Oregon daily emerald., January 13, 2005, Image 13

Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, January 13, 2005
“I heard Nate Robinson got you. ”
Oregon freshman guard Bryce Taylor to head coach
Ernie Kent on last year’s game against Washington
■ Duck wrestling
UO hosts
Boise State
in pivotal
Pac-10 dual
Oregon will need its younger
wrestlers to pull their weight
against a trying Broncos roster
BY SCOTT J. ADAMS
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon wrestling team has a chance
to win its third consecutive dual Friday
when it wrestles Pacific-10 Conference foe
Boise State at McArthur Court at 7 p.m. The
Ducks are riding a modest two-dual winning
streak after taking both matches last Friday
against South Dakota State and Southern
Oregon at the Oregon Wrestling Classic.
The Broncos (3-4) are loaded with nation
ally ranked wrestlers, making them a daunt
ing opponent for Oregon, which was shut
out in last year’s dual against Boise State 42
0. The Ducks have an all-time lead over
Boise State (11-10-2) but the Broncos have
walked away the victor in the past six meet
ings. For both programs, the match’s most
important factor is its conference implica
tions. Oregon junior Martin Mitchell recog
nizes the significance of Friday’s dual and
how helpful a win would be for the Ducks.
“We have struggled at times this season,”
Mitchell said. “Boise State is a lot like us and
a win would be just as huge for us as it
would be for them. This is a chance for us to
get back on track. ”
Sixth-ranked Andrew Hochstrasser leads
the Broncos into Friday’s match sitting at 14
4 this season while wrestling in the 125
pound weight class. Other ranked wrestlers
in Boise State’s roster include Scott Jor
gensen (No. 17 at 133), Ben Cherrington
(No. 8,149) and Eric Smith (No. 16, Hwt.).
Mitchell (133) finds himself pitted against
Jorgensen in what he feels is one of his
biggest bouts this season.
“I’m very excited for this one,” Mitchell
said. “(Jorgensen) is ranked pretty high but
WRESTLING, page 14
Erik R. BisHoff | Photographer
Freshman Bryce Taylor will play in his first Pac-10 road game tonight against the Huskies at Bank of America Arena.
Ducks head north to Seattle
for first Pac-10 road Rame
Aaron Brooks and Oregon will face off
against Nate Robinson and Washington
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon men’s basketball
team ventures on its first Pacif
ic-10 Conference road trip
tonight as it faces No. 14 Wash
ington at 7 p.m. in Bank of
America Arena.
Coming off a 73-64 win
against Oregon State, the Ducks
(10-2 overall, 2-1 Pac-10) will
face a Husky squad loaded with
offensive talent. Washington
(13-2, 3-1) is averaging 89
points per game and has
reached the 100-point mark on
three occasions. With six play
ers averaging double figures in
scoring, Washington is sure to
give Oregon everything it can
handle defensively.
“It’s going to be an offensive
game,” Oregon forward Maarty
Leunen said. “But it will come
down to defense and who gets
the stops at the end. It will
come down to desire. ”
Junior point guard Nate
Robinson is the spark plug in
Washington’s offensive engine.
Generously listed at 5-foot-9,
the Seattle native is averaging
17.3 points per game and is
shooting 44 percent from three
point range.
A first-team all-conference
selection last season, Robinson
scored 20 points during last
year’s 83-74 win against the
Ducks in Seattle, including an
end of the game, insult-to-in
jury dunk that is still in the
minds of Oregon’s returning
players and coaches.
In charge of shutting down
Robinson is Oregon’s sopho
more point guard Aaron
Brooks, who is making a
homecoming of his own. The
Seattle native missed last sea
son’s game in Bank of Ameri
ca Arena with a hand injury
and will need to have a big
game if the Ducks are going
to stay competitive.
“Nate is a good player,”
Brooks said. “He’s going to get
MEN, page 14
■ Duck tennis
Panova vies
for another
singles title
this week
Daria Panova hopes to win her
fourth career singles title at the
Pac-10 Indoor Championships
BY ALEX TAM
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Daria Panova has been to the annual Pacif
ic-10 Conference Indoor Championships be
fore and knows what to expect this weekend.
