Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, January 7, 2005
“It will work out, somehow. That’s a hell
of a duo right there, Marbury, Crawford
and Houston. ”
Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony on the New York Knicks
■ In my opinion
BRIAN SMITH
LEFTY SPECIALIST
Anything is
possible in
conference
of equality
Maybe it’s in the spirit of the new year.
You know, new beginnings, new paths, etc.
Somebody must have mentioned the idea
of “new” to die Pacific-10 Conference, because
a new order seems to be taking shape.
For the first time in a long time, the confer
ence is truly up for grabs.
For both the men and the women.
Is that stretching it?
Yeah, probably.
But hey, anything is possible.
And if the Washington Huskies or the Ore
gon women’s victories over No. 9 LSU and
No. 10 Stanford last year is any indication of
that, I don’t know what is.
In addition, for the first time in a few years,
no team or teams are powerful favorites to run
away with the title. There are some
contenders, e.g., Washington and Arizona for
the men and perennial power Stanford for
the women.
I think there is a real chance that each
champion could have four or five losses in
conference play.
So why can’t the Ducks, men or women,
make their way into the upper echelon of
the conference?
I know it’s early, but look at the way the
Pac-10 stands right now.
On the men’s side, conference doormat
Washington State has a better record than last
year’s champion Stanford.
Speaking of Stanford, this could be the
year when Oregon State could resemble Stan
ford of the past decade and the Cardinal could
resemble Oregon State of, well,
the...past...15...years.
Anything is possible.
The Southern California men’s basketball
team is an orphan looking for a parent/coach.
If Arizona State’s Ike Diogu was getting any
help from his team, the conference title might
reside in Tempe, not Tticson.
A.I.P. (Anything is possible).
The Oregon men this year could be the
Washington of last year. They have the athleti
cism. On any given night, they can make scor
ing 100 points look easy.
But be patient, with the youth that takes the
floor every Thursday and Saturday, they will
suffer fits of inconsistency.
As fans, we can’t have a short leash on
them. After all, they already have the distinc
tion of being the best recruiting class Oregon
has ever had.
They don’t need anymore pressure.
Arizona could, for only the second time
since Lute Olson took over as head coach,
finish lower than third in the conference.
Hey, the Red Sox won the World Series.
A.I.P.
This could be the year where 1-5 will take
you through the top three teams in the men’s
conference and the Northwest will put more
teams in the NCAA tournament than the
Southwest and California combined.
As for the Duck women, a tournament
berth down the road truly exists on the road. If
they can win five conference games away
SMITH, page 6A
■ Women's basketball
Women fight to reclaim road record
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Freshman forward Kristen Forristall has started the past four games for the Ducks.
Oregon hopes to get its first Pac-10 road win when
it takes on Oregon State in Corvallis Saturday
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s basket
ball team is dealing with a two
game losing streak for the second
time this season, and each defeat
weakens the team’s reputation
and confidence in Pacific-10 Con
ference play.
In five road games this season,
the Ducks (9-4 overall, 2-2 Pac
10) won their first two but are
now 2-3. They committed 20
turnovers in each game of the Los
Angeles road trip.
Oregon will attempt to get back
on track and reclaim a .500 travel
ing record against Oregon State at
Gill Coliseum Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Civil War history favors the
Ducks, who are 20-14 all-time
against the Beavers when playing
in Corvallis and 50-22 overall. Ore
gon State (4-9, 0-4) has taken the
last two meetings from Oregon on
its home court.
“This is probably their best
chance to get a (Pac-10) win,” Ore
gon senior Cathrine Kraayeveld
said. “It’s the Civil War — they’re
going to be pumped up for the
game and we have to be just as
ready for it.”
Oregon’s Andrea Bills is two
points away from 1,000 for her
career. She is averaging 10.8
points per game and has scored
141 this season, but was limited
to four points against UCLA. The
6-foot-3 center will be expected to
be more productive in the paint
against an Oregon State team that
has no player taller than 6 feet
2 inches.
Freshman Kristen Forristall has
started all four conference games
for the Ducks at forward in place
of sophomore Eleanor Haring.
In that stretch, Forristall is aver
aging 21 minutes and 6.3 points
per game.
The Beavers have started Pac-10
play with a four-game losing skid
to the quartet of California schools.
In that span, they have been
outscored 214-295.
Senior guard Shannon Howell,
who leads the team and is third in
the conference in scoring with 17.8
points per game, has shot 18.9 per
cent from the field (10 of 53) and
averaged 7.3 points over the past
four games.
