“This is pretty much the house that she built. ”
Oregon tennis coach Nils Schyllander talking
about senior Daria Panova and the Student Tennis Center
■ In my opinion
_\ w_
STEPHEN MILLER
OFF THE CROSSBAR
Miller strikes
bowling gold
with notable
'turkey-10'
Three strikes in a row.
What’s that called?
In baseball it’s referred to as a strikeout, and
in bowling its called a turkey, unless it happens
in the 10th frame. Then, coincidentally enough,
it’s called a strikeout.
Two different sports: One is played outdoors
(excluding stadiums with domes or retractable
roofs), the other is an indoor game (excluding
its lawn variation).
Yet, both types of strikeouts are significant
parts of the respective games. Both can be ben
eficial and can end those games on a high note
(as long as you’re not on the batter’s team in
the baseball version).
To prevent any confusion in this column, I
am going to call the prestigious bowling strike
out a “turkey-10.”
So without further adieu, I have a major an
nouncement to make.
Ladies and gentleman, last weekend I be
came the proud new bowler of a turkey-10.
With that said, I have a major revelation
to present.
A turkey-10 is not a guarantee to a dramatic
and victorious finish.
When all was said and done at the conclu
sion of my game on lane 13, the turkey-10 did
not help me one bit. I lost the game. I played
like crap for the first eight frames and only con
verted three spares. So after I accomplished this
major feat, only a small amount of my pride
was restored.
Even before I stepped onto the lane for my
10th frame, I predicted that I would get a
turkey-10, sort of like how Babe Ruth suppos
edly once pointed out a homerun before dig
ging into the batter’s box. And I was doing it
in bowling’s version of the bottom of the
ninth inning.
I really felt that if I could string together a
turkey-10,1 could win the game. But my deficit
was too large, and 1 didn’t know how to keep
score because I belong to a generation raised on
cosmic bowling, fancy on-screen animations
and automated scoring.
The mix of numbers, slashes and Xs makes
no sense to me.
I figured that my trio of strikes would make
my score explode like a seagull in an Alka
Seltzer factory.
See, in the 10th frame, a turkey is only worth
30 pins compared to the 60-plus points it could
have been worth earlier in the game.
If I read the scoring rules correctly, a strike
counts the 10 pins you knock down plus the
amount of pins that fall in the next two frames
you bowl. So kids, make sure you put a turkey
together in the earlier frames, because even if
you throw consecutive gutter balls after that,
you’re still assured 60 points.
Unfortunately for yours truly and others
looking to make a comeback down the stretch,
the 10th frame has no frames following it.
Isn’t that a load of turkey-sh**?
stephenmiller@dailyemerald.com
North Carolina outlasts Illinois
The Tar Heels captured the NCAA championship
for the first time since 1993 with a 75-70 victory
BY EDDIE PELLS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — There was no way
it was going to be easy. North Car
olina did it, though, and now it's
time to stop asking Roy Williams
that doggone question.
The Tar Heels didn't allow a
basket in the final, excruciating
two-and-a-half minutes Monday
night as they defeated Illinois,
75-70, a win that finally gave
Williams, the 17-year coaching
veteran, the national champi
onship that was missing from his
otherwise stellar resume.
Freshman Marvin Williams had
a tip-in with 1:26 left, Raymond
Felton made three free throws
down the stretch and the Tar
Heels (33-4) won their first title
since 1993, back when Dean
Smith was coaching and Roy
Williams was at Kansas — in the
middle of his Final Four futility.
Led by Sean May's 26 points,
Carolina took a 65-55 lead with
8:51 left and it looked like Roy
Williams would cruise to the
championship. But Illinois (37-2)
never quits.
Forward Jack Ingram hit a pair
of outside jumpers and Dee Brown
scored six points in a 10-0 run that
tied the game at 65 with 5 1/2 min
utes left, setting up a frantic finish.
When it was over — after Fel
ton had made his last two free
throws and after May had cra
dled his 10th and final rebound
— Roy Williams took off his
glasses and started looking for
people to hug.
A few moments later, he was
crying, much like he has done at
the end of every season, though
no ending has been as sweet as
this one.
Luther Head led Illinois with 21
points. He had a wide-open look at
a three-pointer that would have
tied the game with 17 seconds left,
but it bounded off the rim and
coach Bruce Weber's magical ride
with Illinois wound up one win
short of the real fairy-tale ending he
hoped for.