The senior will attempt to win her
fourth Pac-10 singles title at the three-day
tournament held at the Lloyd Nordstrom
Tennis Center in Seattle beginning Friday.
Panova, who has won three of the past
four Pac-10 singles titles, said the desire
to win is crucial to capturing this
weekend’s tournament.
“It’s just the will,” she said. “I just wanted
to win. I think I wanted it more because the
Pac-10 is the best conference in tennis.”
Panova, finishing up her career at Ore
gon, added that she has bigger goals in
mind for herself, one of which includes be
ing victorious at the only tournament she’s
never won — the NCAA Championships
that starts in late May.
“I used*to look at Pac-lOs as, ‘OK, I need to
show that I can play,” Panova said. “But right
now it’s more like preparation for the season. ”
Injuries have taken their toll on the Ducks’
leader the past four seasons. At last season’s
Pac-10 Indoors, Panova won the singles title
despite battling injuries to her upper back and
left index finger. Not even Oregon head coach
Nils Schyllander knew whether she was go
ing to compete at the time.
But right now, Panova said she feels the
best she has in a long time.
“I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been,” she
said. “Every time I’ve won something
(though), I was hurting.”
Schyllander said he believes his star
player should be the favorite this weekend.
“She doesn’t have to prove anything,”
TENNIS, page 14
■ Women's basketball
Kraayeveld, Oregon prepare for Washington
After last week's decisive victory over OSU, the
Ducks take on the Huskies tonight at Mac Court
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
After playing on the road during
the past two weeks, the Oregon
women’s basketball team is eager to
return to McArthur Court. The only
real challenge for the Ducks will be
matching their impressive perform
ance in last week’s Civil War.
With the Washington schools
paying a visit this week, Oregon (10
4 overall, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference)
has a chance to sweep all three
Northwest opponents for the first
time since the 1999-2000 season.
“Certainly, we need to take care
of business at home,” said Oregon
head coach Bev Smith, whose
team is 5-1 at Mac Court this sea
son. “We just need to build on the
Oregon State victory. ”
The Ducks got back to their
winning ways with a strong
82-point outing against the
Beavers. Smith said she still saw
good and bad with her team’s
play in Corvallis.
“We were outrebounded but we
shot the ball very well,” Smith said.
Oregon shot 55 percent but Oregon
State had four more rebounds (34).
Fortunately for Oregon, Washing
ton owns the worst rebounding de
fense in the conference.
Smith said this week’s opponents
aren’t similar to one another and
adapting to each style will be cru
cial for her team, but her players
still need to remember the basics.
“Washington and Washington
State certainly bring different kinds
of challenges for us,” Smith said.
“It’s important that we focus on
our principles and concepts, both
offensively and defensively, and be
ready to make some adjustments.”
Washington (6-10,2-4) comes in
to face Oregon tonight lugging a
three-game losing streak on its
back. Oregon holds a 34-33 all
time advantage in the series with
the Huskies, who have won the
last four contests against the
Ducks, including a 95-50 stomping
last year in Seattle.
“We got a pretty good beating up
there so we just have to come and
play like we have been playing in
the last couple games,” said Ore
gon forward Cathrine Kraayeveld,
the team’s leader in points, re
bounds and blocked shots.
“I think it’s really important that
our players remember that
(game),” Smith said. “We had a
very poor game up there in all as
pects and I’m glad it’s in the back
of our players’ minds. That was an
aberration of our team and we’ve
come a long way since then. ”
This season, the Huskies have
relied on the equal distribution of
scoring responsibilities instead of
using concentrated sources of fire
power. Six players average at least
seven points per game but no play
er averages in double digits.
“I see a very dangerous team be
cause they’ve been in all of the
games they’ve played,” Smith said.
“They are nine players deep
and they are all very capable
of scoring.”
Junior guard Kayla Burt con
tributes a team-high 9.1 points per
game for Washington — the only
team in the Pac-10 without a sen
ior on its roster.
“They are young and don’t have
any real go-to players right now,
but I think it’s a team that we have
to pay attention to,” Smith said.
Kraayeveld is anticipating the
WOMEN, page 14
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Kirkland, Wash., native Cathrine Kraayeveld leads
Oregon into this week’s homestand against the
Washington schools. Kraayeveld is the team leader
in scoring, rebounds and blocked shots