Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, March 3,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NHL:
Vancouver vs. Colorado
6:30 p.m., ESPN2
Mindi Rice
The girl and the game
Injured
forward's
dedication
remains
In McArthur Court, while the women's
basketball team practices, the injured
Ducks sit to the side.
Those at practice Tuesday saw Corrie
Mizusawa, Chelsea Wagner and Andrea
Bills in folding chairs along the sideline.
One player was missing.
Off to the right, at one of the baskets set
up along the side for drills and breakout
work, was Cathrine Kraayeveld.
While the brace on her knee — the
one visual clue to her surgery on a torn
anterior cruciate ligament — remains in
place, Kraayeveld can practice now. Well,
she has pool workouts, she runs a little
bit and she shoots around during prac
tice. She doesn't participate in drills with
the team, but her presence is felt from
the sidelines.
"Cathrine's example is in what she does
and how she works and her work ethic,"
Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. "I
think our players see that and see that
every day. They see it when she's in the
pool, they see the way she's come back. I
think that's kind of where she feels she can
be an example."
Kraayeveld is the only current player to
be around for four years and the only re
maining Duck who was coached by the
tempestuous Jody Runge.
She was supposed to be the leader on
Oregon's two-senior squad. Between
Kraayeveld and Kayla Steen, who trans
ferred from a community college for
her junior season, the Ducks had two
automatic leaders on the otherwise
young squad.
Instead, the injury has kept Kraayeveld
on the sidelines, giving her a small oppor
tunity to lead from the bench.
"There's certain stuff I can say and some
stuff I have to be careful not to say because
I'm not out there with them, sweating and
doing all that stuff," Kraayeveld said. "It's
kind of a line I have to be careful about,
but I've done a good job, I think, of know
ing when not to say stuff and when to just
be an encourager."
Instead of focusing on what she has
missed this season, Kraayeveld is look
ing ahead to next season. Steen is the
only player Oregon will lose to gradua
tion, and four players — Bills, Brandi
Davis, Kedzie Gunderson and Mizu
sawa — will join Kraayeveld to fill out a
tough senior class.
"Having everyone being able to play
as much as they have is just going to
help us that much more," Kraayeveld
said. "They're going to be so much more
experienced and just understanding a
lot more than if we wouldn't have had
these injuries. It's unfortunate we did
but it gave them an opportunity to play
more minutes."
Kraayeveld, who will return next sea
son after medical redshirt rules fell in her
favor, may even have to fight for a start
ing position next season. Oregon's five
Turn to RICE, page 6
Erik R. Bishoff Photographer
Oregon has lost four straight games and six of its last eight games. The Ducks host Southern California and UCLA this week in hopes of making the Pac-10 Tournament.
Ducks focus on defense this week
The Ducks are getting dangerously
close to missing next week’s Pac-10
Tournament after losing four straight
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Two weeks ago, the Ducks were riding high,
sitting in third place and fighting for a berth in
the NCAA Tournament.
WIEN’S
BASKETBALL
Before a 21-point blowout loss to Stanford on
Saturday, an NIT berth
was beginning to slip
away from Oregon.
Now the Pacific-10
Conference Tournament
is in jeopardy for the
Ducks, who have lost four straight games and six
of their last eight.
That alone should cause worry among the 12
11 Ducks as they focus on Southern California
and UCLA this week.
"There is a huge sense of urgency," Oregon for
ward Jay Anderson said. "We might need to win
them to get into the Pac-10 Tournament. We just
want to be on a roll when we get into the Pac-10
Tournament."
To think, Oregon at one point in the season
seemed more destined to win the Pac-10 Tourna
ment than to fall completely out of it.
But now the Ducks are tied with USC and
UCLA for fifth place in the Pac-10. Washing
ton State is a game behind and Oregon State
is two away.
"I expected us to have a lot better season,"
Anderson said. "It's somewhat disappointing,
but right now, we can't worry about that. We
need to focus on what we can change or what
we can do in the next two games to straighten
out our season."
The season got bent out of shape as it wore on
and has come close to breaking during the team's
four-game losing streak.
During that stretch, the Ducks have been
dominated. Opposing teams have scored an
average of 86 points in Oregon's last four
games. Meanwhile, the Ducks have averaged a
shade less than 75.
"Defense has stuck out in my mind
throughout the course of the year," Oregon
head coach Ernie Kent said. "It's still beyond
me why I have not done a good job of getting
this team to understand, or buy into or con
vince them to play defense and just how im
portant it is."
The Ducks believe that they can make waves in
the short Pac-10 Tournament. Oregon would
most likely have to win all three games, which
includes the championship contest, to earn an
invite to the NCAA Tournament.
On a lower level, to get into the NIT, Oregon
(7-9 Pac-10) must have at least a .500 overall
record. Defeating USC and UCLA would be a
step in the right direction.
"If we can get these games and have a lit
tle momentum going into the Pac-10 Tour
nament, it'd be interesting to see how Stan
ford and Arizona played in the Pac-10
Tournament," Oregon forward Luke Jackson
said. "Arizona's kind of been known to skip
the Pac-10 Tournament and rest their guys. I
think it'd be hard for Stanford to go 3-0 as
beat up as they are. I think a team with a lot
of momentum going into the Pac-10 Tourna
ment could be dangerous, and hopefully
that's us."
Second-half MVP
If Oregon could start out games by playing the
second half first, guard Aaron Brooks might give
the Ducks the boost they need.
The Seattle native has scored 41 points and
dished out 14 assists while turning the ball
over seven times since returning Feb. 19 against
Arizona.
Turn to FOCUS, page 6
Stanford struggles against UO, OSU
The Cardinal hobbles into the Pac-10
Tournament after splitting games
with the Oregon schools last week
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Maybe Stanford isn't a lock to win the Pacific
10 Conference Tournament after all.
With the start of the tournament just days
away, the No. 12 Cardinal is still the favorite
to come out on top. But it's just not a sure
thing anymore.
Stanford closed the season on a shaky note
last week, splitting road games against Oregon
and Oregon State.
After losing 67-66 to Oregon on Thursday,
Stanford was lucky to avoid being swept as Ore
gon State blew several chances Saturday to defeat
the Cardinal in the game's final minute.
Forward Nicole Powell
rescued the Cardinal with
a 15-foot baseline jumper
with 5.4 seconds remain
ing, helping Stanford to a
67-66 win against the
Beavers.
The split cost Stanford a shot at an outright
Pac-10 title. Instead, the Cardinal finished the
season as co-champions with Arizona, with both
teams sporting a 14-4 conference mark.
PAC
io
Stanford is the No. 1 seed in the Pac-10 Tour
nament after a conference tiebreaker.
Despite the unexpected split, Stanford head
coach Tara VanDerveer was focusing on the posi
tive effect of defeating Oregon State.
"We needed this," VanDerveer told The Daily
Barometer on Saturday. "We had to work very
hard for it. We looked absolutely dead in the wa
ter, then we started pressing and I think the ag
gressiveness defensively really helped us."
Stanford will face the winner of Friday's Pac
10 Tournament game between No. 8 Oregon and
No. 9 California on Saturday.
One advantage the Cardinal may have
Turn to STRUGGLES, page 6