Howell was the nation’s lead
ing scorer through the first nine
games of the season with 22.4
points per game.
Oregon will have to be vigilant
on the defensive end with juniors
Mandy Close and Kim Butler on
the floor. Both players average a lit
tle over 10 points per game.
“They are smaller and quicker,”
Oregon head coach Bev Smith
said, when comparing her team to
Oregon State. “We’ve played a lot
of teams like that this year, so I
think we’re ready to play that men
tally and physically. ”
Close, a guard, suffered a con
cussion against UCLA and did not
play against USC. With that ab
sence, her streak of 74-consecutive
appearances ended but she has
been cleared to play Saturday.
Butler bounced back to her po
sition at forward with 19 points
WOMEN'S, page 6A
■ Duck wrestling
Ducks prepare for annual
Oregon Wrestling Classic
BY scorn. ADAMS
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Many golden opportunities lay ahead for the
Oregon wresting team today as they travel to
Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Red
mond to host the Oregon Wrestling Classic. The
Ducks have a chance to make a couple more
marks in their “win” column as they compete
against South Dakota State and Southern Ore
gon in dual format.
Oregon has begun to make headway in team
competition following its strong performances
in last week’s duals against Fresno State and
Cal State Bakersfield. Although the Ducks have
had trouble winning as a team this season and
sit at 0-3 in Pacific-10 Conference duals, they
feature a cadre of talented wrestlers who have
recorded numerous individual achievements.
Leading Oregon into competition is junior
Shane Webster. Webster is ranked third in the
nation according to InterMat and is undefeat
ed this season through 15 matches. His last
win came against Jason Carrasco of Cal State
Bakersfield by way of a 22-7 technical fall on
Sunday. Webster is second on the team with
19 team points. Scott Barker, ranked fifth in
the nation, aims to add to his team-leading 20
wins at the 197-pound weight class.
South Dakota State enters the Oregon Clas
sic fresh after being formally approved to re
classify to Division I status. The Jackrabbits are
2-0 in duals this season and las| defeated
Princeton 18-15 on Dec. 12. Fortunately for
Oregon, South Dakota State will spot the Ducks
12 points in the match because they will be
without wrestlers for the 133-pound and
heavyweight divisions. These two forfeits
should give Oregon enough support to save
their standouts.
Southern Oregon hopes to gain further
recognition this weekend and a win over
Oregon is just what it needs to do so. The
Raiders are ranked ninth in the nation by the
National Association of Intercollegiate Ath
letics. Southern Oregon takes pride in its 34
consecutive winning seasons.
Other teams competing in the tournament
include Pac-10 foes Portland State and Ore
gon State as well as Pacific, Augsburg and
Cal Poly. Pacific head coach Scott Miller feels
the Oregon Classic yields great opportunities
for all schools competing.
“Teams will definitely be tested this week
end,” Miller said. "We’re all excited to be com
peting against such quality competition.”
At last season’s Oregon Classic, the Ducks
lost to both Cal State Fullerton and San Francis
co State, and defeated Army. Oregon continues
its season next Friday with a dual against Boise
State at McArthur Court. The Broncos, ranked
21st nationally by Wrestling Mall, are 3-4 this
season in dual matches.
IN BRIEF
Randy Johnson, Yankees agree
to two-year contract extension
NEW YORK — Randy Johnson and the New
York Yankees reached a preliminary agreement
Thursday on a $32 million, two-year contract
extension.
The Big Unit waived his no-trade clause as part
of the agreement, a baseball official and a person
close to Johnson said on condition of anonymity.
Arizona and New York tentatively agreed
last week to a trade that calls for the Dia
mondbacks to receive pitchers Javier Vazquez
and Brad Halsey, catcher Dioner Navarro and
$9 million.
Only one step remains for the five-time Cy
Young Award winner to join the Yankees: All play
ers involved in the trade must pass physicals.
The Yankees, Diamondbacks and agents for the
players were working Thursday on the logistics of
arranging the medical exams.
Johnson would join a starting rotation that in
cludes Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano
and Jaret Wright.
The 41-year-old left-hander’s current deal calls
for a $16 million salary in 2005, of which $6 mil
lion is deferred at 2 percent interest. New York
and Johnson’s agents, Alan Nero and Barry Meis
ter, were completing the structure of the new
contract Thursday.
Arizona also has a preliminary agreement in
place to trade Navarro and pitching prospect
William Juarez to Los Angeles for outfielder
Shawn Green and $8 million. That deal is contin
gent on the Diamondbacks and Green agreeing
to an extension.
— The Associated Press