Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, January 30, 2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
Super Bowl:
Carolina vs. New England
3:25 p.m. Sunday, CBS
Women’s
defense
bullies
Bruins
Oregon uses a strong start and
quality defense to win a Very
important’ game at UCLA
The Oregon women's basketball team
pulled out a much needed road win
Thursday, defeating UCLA 61-55 at Pauley
Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Oregon (11-9 overall, 3-7 Pacific-10
Conference) led by as many as 16 in the
second half in its best conference road per
formance of the season.
After the Ducks built a 29-18 half
time lead, UCLA (9-10, 4-6) opened the
second half on a 7-0 run to pull within
to regain control of the contest at
37-25.
Oregon lead by no less than six the
rest of the way, avoiding the type of sec
ond-half meltdown that had hampered
it lately.
"This is a very important victory for
our team," Oregon head coach Bev
Smith told KSCR (1320 AM) Radio after
the game. "As close as we came to the
Arizona schools, we just could feel it. We
knew that we had it in our capabilities to
put teams away."
UCLA used a full-court press to over
come a 14-point second half deficit to
win the season's first meeting with the
Ducks on Jan. 4 at McArthur Court. Ore
gon handled the Bruin's pressure much
better Thursday, closing out a confi
* dence-building win.
"1 thought we did what we needed to do
in terms of the press," Smith said. "1 think
we've turned the comer and (players) un
derstand that they have to be disciplined
and make the little things happen rather
than make a big play."
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
BASKETBALL
four. Oregon re
sponded with a
basket by Andrea
Bills and a pair of
three-pointers by
Chelsea Wagner
wagner overcame a 1 ot 7 tirst-halt
shooting performance to finish with a
team-high 17 points. The Springfield na
tive connected on a game-high five three
pointers and has lead the team in scoring
in three consecutive games.
"We talked about being aggressive,"
Smith said. "You need to know your
strengths. Chelsea is a shooter and
shooters are going to go through phases
where maybe the ball isn't dropping like
it should, but you have to keep
shooting."
Oregon also had one of its best defen
sive performances of the season. The
Ducks held UCLA sophomore Nikki
Blue — a first team All Pac-10 selection
last season — scoreless for the first 36
minutes of the game. The 5-foot-8 guard
entered the game averaging 14.8 points
per game, but could only muster six
against the Ducks Thursday. *
Bruin sophomore Lisa Willis lead all
scorers with 20 points and freshman
Noelle Quinn added 11 points and
grabbed 15 rebounds for UCLA.
Blue, Willis and Quinn combined to
shoot 15 of 48 from the field.
"Absolutely just an amazing defensive
job by our perimeter players," Smith
Turn to WOMEN, page 10
;
Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
James Davis had 13 points for the Ducks and fought through leg cramps in the second half of Oregon’s win.
Ducks hold off California,
move into tie for second
The Ducks grind their way to the
team’s fifth win during Pac-10 play
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
The game that was expected to be for third place
in the Pacific-10 Conference ended up meaning just
a little bit more Thursday at McArthur Court.
It was an important win for Oregon, one that
gives the team a tie for sec
ond place in the Pac-10 af
ter Arizona lost to Wash
ington in Seattle. That's
especially heartwarming
for Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent and the Ducks, who lost to the Wild
cats less than a week ago.
"I think that's a compliment to these guys,"
BASKETBALL
Kent said. "For this team to be battling for second
place (isgreat)."
Luke Jackson scored a team-high 17 points,
and Oregon held off a late California surge for a
68-56 win over the Golden Bears. With the win,
the Ducks improved to 5-3 in conference play.
"It was great to get through this game," Kent said.
Winning the game meant battling a late Cali
fornia charge that pulled the Golden Bears (8-9
overall, 4-4 Pac-10) to within six points with 3:04
left in the second half. The Ducks (10-5) scored
nine of the next 12 points en route to the win,
their 36th in the last 38 games at McArthur Court.
That was a slight letdown after a first half that
saw Oregon jump out to a 37-20 lead at halftime.
The Ducks kept California from shooting from
the perimeter, and for the most part, kept the
Golden Bears from cycling the ball down low.
Oregon shot 60.9 percent in the first half and was
Turn to RECAP, page 8
Crosswhite, Anderson plague
Cal’s low-post offense in win
Oregon's big men held Amit Tamir to
two points on the night and kept Leon
Powe at bay in the Ducks’ 12-point win
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Cal's Amit Tamir is the second-leading scorer
and rebounder for the Golden Bears, averaging 11.4
points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
He's the sole senior and veteran of the starting
lineup and was shooting 42.5 percent from the
three-point line entering Thursday's matchup
with Oregon.
The Oregon big men forgot to look atTamir's
statistics.
Tamir didn't make a single field goal in Oregon's
68-56 win. He shot 0 for 8 on field goals and was 0
for 3 from the three-point line. The center scored
only two points off of free throws.
"That was my main assignment Tamir," senior Jay
Anderson said. "Anywhere he caught the ball, cou
ple feet past the NBA three-point line, just not let
Turn to MEN, page 9
Swinnen,
Spencer
lead UO
in victory
The Oregon men’s tennis team
stays undefeated at home behind
strong doubles and singles play
By Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
The men's tennis players can let their
emotions get the best of them and, at the
same time, inspire them to a new level.
_ This time, Ore
EN’
TENNIS 10 Conference)
__ took advantage of
their emotions en
route to a 5-2 victory over Brigham
Young (1-2) at the Student Tennis Cen
ter Thursday.
Oregon swept the doubles side to
earn the first point of the dual match af
ter being led by the No. 1 team of junior
Sven Swinnen and sophomore Arron
Spencer. The duo came back from a 2-4
deficit by winning six of the next seven
games to defeat Brigham Young's Erik
Nyman and Nima Roshan 8-5 in one of
several emotional matches throughout
the night.
Head coach Chris Russell said he likes
what he has seen from his team at the start
of the 2004 regular season.
"The guys are (playing) better than last
week,'' Russell said. "We definitely made
some progress. Our guys are doing a good
job in doubles right now."
At the No. 2 position, Switzerland na
tives junior Manuel Kost and sophomore
Thomas Bieri started their doubles
match by winning the first five games, in
cluding two break points to carry them
to an 8-2 defeat.
"We played very well in doubles,"
Kost said. "We had good returns and
Turn to TENNIS, page 10
gon players (2-0
overall, 0-0 Pacific
Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
Sven Swinnen defeated Brigham Young's Erik
Nyman in straight sets, 64,7-5, on Thursday.