Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, February 27,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
Oregon at Stanford
4p.m., Saturday, ABC
Oregon unseats No. 10 Stanford
WOMENS
BASKETBALL
Point guard Corrie Mizusawa scored the Ducks’
final six points in the last 22 seconds Thursday
for the surprise victory, 67-66, at McArthur Court
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
Corrie Mizusawa tied her Oregon career high Thursday with 13
points in the most dramatic way possible.
After a teammate grabbed the rebound when Stanford's Nicole
Powell missed a free throw with 21.8 seconds remaining, Mizu
sawa — in classic point-guard mode — took the pass from her
teammate and dribbled down the court.
And for the second time in 12 sec
onds, the passing phenom drove to the
basket to do the job herself. A few steps,
a double pump and a couple heart
wrenching seconds later, the Ducks were
ahead of No. 10 Stanford, 67-66, with
8.2 seconds remaining.
"I think I had a step on (Stanford's Susan Borchardt)," Mizu
sawa said. "I had a pretty wide-open lane. I just drove past her and
threw it up there."
The Cardinal (20-6 overall, 13-4 Pacific-10 Conference)
called a 30-second timeout, but Powell's final-second at
tempt was short of the basket and left Oregon (13-14, 5
12) in a screaming huddle at the middle of a joyous
McArthur Court.
"As soon as that shot went up, 1 was screaming," forward
Kedzie Gunderson said. "It was just one of those things. (Pow
ell) was off-balance, (Andrea Bills) was right up there challeng
ing with me, you could see it on (Powell's) face that she knew
that wasn't going in. There were tears of joy practically coming
down my face."
In a way, the win was therapeutic for the Ducks. After start
ing the season 5-0, Oregon slowly succumbed to injury after
injury, loss after loss. Now struggling for a .500 finish, the
Ducks' upset of the nation's lOth-ranked team gives members
of the team confidence.
The game marked the first start of the season for guard Kayla
Steen. The Ducks' lone senior to use up her eligibility, Steen's start
and the Ducks' win was an emotional way for the Portland native
to begin her final homestand.
"Surprisingly, I was nervous (starting)," Steen said. "But it was
the good kind of nervous. I definitely wanted these last two games
to be memorable. Not only did I get the start, which was exciting
for me, but we got the win, which was, I think, even more exciting.
You kind of forget about the start."
Turn to STANFORD, page 9
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Andrea Bills scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in Thursday’s upset of Stanford.
Gunderson s defense frustrates Powell
Kedzie Gunderson helps Oregon pull off
a huge upset against No. 10 Stanford
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Nicole Powell is one of the best players in the
country.
But the defense of Kedzie Gunderson Thursday
night made Powell look like an average athlete.
Gunderson applied relentless, physical pres
sure on Powell for the majority of Thursday's
game against Stanford, limiting her to 13 points
— Powell averages 20.3 per game — on 4 of 14
shooting in 32 minutes.
The lack of offensive production by the two
time Kodak First-Team All-American helped Ore
gon to a 67-66 upset against No. 10 Stanford at
McArthur Court.
"Nicole Powell is an All-American," Oregon
point guard Corrie Mizusawa said. "Kedzie did a
phenomenal job on her. She definitely came out
ready to 'D' her up."
The battle between Gunderson and Powell
lasted through the game's final possession. The
Stanford forward received an in-bounds pass in
the backcourt with 8.2 seconds remaining and
started to drive. Gunderson stayed in front of
Powell the entire way, eventually forcing her
into an off-balance shot that came up short at
the buzzer.
The defensive stop was a moment of revenge
for Gunderson, who fouled Powell in a similar
situation at McArthur Court in 2003.
With 3.3 seconds remaining and Oregon leading
Stanford 74-73 last season, Powell caught a long
in-bounds pass and was fouled on her way to the
basket by Gunderson. The Stanford forward sank
both free throws to give the Cardinal a 75-74 win.
Gunderson said last year's defeat was still fresh
in her mind.
"Seeing (we were) up by one with 8 seconds to
go was complete deja vu for me," Gunderson
said. "Last year it was really hard for me, being up
by one and giving them that long pass and foul
ing (Powell).
"(Tonight) was complete payback. I needed to
stop her. That was my goal and I did everything 1
could to stay in front of her."
