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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2005)
Oregon Daily Emerald Monday, January 31, 2005 “You look around the league, and the guys who are carrying their teams are veterans. We’re not doing that for some reason. ” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent after the Ducks’ 88-69 loss to Standford ■ Women’s basketball Oregon overwhelms USC in 81-59 rout The Ducks oulrebound the Trojans 44-28 and improve to 6-0 against Pac-10 teams at Mac Court BY STEPHEN MILLER SPORTS REPORTER Senior Andrea Bills credits her team’s threads for Oregon’s success at home against Pacific-10 Confer ence opponents this season. “It’s the white uniforms,” she said after her team dismantled Southern California, 81-59, in front of 4,096 fans at Saturday’s matinee at McArthur Court. The Ducks (14-6 overall, 7-4 Pac-10) improved to 9-1 at home this season — 6-0 against Pac-10 teams — with a showcase of dis ciplined shot selection and ag gressive rebounding. Meanwhile, the Women of TYoy dropped to 8-3 in conference play and 14-6 overall, but they continue to hold the second best record in Pac-10 conference play. “(The Ducks) executed their mo tion offense, they played great de fense and they killed us on the boards,” said USC head coach Mark Ttakh, whose team brought down only 28 rebounds compared to Ore gon’s 44. “We usually win the bat tle of the boards.” The unarmed Women of Ttoy won very few battles; however, they committed fewer turnovers, record ed more steals and shot better from the free-throw line. But Oregon controlled the defen sive glass, collecting 36 USC misses. “That’s going to be the key to vic tories in the Pac-10 — controlling the boards,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “We were demons on the defensive boards. We really got after it and didn’t give them sec ond-chance points.” The Ducks, who scored a sea son-high 45 first-half points, wit nessed the seniors score 66 of their 81 points. Cathrine Kraayeveld (9-of-ll shooting) and Bills (9-of-14) each posted 22 points. Their similarities were noticeable early with each player recording 11 points and six rebounds before halftime. Both vet eran players finished with 11 re bounds. A lay-up with 4:26 left in the first half helped Kraayeveld sur pass the 1,000-career-points mark. “Kraayeveld played very well and Bills just made every shot,” TYakh said. "Their whole team played with a sense of urgency. ” Kraayeveld was a perfect 4-of 4 from long range while shooting guard Brandi Davis scored 14 points, and all four of her field goals came from beyond the arc. Point guard Corrie Mizusawa tal lied eight points to go with a game-high nine assists. “Our players just did a great job of following the game plan,” Smith said. Bills opened up her shot availabil ity and spread USC’s defense with some early outside shots. She start ed the game by draining a shot that came from just beyond the free throw line. It set the tone for a night where she tied career bests in points scored and field goals made. “I’m still working on the three pointer ... I’m pretty sure they WOMEN, page 10 t »»« V ...ui Erik R. Bishgff | Photographer Oregon point guard Corrie Mizusawa was one of four seniors who contributed in Saturday’s 81-59 victory at McArthur Court over USC with eight points and a game-high nine assists. ■ Men's basketball Stanford uses fast start to dominate in 88-69 victory BY JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER The Oregon men’s basketball team had aspirations of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament while training this summer. Loaded with an abundance of young talent in the backcourt and four players standing 6-foot-10 or taller, a trip to the Big Dance seemed feasible. But after 18 games, it appears qualifying for even the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament will be a test for the fledgeling Ducks. Oregon (11-7 overall, 3-6 Pac-10) closed out the first half of its confer ence schedule with an 88-69 loss to Stanford (12-7, 6-3) on Saturday in front of 7,233 fans at Maples Pavil ion. It was the Ducks’ fourth con secutive loss and sixth in their last eight games. Oregon entered the contest hav ing lost 18 consecutive games at Stanford. The Cardinal ended any hope the Ducks had of breaking that streak with a phenomenal first half performance. Stanford shot 20-of-36 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from three-point