“There are two ways to argue with
a woman, and neither of them work.”
Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer after canceling an interview with a
Sports Illustrated reporter because his wife was expecting him home
■ Women’s basketball O
Who will fly higher
The Ducks will go wing-to-wing with the
Portland Pilots in their Mac Court season opener
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s basket
ball team opens up its much
anticipated 2004 season
tonight against the Portland Pilots
at 4:30 p.m. at Mac Court.
With a healthy Cathrine
Kraayeveld and the senior leader
ship of Andrea Bills and Corrie
Mizusawa, the Ducks are expected
to compete in the upper-tier of the
Pacific-10 conference.
The Ducks will need to work
on a few things before they are
able to contend, including offen
sive execution. Oregon commit
ted 21 turnovers in its final exhi
bition game last week against
Strakonice BBC.
“In terms of our execution, it’s
getting better,” Oregon head coach
Bev Smith said. “We were just
rushing things, and that’s just part
of the preseason.”
The Ducks shot 37.3 percent
from the floor against Strakonice
compared to 50.8 percent in their
first exhibition against Western
Oregon.
“In our exhibition game (against
Strakonice), we weren’t shooting
as high of a percentage,” Smith
said. “You would like to see (all
shots) drop, but sometimes that
doesn’t happen.”
While the Ducks struggled on
offense against Strakonice, they
provided a solid defensive effort in
both games and will use defense
as an offensive ignition.
Oregon’s defense will look to
contain the Pilots’ top returning
scorer and West Coast Conference
Newcomer of the Year, Ashlee Om
dorff. The senior averaged 11.6
points and 8.3 rebounds per game
last year.
“Portland is a very solid team,”
Smith said. “They have three return
ing starters, and drey are a feisty and
aggressive team.”
Portland lost its top scorer from
last year in senior and two-time first
team all-conference talent Khalila
O’Rielly-Williams. O’Rielly
Williams led the WCC in scoring
with 16.4 points per game and in
steals with 93.
However, the Pilots return
three starters — Orndorff, Hanna
Seltzer and Whitney Grant —
from the team that beat the then
20th ranked Ducks last year 76-58
at Portland.
“One of our biggest strengths this
year will be the balance of our re
turning players,” Portland head
coach Jim Sollars said. “I don’t
think we have had four seniors in
some time.”
For the Ducks, the frontcourt
combination of Eleanor Haring,
Bills and Kraayeveld will give Ore
gon a height advantage that it will
look to exploit.
Last season, Bills averaged 11.1
points per game and was one of
the Ducks’ top offensive weapons
after Kraayeveld went down with a
knee injury.
“Andrea is someone who has
substance on both offense and de
fense,” Smith said. “Portland will be
playing a bit undersized, so (An
drea) will be important down low.”
Also important is the play of
Haring. The sophomore scored 13
points against Strakonice on six for
10 shooting, and if she can remain
productive, Haring will take pres
sure off of both Kraayeveld and
Bills in the post.
Oregon owns a 29-2 record in
home-opening games, including
26 wins in the last 27 games. The
Ducks lead the series against the
Pilots 17-3, including an 11-0
record at Mac Court.
briansmith@ dailyemerald, com
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Oregon’s Andrea Bills, seen here against Strakonice on Friday, averaged 11.1
points per game for the Ducks last season.
■ Duck volleyball
Ducks look
to sharpen
defensive
game in LA
USC's second-ranked hitting
percentage and UCLA's middle
blockers pose threats for the Ducks
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Oregon volleyball has been able to focus on
defense again now that its offensive attack has
found some balance.
Junior Kelly Russell hit with confidence and
efficiency for the Ducks (9-16 overall, 1-14 Pa
cific-10 Conference), tallying 32 kills last week.
Sophomore Sarah Mason picked up the other
end of the attack, and sophomore Kristen Bit
terfound a stroke that was capable of stabiliz
ing the middle.
“I think Sarah coming back makes every
body better,” Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira
said. “Early in the year, we had three hitters
that were dominating our team, while three
were growing. ”
Ferreira said practice time previously went
toward developing his younger offensive play
ers instead of fine-tuning the defense because
of injuries to Lauren Westendorf and Mason.
“Our focus this week has been on defense,”
Ferreira said. He believes the defense has not
been able to slow down the opposition. Bitter’s
recent breakout as an attack threat in the middle,
combined with Mason’s revival, has balanced the
Ducks offensively, according to Ferreira.
“Sarah makes our other hitters better by soft
ening up the (opposition’s) defense,” he said.
“If your offense is in sync, your defense is what
ends up winning. ”
It will be hard to get the Los Angeles teams
to budge this weekend using either aspect,
though. Ferreira said his team does not have the
offensive speed of UCLA or the defensive size
of USC.
“We have two different types of game plans,”
VOLLEYBALL, page 6A
■ Men’s basketball
Ducks prepared to live up to hype
in their 100th regular season opener
Idaho State will face one of the top recruiting classes
and fan bases in the country tonight at Mac Court
BY ION ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon men’s basketball team
opens its 100th regular season against
Idaho State at 8 p.m. today at
McArthur Court.
One of the most-hyped teams in Ore
gon history, the 2004-05 Ducks are full
of young, talented players with loads of
potential. Freshmen guards Malik Hair
ston, Bryce Taylor, Chamberlain
Oguchi and forward Maarty Leunen
represent the greatest recruiting class
in Oregon history. Teamed with the
likes of sophomore point guard Aaron
Brooks and junior forward Ian Cross
white, tonight’s opener provides the
youthful Ducks a chance to show
they’re worth all of the attention.
“I’m hoping they’ll be sky-high for
the opener, while keeping things in
perspective,” Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent said.
After a pair of exhibition wins, the
Ducks will face a Bengal team that
ended the 2003-04 season with a 13
18 record but finished second in the
Big Sky Conference at 7-7.
“They’re a team with very good
guard play,” Kent said. “They move
the ball extremely well.”
While Idaho State has far less size
than Oregon, the Ducks aren’t taking
anything for granted. Sunday’s exhi
bition scare against Division II West
ern Oregon (66-58 Duck win) showed
the Ducks and their fans that they still
have plenty of work to do.
“There’s an awful lot of hype on this
team,” Kent said. “The Western
Oregon game should bring everybody
back down to earth a little bit. The real
ity of this year is that there are going to
be some games where this team can
get up and down, and there’s going to
be games where this team is going to
have to grind out wins.”
Brooks and Hairston looked im
pressive during the two-game exhibi
tion season. Hairston dropped 30
points on Trinity Western in just 19
minutes on Nov. 7, while Brooks
scored 21 for the Ducks in a win
against the Wolves Sunday.
The duo is likely expected to carry
the majority of the scoring load this
season while the team gels offensively.
“Our team has a lot of work to do
in order to meet our potential,” Hair
ston said. “But we have a team that’s
willing to make sacrifices and get in
here and get better. ”
jonroetman@ daily emerald, com
Danielle Hickey I Photo editor
Oregon's Ian
Crosswhite,
seen here
against Trinity
Western, is
coming off an
honorable
mention
All-Pacific-10
Conference
season in
which he
averaged 12.5
points and five
rebounds per
game.