“I’m a GM in fantasy basketball and I’m
a GM on PlayStation, so on PlayStation I
probably would have got a little more. ’’
Toronto guard Jalen Rose on the Vince Carter trade
■ In my opinion
ION ROETMAN
ROUGHING THE PASSER
Traditional
Civil War
hoopla takes
a back seat
Saturday’s Civil War showdown with
Oregon State marks an early season cross
roads for the Oregon men’s basketball team.
With a win, the Ducks execute damage
control after a tough loss to UCLA on
Sunday and prepare for their first Pacific-10
Conference road trip with a 2-1 conference
record. With a loss, Oregon stumbles
through three straight home games with a
1-2 ledger before traveling to take on No.
12 Washington.
While the Ducks could certainly
rebound from a loss to Oregon State (or
collapse after a win), they have an oppor
tunity to send their season in the right
direction by defeating the Beavers.
“You want to start 3-0 (in conference
play) and obviously we can’t do that, so
the next best thing is to go 2-1,” head
coach Ernie Kent said. “It’s important,
period, to win all of your home games in
the Pac-10 Conference because it’s so tough
on the road.”
Facing the Beavers on the hardwood
has always brought an extra source of
motivation for the Oregon basketball team
and its fans. This season, however, the
Civil War hype has taken a back seat to
the idea of the Ducks simply needing a
home win against a much-improved
Oregon State squad.
With each roster featuring only four
players from the state of Oregon, Kent said
the rivalry lacks the “old school mentality”
present during his days as a member of the
Kamikaze Kids during the mid-1970s.
“These kids have played with each other
during the summer time and some of these
kids even hang out together,” Kent said.
“But it’s still the Ducks, and it’s still the
Beavers, we understand that. We’re going to
get up to play, they’re going to get up to
play. It’s going to make for a great college
basketball game.”
Even someone who is familiar with
the rivalry managed to downplay the
importance of playing in the Civil War.
“I haven’t really thought about it in
that way,” said Redmond native and
freshman forward Maarty Leunen. “It’s
just another Pac-10 game. I have nothing
against them so it’s just a game with us
against Oregon State.”
The Beavers enter Saturday’s contest with
a 10-3 record, including victories against
UCLA and Southern California last week. If
the Ducks expect to win, they’ll need much
more of an impact performance out of
freshman guard Malik Hairston, who was
limited to 14 points during the first Pac-10
weekend of his career. If Oregon doesn’t get
more out of the McDonald’s All-American
and the rest of its perimeter players, it
could be a long night against the Beavers’
talented group of big men.
“I had a rough weekend,” Hairston said. “It
made me come in and work even harder. ”
The veteran players know it. Coach Kent
ROETMAN, page 14
■ Pac-10 notes
Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer
Oregon senior Cathrine Kraayeveld has led the Ducks in points and rebounds five different times this season.
UCLA tops Pac-10 after
three-game homestand
Key injuries to Arizona's squad
and Oregon's upset of Stanford
add to the conference's parity
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Only one women’s basketball team survived
the first 10 days of Pacific-10 Conference play
without suffering a loss.
UCLA (9-3 overall, 3-0 Pac-10) fended off its
first three conference opponents during
a three-game homestand, which started
with a victory over cross-town rival Southern
California on Dec. 28, followed by a more
recent sweep of the Oregon schools.
At 71.6 points per game, the No. 22 Bruins are
third in scoring among Pac-10 squads. Sopho
more Noelle Quinn along with juniors Nikki
Blue and Lisa Willis make up arguably the most
potent trio of guards on the West Coast.
Yesterday, Quinn was honored as the Pac-10
Player of the Week for the third time this
season. She recorded a combined 35 points
and 19 rebounds against Oregon and Oregon
State. In 12 games this season, Quinn is
averaging 18.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per
game. Willis is scoring 13.8 points per game
and Blue is contributing 11.4. Willis leads the
conference in steals with 3.4 per game. Quinn
is second, averaging 3.3 and Blue is not far be
hind with 2.4.
Arizona (10-3, 2-1) held the longest
winning streak in the Pac-10 at four games
until it lost to intrastate rival Arizona State on
Monday. The Wildcats were without starter
Shawntinice Polk, who was averaging 13.9
points per game before suffering a sprained
MCL in her right knee. The senior center is
listed as day-to-day. Freshman guard Jessica
Arnold, also a starter, injured her left shoul
der and her playing status is still unknown.
