■ Women’s basketball
Ducks capture dominant
62-47 victory against WSU
Senior Brandi Davis led all scorers with 19 points,
and Cathrine Kraayeveld grabbed 11 boards in win
BY BRJAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s basketball
team weathered through a game in
which senior Cathrine Kraayeveld
played under the weather and came
away with a crucial 62-47 victory
over Washington State at Friel Court
on Thursday night.
“We’ve got a couple of people
under the weather, but at this point
in the season, it’s crunch time,”
Oregon head coach Bev Smith said.
“You’ve got to weather through
things.”
Weather they did, and as a result,
the Ducks (16-6 overall, 9-4 Pacific
10 Conference) moved into tie in the
loss column with Southern Califor
nia for second place in the Pac-10 af
ter the Women of TYoy fell to Ari
zona State 49-45 earlier in the night.
The Ducks led by as much as 15
in a game that saw Washington
State — the lowest scoring team in
the conference (57.8 points per
game) — shoot 28 percent (16 of 58)
for the game and 0 of 14 from the
three-point line. It was the first time
in at least two years that the Ducks
have held an opponent to zero
three-pointers in a game.
The Cougars kept the game close
for much of the first half until a
three-pointer by Oregon senior
Brandi Davis pushed the Duck lead
to 23-14. The Cougars were never
able to get within four points after
----
that. The closest they came was in
the second half when junior Arian
na Scales completed a three-point
play to close the gap to 46-39.
Washington State (5-18,1-12) lost
its ninth straight game against the
Ducks and fell to 1-9 on the year at
home in conference play. The
Cougars’ last victory came in 2001
with a 77-76 win in Eugene. Oregon
holds a 48-9 series advantage all
time against Washington State.
While the Cougars continued
their struggles at home, Davis had
no trouble playing in the Palouse,
again. Davis — inserted into the
starting lineup last week against
Oregon State — led all scorers, drop
ping 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting
from the field, including 3 of 5 from
beyond the arc.
Davis has been making three
pointers at a nearly 50 percent pace
starting with her career-high 28
points against UCLA, which
included six three-pointers.
“I prepare no different (for Wash
ington State),” Davis said. “It makes
no difference for me. ”
In her three games in Pullman,
Davis has scored 63 points.
Her scoring picked up the slack
left for the Ducks’ offensively as
Kraayeveld, the team’s leading scor
er, battled a lingering cold that
forced her to miss practice for most
of the week.
However, Kraayeveld still
embodied a presence, even in a
limited capacity. The native of
Kirkland, Wash., added nine points
on 3 of 5 shooting from behind the
three-point line to go along with
her 11 rebounds. Kraayeveld was a
single point away from another
double-double in the season.
Despite drawing two defenders
for most of the game, Oregon senior
Andrea Bills added 10 points, eight
rebounds and a career-high six
blocks. Her previous single-game
mark was four against Michigan
State in 2002.
The Ducks did not allow any
Cougar player to score in double
digits for the first time in at least two
years. Junior Keisha Moore led the
Cougars with nine points.
“It really wasn’t a pretty game,
but we don’t look at those things,”
Smith said. “We just need to get
back-to-back games together. We
need to get some food, get hydrat
ed and get some cold medicine so
that we can get those players
some energy. ”
Up next for the Ducks is a Satur
day afternoon matchup with Wash
ington. Last year in Seattle, the
Huskies drilled the Ducks 95-50.
Washington led by as many as 30 in
the first half with Washington soph
omore Breanne Watson leading the
Huskies with 22 points. Tipoff is set
for 1 p.m.
“I’m really excited to go,” Davis
said. “We are just trying to go in
there for a win. We need these
road wins.”
briansmith@ daily emerald, com
■ In my opinion
Though losing streak
endures, Ducks show
promise on the court
There are two ways
to examine a loss such
as Oregon’s 95-88
overtime loss to No.
11 Washington on
Thursday night.
One way is obvi
ous. Criticize them for
not hitting free throws
or making clutch has
Rets at crucial moments m the game.
But for once, I’ll take the other road
with this loss.
At the risk erf sounding like a
homer and every coach in America,
this loss could be beneficial to the
heartbroken Ducks.
These guys didn’t only play with,
but were in control of the llth-ranked
team in the country — the same
Huskies team that blasted Oregon 77
56 in Seattle earlier this season.
And while Oregon’s Jordan Kent
had his head lowered as he walked to
the bench with his fifth foul during
overtime, still visibly upset at a couple
of free throws he missed near the end
of regulation, he has nothing to be
ashamed of.
Pulling down 16 boards and scoring
19 points is nothing to shake your
head at. At 6-foot-5, grabbing that
many boards is a pretty remarkable
feat. He was the energy guy for this
team Thursday night and has en
trenched himself as a big-time player
on this Oregon squad.
Another positive for the Ducks was
the play of Maarty Leunen. The fresh
man looked as though he may have
broken through the “freshman wall”
that everyone talks
about. He scored
12 points and had
eight rebounds
while playing an
important role in
the Ducks’ first
half lead.
Fellow freshman
Chamberlain
Oguchi also shined in a mere 14 min
utes of play. He scored 13 points and
threw down two crowd-pumping
dunks and two key three-pointers to
keep the game close.
Even Bryce Taylor showed signs of
getting back into the swing of things
with 10 points in a foul-plagued effort.
To make things even tougher, the
Ducks lost a teammate this week.
Though Ian Crosswhite hasn’t been as
productive as he has in the past, a
team can’t help but feel the loss of one
of its most experienced players.
But it didn’t show Thursday night.
While I’ve been the first to blast this
team for its losses, I’ll also be the first
to say that was a great effort against
Washington.
But on Saturday against Washington
State, we will see which way this Ore
gon team takes the loss. If it can take
the good things out of this defeat,
maybe the Ducks will break their cur
rent six-game losing streak.
If not, it might be loss No. 7 for the
young Ducks, and any chances of
making the Pacific-10 tournament
might be far, far away.
claytonjones @ dailyemerald. com
CLAiTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
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