Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, February 19,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
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Call him confident
Oregon forward Ian Crosswhite has taken his confidence and run with it
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
o understand Ian Crosswhite, one
must look no further than his play in
JL Oregon's 67-62 overtime win over
Washington State on Saturday.
The 6-foot-11 forward contributed a ca
reer-high 23 points and five rebounds.
Those stats in themselves are a good indi
cation of his play against the Cougars.
But delve deeper into the sophomore's
eyes and ask him what really matters most,
and the true Ian Crosswhite comes out into
the open.
That is, if you can make it past the massive
black bruise surrounding his right eye, oth
erwise known as a shiner.
At one point in Oregon's win, the redshirt
sophomore went up for a shot and was el
bowed in the head. As the play moved on
and he missed the shot — one of only three
misses in 13 attempts for him — he was
called for a foul.
Ironic? He thinks so. But the black eye is
what stands out the most.
"The shiner was worth it," Crosswhite
said. "If we won, it was worth it. As long as
we win, I don't care how many shiners I get."
There's a hint of confidence behind
Crosswhite's words, and why not? As Ore
gon's main offensive weapon inside, he has
run with the role. Stats-wise, he has been
phenomenal.
In a quick glance, he's scored at least 10
points in 17 of the Ducks' 19 games this sea
son. He has posted double-digit figures in
the last seven games, four of which ended as
Oregon wins.
"No one can stop him right now," Oregon
forward Mitch Platt said. "Against Washington
State, if he doesn't foul out, we win it outright.
He's just been playing real tough lately."
A look at the stat sheet doesn't do Cross
white justice. His physical stature — he's list
ed at 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds — is intimi
dating to even the Pacific-10 Conference's
best. He gained five pounds since the end of
last season, and he weighs 25 more than
when he came to the Ducks as a wide-eyed
recruit prior to the 2001 year.
Comfortable? Crosswhite is becoming
more so every day, and the Australia native is
beginning to show it.
"I know every arena we're going to play in;
I know what to expect," Crosswhite said. "I
generally know who I'm going to play
against and what they're going to be like. Be
ing in the Pac-10 for a couple of years, that
helps out a lot, too."
Crosswhite knows what he will see. He has
played against Ike Diogu before, and that ex
perience aided Crosswhite when the Ducks
played Arizona State on Jan. 22. He scored
15 points.
He knows what he will get from Califor
nia's Amit Tamir. That enabled Crosswhite
to score 16 points in 34 minutes of play in
the Ducks' 68-56 win at McArthur Court
last month.
Crosswhite knows.
"In the Pac-10, at the four position, you
can guard anybody like Amit Tamir — who's
6-foot-10, 6-foot-11 — to Hassan Adams,
who's 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5," Crosswhite said.
"Each night, you know who you're going to
be guarding, but it's going to be a different
type of guy. You can guard a guard-like for
ward or a big man. It just changes."
They're having problems guarding Cross
white, however.
Last season, that wasn't the case. He post
ed 9.3 points per game, starting three of Ore
gon's 33 contests. Crosswhite did have a
knack for perimeter play. In 54 three-point
attempts, he made 23.
The inside game was lacking,
though, so he took the time over
the summer to practice. He
worked out with the likes of
Luke Jackson and Jay Anderson,
improving his post play.
Namely, that is, the use of his
right hand as an offensive tool.
"People recognize 1 go left a
lot," Crosswhite said. "After you
go left a lot of times, (oppo
nents) are sitting on your left
hand. So you try to go right or
fake like you're going right, so
they move there and you
come back left."
Crosswhite is averaging
14.3 points per game, good
enough for second place on
Oregon's scoring list. That
figure also places him 11th
in the Pac-10 above a
handful of the confer
ence's big men.
He's also 12th in the
Pac-10 in rebounding at
5.9 per game. Rebound
ing, though, takes a back
seat right now as his in
creased confidence on the
scoring end has opened
up the team's offense.