The Wildcats will have to continue relying on
senior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler for the time being.
Wheeler scored 26 of Arizona’s 47 points against
the Sun Devils and is averaging a conference-best
19.0 points per game.
“Our inside game (against Arizona State)
was horrible, we had too many turnovers, we
didn’t play well defensively, we didn’t execute
on offense and our free-throw shooting was a
joke,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini
said. “The only bright spot was Dee-Dee.”
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
UCLA’s junior guard Nikki Blue, seen here last season
defending Oregon's Brandi Davis, is averaging 11.4
points and 2.4 steals per game.
Arizona State (10-3, 2-1) and Stanford have
been the toughest teams to score against this
season. The Sun Devils have held opponents to
49.9 points per game while the Cardinal only
allows 51.5. Arizona State has the best defense
against three-pointers in the conference holding
opponents to .225 from behind the arc. Stanford
has limited opponents to a Pac-10 low 33.2
percent field-goal percentage.
On average, Stanford (11-2, 3-1) scores 21.8
more points and pulls down 9.5 more
rebounds than its opponents, which are both
conference-best margins.
California (8-5, 2-2) has the best three
point shooting in the conference, at 47.1
percent. Kristin Iwanaga leads the Pac-10 in
shooting from beyond the arc, making 69.4
percent of her shots.
Cathrine Kraayeveld has posted double-digit
point totals in each of the last eight games for
Oregon. The senior forward has led the Ducks in
points and rebounds in the same contest five
times this season.
Oregon is averaging the highest attendance in
the conference at 3,656 fans per game. The Ducks
drew 4,651 spectators — a Pac-10 season-high —
for their upset of Stanford on Dec. 29. Washing
ton has filled 24,231 seats this season in eight
home games while Oregon has attracted 21,939
fans into McArthur Court in six games.
stephenmiller@dailyemerald.com
■ Club Sports
UO sailing
to compete
with elite
at regatta
Meanwhile, Oregon's Cycling
Club began winter workouts
in preparation for its season
BY BEAU EASTES
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon Sailing Club will start the new
year off with a bang when it faces some of the
top sailing programs in the country at the 20th
Annual Rose Bowl Regatta in Long Beach,
Calif., this weekend.
“This will be the best competition we
have faced in four years,” club coordinator
George Yioulos said. “It’s the coolest
regatta this year. ”
The event, hosted by No. 2-ranked
Southern California at the Alamitos Bay Yacht
Club, will welcome over 85 collegiate and
high school sailing teams. The Rose Bowl
Regatta, three times the size of normal sailing
events, pits teams from across the nation in
one of the most anticipated intersectional
events of the season. Yale, Brown and other
elite East Coast schools will be on display at
the largest combined collegiate and high
school regatta in the country.
Yioulos, whose team competes in the
Northwest division of the Intercollegiate
Sailing Association, views the meet as the
climax of several years of hard work.
“It's a reward to finally have the funds
to travel and make a name for ourselves,”
he said.
The Oregon squad will field “A” and “B”
teams composed of two men each. The teams
alternate in races throughout the weekend.
Similar to cross country, points are awarded
based on place (1 point for first, 2 points for
second, etc.) and the regatta winner is the
program whose combined total is the lowest.
Teams will race multiple 20-to-30 minute
races from dusk Saturday to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The boats used in collegiate sailing are
14-foot Club/Collegiate Flying Juniors, or
“sailing bathtubs.”
“They’re round and not super fast,”
Yioulos said. Like an old muscle car though,
the Flying Juniors “reward patience and
paying attention to the boat.”
“It’s all about feeling the boat,” said
Yioulos, who won the Northwest Inter
collegiate Sailing Association’s Leadership
Award in 2004.
The meet will also serve as a gauging point
for the Ducks as they head into the NWICSA
spring season. Washington, which normally
dominates the division, again is the chief
obstacle in the way of a national regatta
invitation for the Ducks.
The winner of the NWICSA receives an
automatic berth to the national regatta in
Galveston, Texas, later this year.
“Races like this make you glad to go
sailing,” Yioulos said about the extravaganza
in California. “The breeze, the sun, the water,
the people — you’re just dialed in.”
Cycling team gains
experienced new coach
Although not competing until March,
the Oregon Cycling Club team started
winter term workouts immediately upon
return from break.
The Ducks began their two-to-four rides per
week program Sunday, putting in more than
20 miles each ride.
CLUB SPORTS, page 14