Powell — who was held without a field goal
until the 12:27 mark of the second half —
showed signs of life during a two-minute stretch
late in the game, when she scored six consecutive
Turn to POWELL, page 9
Oregon
stumbles
at Haas
The Ducks scored five points
to Calfornia’s nine in overtime
for their third-straight loss
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
BERKELEY, Calif. — Through all of the
missed opportunities and disappoint
ments, Oregon had yet to lose three
straight games this season.
That became reality Thursday night.
California needed overtime to outlast
the Ducks, 85-81, in front of 11,347 at
Haas Pavilion. The loss is Oregon's third
in a row and fourth straight in Berkeley.
"We fought hard
iwl ft S^i -5^ (we) washed it
BASKETBALL away in overtime,"
- Oregon guard
Aaron Brooks said.
The Golden Bears outscored Oregon, 9
5, in the extra frame. They grabbed the
momentum Oregon ended the second
half with and held the Ducks to a three
pointer and two Luke Jackson free throws.
Of course, the overtime session wouldn't
have been necessary if the Ducks played a lit
tle defense. At least that's what they thought.
"It's defense," Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent said. "The whole tone of the season
comes down to us being able to defend
people."
Much like it has been for most of the
season for the Ducks, it was a tale of two
halves. In the first, Oregon allowed Cali
fornia to score 44 points on the strength
of 55.9 percent shooting.
The Golden Bears (12-12 overall, 8-7
Pacific-10 Conference) knocked down
three three-pointers and were led by
Richard Midgley's 13 points.
The second half was a tad bit better for
Oregon (12-10, 7-8). The Ducks held the
Golden Bears to 32 points, allowing Ore
gon to pull even at 74 with 1:22 left to
play. That came after the Ducks had made
one field goal during a 10-minute span
midway through the half that allowed Cal
ifornia to jump ahead by eight points.
"If we had that sense of urgency in the
first half, we wouldn't have been in that
hole," Kent said.
If nothing else, the game was symbolic
of Oregon's season. A few missed shots
here, a few more there. A missed opportu
nity here, yet another there.
As the game wound down in regulation,
the Ducks connected on their shots. They
defended, they grabbed rebounds. They
just couldn't connect on that last drive
down the floor, an opportunity to put the
game away with seconds remaining,
Turn to DEFEAT, page 8
No. 24 Oregon women travel south for Pac-10 action
Duck tennis looks for two
upset victories over top-20
schools for both the men
and women starting today
By Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
The Oregon tennis teams meet
their toughest challenges for the sea
son this weekend.
The women will travel to the Bay
Area to take on a pair of top-10
schools. The Ducks (9-1 overall, 2-0
Pacific-10 Conference) face first
ranked Stanford today and No. 9 Cal
ifornia on Saturday. It is the first time
since October
that Oregon
will compete
TENNIS outdoors.
_ Despite los
ing their first
dual match against fourth-ranked
Washington last weekend, the
women are slowly being recognized
as one of the top teams in the coun
try after their terrific start. For the
second time in the history of the
women's tennis program, the Ducks
moved into the top 25 and now sit
at No. 24.
Oregon head coach Nils Schyllan
der said his squad is looking at these
upcoming matches as another
chance to showcase the team on a
national level and hopefully pull off
an upset.
"We feel like we got nothing to
lose and are going to embrace this
opportunity to grow as a team,”
Schyllander said. "If we play hard,
anything can happen."
That growth process has already
begun as the women currently have
two players among the top-50 singles
players in the country. Junior Daria
Panova jumped up one spot to No. 7,
while freshman Dominika Dieskova
entered the rankings for the first time
in her career at No. 46. Right now,
Panova holds a 21-4 singles record
and Dieskova has compiled a 12-6
singles record.
However, Stanford (9-0) boasts an
all-star squad with a total of seven
players rated among the top 75. The
Cardinal is led by 24th-ranked sen
ior Lauren Barnikow, who has a
16- 4 record, and its own star fresh
man, No. 26 Theresa Logar, who is
17- 2 on the season.
Stanford head coach Lele Forood
said she is well aware of the up-and
coming Ducks and realizes her team
will be tested.
"Oregon is certainly a very tough
opponent and we are looking forward
to the match," Forood said.
Revenge will be on the minds of
the Ducks after they were defeated
by Stanford, 7-0, and California,
Turn to TENNIS, page 8