Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, February 17, 2005
“A three-pointer— that would
be nice. One for one. ”
Oregon senior Andrea Bills on the possibility of taking and making
her first three-point attempt in her 115-game career
■ Women’s basketball
Paying the Bills
116 consecutive games played and 97 straight starts sounds impressive.
For Oregon senior Andrea Bills, it's just another day on the job
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
There are no punch cards or time clocks in
McArthur Court. There is no need for a lunch pail
when the food can be catered or delivered by the
local pizza shop. Heavy equipment is not a ne
cessity, even though the task of defending a
6-foot-3 center can often be a difficult one.
But there is an aura about Andrea Bills that
makes every basketball game feel more like a
fast-paced construction job site rather than a
sporting event.
“She is the quintessential blue-collar worker,”
Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “Whether
she is injured or sick, she has a great sense of
what it takes to get it done on the court.”
In her four years at Oregon, Bills has per
formed with great merit. She has not missed a
single game in her collegiate career, and tonight
she will take part in her 116th contest as a Duck
— and her 97th consecutive start.
For those reasons, the Moreno Valley, Calif.,
native is the definition of dependability.
“I’ve just been blessed to not have anything
happen that would cause me to sit out,” Bills
said. “Even if I am sick, I always try to push
through it just because I know that my team
needs me and I’m valuable to the team. ”
The 6-foot-3 Bills has followed through on her
proclamation despite suffering from chronic plan
tar fasciitis in her left foot for the past few years.
“It was basically where the tissue on the bot
tom of your heels tears and it feels like you’re
walking on needles,” Bills said. “The last three
years were kind of painful running up and
down the floor.
“I have orthotics, which I got last summer.
They have really helped out because I haven’t ex
perienced those pains.”
Teammate and fellow senior Cathrine
Kraayeveld, who is part of Oregon’s 1,000- point
club along with Bills, said every player deserves
time off, but Bills is not one to settle down or
sit out.
“There have been times where she’s been tired
or injured and she didn’t really have a choice but
to push through it,” Kraayeveld said. “There were
times last year when I wasn’t playing where she
had to play because she needed to be out there
for the team.”
Bills’ value was exemplified last season when
she was called upon to single-handedly take con
trol of Oregon’s frontcourt after Kraayeveld suf
fered a season-ending knee injury.
“She was our go-to player last year,” Smith
said. “She believes that she can achieve.”
Bills led the Ducks in scoring, rebounding, field
goal percentage, blocked shots and recorded dou
ble-digits in points for a team-high 19 games.
“Basically, I took on the opportunity to carry
the team on my back and tried to do as well as I
BILLS, page 14
Oregon senior
Andrea Bills has
appeared in all
115 games other
collegiate career
and has started
in 96 consecutive
contests.
Adam Zahn
has taken
advantage of his
recent increase
in playing time,
posting a 9-point
performance
against
Washington
last week.
(ANIELLE HICKEY | PHOTO EDITOR
a
■ Men's basketball
Ducks face another test
with No. 11 Arizona
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent cracked a
huge smile after Saturday’s win against
Washington State and said his team is finally
starting to turn the corner.
His young Ducks were a few plays
away from knocking off Oregon State to
open the second half of Pacific-10 Conference
play Feb. 5. Oregon was a successful
free throw or two away from upsetting
No. 11 Washington a week ago and finally
pulled out a win against the Cougars during
the weekend.
With six regular season games remaining,
Kent and the Ducks have aspirations of catch
ing fire before entering the Pac-10 Tourna
ment — Oregon’s only chance of qualifying
for the NCAA Tournament.
“In terms of this team making adjustments
and making a transition, they’ve done that,”
Kent said. “Now they just need to continue to
get better.”
Reality check: Oregon travels to Tucson,
Ariz., tonight to take on No. 10 Arizona at
5:30 p.m. The McKale Center has been a
house of horrors for Oregon — and plenty of
other schools — where the Ducks have won
only twice in the past 20 years.
The Wildcats (21-4 overall, 11-2 Pac-10)
have won 18 of their last 20 games, own sole
possession of first place in the conference,
and beat Oregon 74-66 during the season’s
first meeting at McArthur Court.
Is Oregon actually a team on the rise?
Staying competitive in the McKale Center
would certainly help answer that question..
“You don’t want to go down there and
put too much focus on the building,”
Kent said. “You want to focus on your
game plan.”
Whatever game plan Kent has cooked up
for his Ducks (12-9, 4-8), it surely includes
containing Salim Stoudamire. The lethal
sharpshooter is averaging 17.9 points per
game and knocking down three-pointers at a
55 percent clip.
“We have to play as tough as we possibly
can on him and try not to let him get the
ball,” Oregon swingman Malik Hairston said.
“He’s a good scorer but nobody can make
every shot.”
True. But while Stoudamire doesn’t
hit every shot he takes, he’s one of the
few players in the country who puts fear
into the opposition every time he touches
the ball.
Against Oregon in January, Stoudamire
knocked down several off-balance perimeter
shots, including a three-pointer by the left
hander in front of the Ducks’ bench, while
leaning to his right.
“He’s amazing,” forward Maarty Leunen
said. “He can get a shot off whenever
he wants.”
To compensate for Stoudamire’s
shooting talents, Oregon will continue to
go with a smaller, quicker, more energetic
lineup that can defend the perimeter more
effectively. Hairston, Aaron Brooks,
Bryce Taylor and Jordan Kent will be
essential in keeping the Ducks’ defensive
energy high, while Chamberlain Oguchi
and Adam Zahn will be important factors off
the bench.
Kent sprained his left ankle during the end
of Tuesday’s practice, but should be fine
by tipoff.
“If we play strong the first five or 10 min
utes and show them we’re ready to play, 1
think we’ll be OK,” Taylor said. “We need to
take this small lineup we’ve been playing
with and use it to our advantage.”
jonroetman@dailyememld.com