range, resulting in a 51-25 halftime lead. The Cardinal set the tone early with its first basket. Junior point guard Chris Hernandez showed his veteran savvy when he got the ball inside against Kenny Love, banking in an 8-footer over the Duck guard and drawing a foul by leaning into Love during his release. The Cardinal continued to play like the more experienced team, passing the ball around on offense until it found a quality shot. While Stanford knocked down one open look after another, Oregon hoisted poor shots and failed to con vert its open shots. Stanford had first-half leads of 10 2 and 37-16 and led by as many as 32 in the second half before Oregon rallied late to make the score re flect a game more competitive than it actually was. The Ducks also had no answer for Cardinal forward Matt Haryasz, who scored 20 points and MEN, page 10 ■ Women's basketball Seniors play pivotal role in lifting Oregon over USC Four veteran players score 66 of the Ducks' 81 total points, including the team's final 23 BY BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTER There are a number of reasons for Oregon’s dominant 81-59 victory over Southern Califor nia Saturday at McArthur Court. The Ducks shot 62 percent from the floor and 69 percent from beyond the three-point line. The Ducks out-rebounded the TVojans 44-28. The Ducks dished out more assists. And lastly but most importantly, the Ducks used experience to stay perfect at home against Pacific-10 Conference opponents this year. With 15:08 left in the second half and the Ducks up by 26 points — their largest lead of the game — USC made its best attempt at a comeback. The TVojans switched to a full-court press and forced the Ducks to commit 11 turnovers in their next 13 possessions, resulting in a 12-0 run by the Women of Troy. After a Duck timeout with 8:57 left, Oregon senior Andrea Bills, who tied for a game-high 22 points, ended the TVojans’ run with five straight points and re-ignited the Duck offense. “It was big time,” Bills said. “There was one point where we had a few turnovers and the seniors stepped it up, just trying to show lead ership and getting our teammates back into it if they were slipping off mentally.” The quartet of seniors — Bills, Cathrine Kraayeveld, Corrie Mizusawa and Brandi Davis — scored 66 of the team’s 81 points and the last 23 points of the game. “I thought we had exceptional leadership by those three (Kraayeveld, Bills and Mizusawa)," Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “And not just in terms of scoring, but keeping the younger players believing, being vocal, being supportive.” For the weekend, senior point guard Mizusawa handed out 18 assists, limited her turnovers to six and, most importantly, rou tinely broke both USC and UCLA’s press de fenses. “The coaches definitely look to us to be leaders,” Kraayeveld said. “And I think that is what our team needs, is somebody to step up every game. ” After an off-night against UCLA on Thurs day, the 6-foot-4 Kraayeveld returned to form against USC, grabbing her seventh double-double of the season and 26th of her career. The weekend series also saw the re-emer gence of Brandi Davis, who scored 42 points over both games and has filled the role of in jured shooting guard Chelsea Wagner. briansmith@dailyemerald.com GAME TIME Mon. Jan. 31 Tue. Feb. 1 Men's golf Oregon at Ping Arizona Intercollegiate Thu. Feb. 3- Sun. Feb. 6 Softball Oregon at Hawaii Paradise Classic Fri.Feb.4 Wrestling Oregon at Oklahoma, 5:30 p.m. Women's tennis Oregon vs. Texas Tech, 6 p.m. Fri. Feb. 4 Sat. Feb. 5 Track Oregon at McDonald's Collegiate Sat Feb. 5 Men's tennis Oregon at BYU, 12 p.m. Men's basketball Oregon at Oregon State, 4 p.m. Wrestling Oregon at Oklahoma State, 5 p.m. Women's basketball Oregon vs. Oregon State, 7 p.m. Sun. Feb. 6 Women's tennis Oregon vs. San Diego State, 10 a.m. Super Bowl XXXIX New England vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m. OREGON SCORES Fri. Jan. 28 Wrestling Oregon 22, Stanford 21 Cal State Fullerton 29, Oregon 12 Sat. Jan. 29 Men’s basketball Stanford 88, Oregon 69 SU: Haryasz 20 pts, 20 reb SU: Hernandez 19 pts, 5 ast, 2 stl UO: Hairston 19 pts, 7 reb Women’s basketball Oregon 81, USC59 UO: Kraayeveld 22 pts, 11 reb (scored 1,000th career point) UO: Bills 22 pts, 11 reb USC: Murphy 12 pts, 8 reb Men’s tennis Oregon 7, St. Mary’s (Calif.) 0 Oregon 7, Eastern Washington 0 Women’s tennis Oregon 7, Boston College 0 Sun. Jan. 30 Wrestling Arizona State 23, Oregon 15
