Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hank hager@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
Texas vs. Oklahoma State
6 p.m., ESPN
Monday, March 1, 2004
Ducks clinch
Pac-lO’s No. 8
with home win
Oregon enters the Pacific-10 Tournament
on Friday with confidence after beating Cal
and Stanford, the first time this season it has
won two consecutive conference games
By Jon Roetman
_ Sports Reporter
Oregon couldn't have asked for much more.
After a season full of injuries and dis
- appointment, the Ducks closed out their
\M€%MCMFC Pacific-10 Conference schedule Saturday
D ACI/FTD aI I 3 77-61- victory against California
oAbi\t ID ALL ’ in front of3,572 at McArthur Court.
- It was Oregon's third-highest
margin of victory this season and
the first time the Ducks have won consecutive conference
games.
Saturday's win, along with an emotional victory against No.
10 Stanford on Thursday, has the Ducks (14-14 overall, 6-12
Pac-10) glowing with confidence as they look ahead to the
weekend's Pac-10 Tournament.
No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 California will meet again Friday in
the opening round of the tournament. The winner will face the
No. 1 seed — Stanford — Saturday.
"This was a very great weekend for us," Oregon center Andrea
Bills said. "Our momentum is very high and we're just ready to
get at it in the Pac-10 Tournament."
One area the Golden Bears (11-16,4-14) will need to improve
before Friday is their interior defense. Bills torched California for
a career-high 22 points Saturday, connecting on 9 of 14 shots.
The 6-foot-3 junior also grabbed 10 rebounds — three offen
sive — for her sixth double-double of the season.
Saturday's performance snapped a cold streak for Bills, who
tallied only eight field goals in her past four games.
"(Oregon) did a great job going to (Bills)," California head
cudui ^aien i lorsimeyer saw. i tnougnt she played well. 1 think
the (offensive) boards probably sparked her a little bit.
"When she plays well, (Oregon plays) well."
California pulled to within six with 2:42 remaining in the sec
ond half when a three-pointer by forward Kiki Williams cut the
Oregon lead to 65-59.
Momentum shifted back to Oregon 11 seconds later when
Golden Bear forward Leigh Gregory fouled Duck point guard
Corrie Mizusawa near midcourt. Mizusawa's smiling reaction to
the foul angered Horstmeyer, who was issued a technical foul af
ter screaming at officials for roughly a minute
"I had a bad technical foul," Horstmeyer said. "I think that
was a bad technical foul to get at that time. I think that put our
team at a disadvantage."
Oregon started the game on fire, opening with an 8-0 run dur
ing the first two minutes. California answered with a 17-1 run
Turn to CLINCH, page 9
Oregon
senior
Kayla Steen
scored a
season
high 13
points in
her final
game at
McArthur
Court. The
guard is the
only senior
on the
team.
Erik R.
Bishoff
Photographer
bteen gives Mac loud farewell
Kayla Steen hasn't been a quiet leader for
Oregon, and she certainly didn't leave
McArthur Court with a quiet game.
Steen, Oregon's only senior to be cele
brated before Satur day's victory against Cali
fornia, isn't the sort of take-charge leader
who is also typical of a basketball team.
Typical isn't a word to describe the guard.
It also doesn't describe her play Saturday.
The Portland native has averaged 2.6 points
per game this season. She scored 13, one shy
of her career high, in her Mac Court finale.
When Steen returned to the Oregon bench
for the final time Saturday after playing 26
minutes in her second start of the season, she
received a standing ovation from the crowd.
But all thoughts were still on the game, a
77-62 win against California.
"(The emotion) got to me a little bit when
we first started warming up," Steen said.
"But I tried to forget about it and just focus
on the game, our game plan and what we
Mindi Rice
The gir! and the game
needed to come out and do."
If Oregon head coach Bev Smith's game
plan was to send Steen off in style, then the
Ducks played the plan to a "T."
Literally. A technical foul on California
head coach Caren Horstmeyer, called after
she screamed at a referee, was the loudest
thing in Mac Court on Saturday.
The second loudest was Steen's leadership.
"She is a tremendous leader," Oregon's
starting point guard Corrie Mizusawa said.
'To go out there and talk to everybody and
get everyone fired up, Kayla is probably the
best on our team that can do that.
"Everyone looks to her and listens to her
and responds to what she has to say."
In her two years at Oregon, Steen has bat
tled teammates for playing time. She has
batded injuries. She has battled opponents.
Essentially, she's a fighter.
In her junior season — her first as a Duck
after two years at Clackamas Community
College — Steen was slowed by a back in
jury. In the 2002-2003 regular season finale,
she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her
left knee. After offseason surgery, she re
turned in November. Shortly after she took
to the court Steen was left as the lone senior
when Cathrine Kraayeveld tore her ACL.
Steen, a point guard by nature, averaged
11.3 minutes this season. She shot 84.2
Turn to RICE, page 9
Erik R. Bishoff Photographer
Ian Crosswhite and the Ducks struggled Saturday in a 76-55 loss to Stanford. It was hardly similar to
the 83-80 loss to Stanford on Feb. 1, when the Ducks actually led at one point in the game.
Oregon battered at Stanford;
Cardinal rolls to 25th victory
The Ducks lost their 18th straight game
at Maples Pavilion on Saturday, 76-55
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
PALO ALTO, CALIF. — The Stanford juggernaut
keeps on rolling.
Oregon headed into the Pacific-10 Conference's
lion's den on Saturday and came out bruised, bat
tered, beaten and basically left for dead in the race for
an NCAA Tournament berth.
And now, the Ducks are almost on life support
for a berth in the Pac-10 Tournament in March.
That all comes courtesy of No. 1 Stanford, which
defeated Oregon, 76-55, in front of 7,391 at a sold
out Maples Pavilion.
"Stanford plays so solid," Oregon forward Luke Jack
son said. "We knew it was going to be tough tonight.
"They play great team defense. They don't have
many stars but they play solid as a team."
There's currently a list of issues for the Ducks, the
most pressing of which surrounds the team's berth in
the Pac-10 s postseason. The loss forces Oregon into a
three-way tie with UCLA and USC for fifth-place in the
Pac-10. Coincidentally, the Ducks host both teams to
end the season at McArthur Court.
One win and the Ducks should be in. Another loss
— or two — and it could get close.
Oregon can t afford to lose focus, especially after
scoring a season-low 55 points and shooting a season
worst 31.1 percent from the field against the Cardinal.
"We've got to focus on USC and UCLA," Jackson
said. "We're not taking anything for granted because
we're not in for sure. I'm absolutely frustrated. That
can only go so far. We have to come together and we
have to get wins."
Ihe Ducks allowed the Cardinal to connect on 45
percent of the team's three-point shots. Stanford also
outrebounded the Ducks, 42-33, highlighted by 12
from forward Josh Childress.
Childress, for that matter, gave the Ducks fits. He
Turn to BATTERED, page 8