"People have just been
keying on the guards, tak
ing us out and forcing us to
pass it in," Oregon guard
James Davis said. "(He's) a
presence we haven't had in
the past. Ian is just going to
work. They're going to have to
lift up off of us and double
team him, otherwise, he's going
Turn to CONFIDENT, page 16
Ducks look to finish season strong
starting against ASU Sun Devils
Oregon wants to finish the season on a positive
note after enduring frustration throughout the year
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
With four regular season games remaining, the Oregon
women's basketball team has one goal in mind: finish strong.
Oregon's first crack at achieving its goal comes tonight when
the Ducks battle Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena at 5:30.
The game marks the start of the Ducks' final Pacific-10 Con
ference road trip of the season, which includes a matchup with
Erik Bishoff Photographer
Chelsea Wagner expects to be pressured by Arizpna State defenders tonight.
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
Arizona on Saturday.
"We just want to finish strong," guard Chelsea Wagner said.
"The season has been kind of frustrating for us. (We want to
play) the next four games really strong so we can go into the
Pac-10 Tournament with the momentum of winning some
games."
Winning games hasn't come easily for
the Ducks this season. Injuries to
Cathrine Kraayeveld, Corrie Mizusawa,
Kedzie Gunderson, Wagner and others
have taken a toll. Oregon's (12-12 over
all, 4-10 Pac-10) chances of finishing any higher than eighth in
the conference are slim to none. With that in mind, the Ducks
look to play the role of spoiler as they close their season against
three of the Pac- 10's top teams, starting with Arizona State.
The Sun Devils (15-8, 9-5) sit in fourth place but trail first
place Stanford by only two games.
"When you're at where we are in the standings, you like to
be a spoiler," Oregon assistant coach Allison McNeill said.
"That's one of our motivations is go down (to Arizona) and try
to knock off one of those teams at home."
In the season's first meeting, Arizona State overcame an
eight-point second-half deficit on Jan. 24 to defeat Oregon 69
67 at McArthur Court. Junior guard Betsy Boardman led the
way with 13 points for the Sun Devils. The Beaverton native
also made a huge defensive play, stripping the ball from Ore
gon forward Eleanor Haring with less than 10 seconds remain
ing to seal the victory.
Boardman (12 points per game), forward Kristen Kovesdy
(10.4) and guard Kylan Loney (9.2) are the Sun Devils' main
offensive threats.
Oregon plans to counter Boardman with its best defender,
forward Kedzie Gunderson. The Ducks were without the serv
ices of Gunderson during the teams' first meeting, after the 6
foot junior was forced to leave the game with a knee injury just
Turn to STRONG, page 14
Ducks get victory
over Portland State
to salvage season
Oregon rebounds from its civil war loss to
extend its winning streak over Portland State
to 22 matches; the Ducks finish the season
2-12 overall and 1-7 in the Pac-10
By Scott Archer
Freelance Reporter
It finally happened.
Heading into its final Pacific-10 Conference match on the
season, Oregon needed a win to avoid its worst season ever.
Oregon won 34-13 Wednesday against Portland State,
giving the Ducks their first, and because its the end of the
regular season, Pac-10 victory..
1T% 1 S m ^ The Ducks double their win total
HUP 1LP UHL with their triumph Wednesday, and
WRESTLING finish the regular season at 2-12 over
_ all and 1-7 Pac-10.
Oregon won seven of its 10 match
es, including the team's first match on the night when sen
ior Jake Leair beat his opponent and started the Ducks off
on the right foot.
"It's a good way to end the dual meet season and to head
into the Pac-10 tournament with positive momentum," said
head coach Chuck Kearney. "We wrestled tough tonight and
that made the difference in tonight's win."
Oregon also received victories from Cody Parker and Ja- ^
son Harless. However, the most memorable feat of the night
came when Oregon pinned four of its opponents in a row.
Joey Bracamonte, at the 157-pound class, Luke Leair
(165-pound class), Chet McBee (174-pound class), and
J.Turn to 3^1VAQ5, pgge.14. . ,.