His opponent, Roy Williams, left
Kansas to take over the Tar Heels
two years ago, after the program
UNC, page 10
■ Women's tennis
Ducks lose final home match to UCLA
Senior Daria Panova beat the No. 32-ranked
singles player,; but the team couldn't follow suit
BY ALEX IAM
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Daria Panova walked into the
Student Tennis Center on Satur
day for the final home match of
her Oregon career and told her
self that she was going to give it
her all.
The most decorated player in the
history of the Oregon tennis pro
gram didn’t disappoint. She defeat
ed UCLA’s Daniella Bercek, the
No. 32 singles player in the coun
try, in straight sets, 6-1,6-1.
However, as a team, No. 22
ranked Oregon (13-6 overall, 2-5
Pacific-10 Conference) could not
continue the winning trend against
No. 13 UCLA (12-4), suffering a 5-2
loss on Saturday’s “Senior Day.”
Panova, a three-time Pac-10 sin
gles champion, has been the cor
nerstone for the Oregon program
since she arrived in Eugene four
years ago.
“I feel kind of weird; it’s my last
match," 22-year-old Panova said.
“It’s really crazy that I won it, and
I’m really happy about it, but I still
can’t get used to the idea that I
won’t play here ever again. ”
This season, Panova has contin
ued her success. She has compiled
a 13-5 singles record in dual match
play and is the program’s leader for
most victories in a season (32) and
career victories (90).
Oregon head coach Nils Schyl
lander said Panova has been a
huge part of getting the program to
its top-25 status.
“We wouldn’t be where we’re
at today without her,” Schyllan
der said. “Obviously, all of her
accomplishments has put us on
the national map, and recruits
(are) looking our way who have
never looked our way before.”
The Ducks also celebrated the
careers of two other seniors,
Davina Mendiburu and Ester
Bak. Mendiburu has anchored
the middle of the lineup since
she arrived during the 2000-01
season, when she was voted the
team’s MVP. She sits third all
time in most career victories at
Oregon with 68.
Duo Mendiburu and Bak ranks
first all-time in career doubles
victories widi 34.
Schyllander said his seniors have
been instrumental in taking the
program to another level and rep
resenting the team well both on
and off the court.
“All of them has meant a lot in a
different way,” the third-year head
coach said. “Davina and Ester have
been leaders on this team for many
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Oregon senior Daria Panova won the last home match of her career at Oregon after
defeating UCLA’s Daniella Bercek, 6-1, 6-1, Saturday at the Student Tennis Center.
years now. The way they take care
of themselves and take care of their
academics have been a big part of
what we have built.”
The weekend didn’t end the way
the Ducks wanted. Oregon nearly
pulled off another upset Friday, but
fell 5-2 to No. 4 USC, a national title
contender.
Oregon started off strong, taking
a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles
point. The Ducks won the first set
TENNIS, page 10
_ _____- y
■ Duck lacrosse
Oregon nets first victory on the road
Davidson was held scoreless in the opening
10 minutes of play as the Ducks won, 16-6
BY STEFANIE LOU
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon women’s lacrosse
team showed some fighting spir
it Saturday when it finally
clinched its first road victory in
program history.
The Ducks rallied to beat David
son, 16-6, after suffering a 21-8 loss
to North Carolina the night before.
On Friday night, the Tar Heels
dominated Oregon throughout
most of the game. However, the
Ducks went on a 5-2 scoring run in
the last five minutes of the first half
to enter the second period only five
goals down.
“Despite the fact that we ended
up losing to North Carolina, that
game actually boosted our confi
dence,” Oregon head coach Jen
Larsen said. “Against North Caroli
na, the score was 6-11 at the half.
We did great against the No. 4
ranked team, and that really fired
us up.”
Seeking redemption for Fri
day’s loss, Oregon started the
game against Davidson by bang
ing in 12 unanswered goals be
fore the shell-shocked Wildcats
managed to respond.
“Once we got out in front, we
never looked back. We just did a re
ally great job of stopping the Wild
cats’ offense and taking control of
the ball each time we had posses
sion,” Larsen said.
The win against Davidson
(4-6) ended Oregon’s three-game
losing streak and improved its
record to 3-9.
“One of the factors that made a
major difference in this game was
that we managed to keep the ball
out of our defensive end much
more than we have in the past,”
said Larsen, who highlighted the
Ducks’ sometimes leaky defense as
a target area that needed improve
ment in the past. “We simply did
n’t give the other team as many
chances to score.”
In fact, Oregon held the Wildcats
scoreless for the first 10 minutes of
the game — not even allowing
Davidson a single shot on goal.
The Ducks made just one adjust
ment to their starting lineup for the
Davidson game as freshman de
fender Carrie Bateman got the nod
LACROSSE, page 10