his con
tract and will be a free agent after this
season. Mclnnis was making $3.3
million this season.
Miles' recent actions should help
him fit in well with a Portland team
that is in desperate need of a revamp
of attitude.
Miles, 22, was fined by the Cava
liers after missing Monday's prac
tice. He says he forgot to set his
alarm clock.
This is a mistake by the Blazers.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
—Sports Ulustratfiri
otl campixs I Every Thursday only in the
___ | Oregon Daily Emerald._
The Ducks will participate in their
last "friendly" match against Idaho
State at Oregon's Southbank Field
on Jan. 31. Oregon competes in its
First league game Feb. 14 at home
against Central Washington. Five
other teams — Central Washington,
Oregon State, Washington, Wash
ington State and Western Washing
ton — will compete against Oregon
in the Pacific Northwest Rugby Foot
ball Union.
Oregon practices twice a week at
3:30 p.m. on the turf field by the
Student Recreation Center and still
welcomes interested students to join
the team.
"We are always recruiting," Bayly
said. "Anyone who wants to come out
has the opportunity to do so."
Club hockey loses 1-5 Cup
In front of a crowd full of stu
dents representing Oregon sorori
ties and fraternities that turned out
for Greek Weekend, Oregon's Club
hockey team dropped two more
games, putting their record at
0-16-0.
The Ducks blew two consecutive
two-goal leads in the third period
against Washington to lose the 1-5
Cup at Lane County Ice Arena. Both
games ended with the Huskies win
ning by a score of 3-2.
Oregon plays at home this week
end at 7:30 on both Friday and Satur
day nights against Eastern Washing
ton at Lane County Ice Arena. The
Ducks will then hit the road for the
last time this season on Jan. 29 to play
California and Stanford. They will re
turn home for their final league
games on Feb. 6 and 7 against Central
Washington.
Kirsten McEwen is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
CHALLENGE
continued from page 13
different story altogether.
Oregon has been in this situation
before, however, facing the Wildcats
twice last season without the services
of Kraayeveld, who sat out 13 games
with a staph infection in her right
knee. The Ducks know what it takes to
stay competitive.
"We have to make (Polk) make
tough shots," Smith said. "She's going
to get her points — I don't think we're
going to shut her out — but she's go
ing to have to work every minute,
every second to get shots.
"It's going to be a challenge but I
think our players are looking forward
to it."
Oregon enters the game on a posi
tive note after beating Washington
State 60-50 Saturday. The win
helped the Ducks forget about their
45-point loss to Washington two
days earlier and ended a seven-game
streak of scoring fewer than 60
points.
"It was pretty big for us to come
back from the loss (to Washington),"
Oregon forward Eleanor Haring said.
"It pepped our confidence. It was re
ally major for us."
If Oregon is going to beat Arizona
it will need an offensive boost. Kedzie
Gunderson and Carolyn Ganes need
to pick up some of the slack, as the
scoring average for each has dropped
from last season.
Andrea Bills has carried the load for
most of the year and is the only Duck
averaging double figures in scoring
(11.9). Brandi Davis has come alive of
late, including a 20-point perform
ance against the Cougars. Chelsea
Wagner and Haring have also provid
ed occasional offense.
Wagner's ability to play will be a
game-time decision after suffering a
knee injury against Washington.
Oregon leads the all-time series
with Arizona 22-14, but has dropped
the last five to the Wildcats, including
a 96-65 loss in Thcson last season.
Contact the sports reporter
atjonroetman@dailyenierald.com.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Diener’s game status
remains in question
MILWAUKEE — Marquette Uni
versity junior Travis Diener was held
out of practice on Wednesday, and
his availability for the Golden Ea
gles' game against DePaul on Satur
day is still uncertain.
Diener injured his neck in the sec
ond half of Marquette's 84-76 loss at
Charlotte on Tuesday as he attempt
ed to pump-fake 49ers center Calvin
Clemmons. Clemmons bit on the
fake and came down with both legs
on the back of Diener's neck, push
ing his head violently toward
his chest.
He was later carried from the court
on a stretcher.
Diener was examined at a local
hospital, diagnosed with what was
termed a hyperflexion, or whiplash,
fitted with a neck brace and released.
He accompanied his teammates on
the Golden Eagles' charter plane to
Milwaukee and actually took part in
some film study of the game on the
way home.
Diener was re-evaluated and treated by
the Marquette medical staff on Wednes
day and is being listed as day-to-day.
"All things considered, and having
had a chance to see on tape the forceful
nature of the collision, we are extremely
thankful that Travis is going to be OK,"
coach Tom Crean said.
—Todd Rosiak
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Improved academics
needed, officials say
MILWAUKEE — More than 2,000
athletic teams in Division I potentially
fall short of the NCAA's proposed
guidelines on academic performance,
an NCAA official said Wednesday.
The new proposals, expected to be
given final approval in the spring after
a two-year effort are part of a larger aca
demic reform program for NCAA
member schools in Division I.
For months, NCAA officials have
promoted the reforms as a way of
prodding colleges and universities
to improve student academic
performance.
On Wednesday, Todd Petr, the NCAA's
managing director of research, said a pi
lot study of the new measures indicated
that of the 6,138 sports teams in the
NCAA more than2,000would fall short
of the new academic guidelines.
But Todd Turner, the former ath
letic director at Vanderbilt Universi
ty who chaired a key committee that
put together the new rules, said the
number was an estimate based on
available statistics and didn't neces
sarily mean all of the teams would be
subject to penalty.
The new system essentially ties a
team's academic record to its ability
to award scholarships, recruit, and
perhaps exclude the team from par
ticipating in post-season NCAA
championships.
Specifically, the NCAA is setting
up two different ways to measure ac
ademic progress. One is called the
Graduation Success Rate, which for
the first time would include student
transfers. It would replace the old
graduation rate, which many coaches
felt provided an inaccurate picture of
graduation rates because it did not
include student transfers.
— Don Walker
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel