8
TT ie CI ac I< amas P rìnt
Clackamas stumbles, regroups
JOHN THORBURN
Sports Editor
The women's basketball team is feeling
the pressure that comes with being the best
squad in Oregon.
After bolting into first place in the South
ern Division of the Northwest Athletic As
sociation of Community Colleges
[NWAACC], the Cougars [5-1,15-4] were
upset by Portland Communtiy College last
Wednesday.
Portland [3-3,6-13], a traditionally weak
team in the region, shocked the league with
its 63-62 victory over Clackamas.
"Portland's a respectable team," said
Head Coach Karen Twain. "I don't
think we underestimated them, we just
played really poorly and they played
really well."
The Cougars, accustomed to getting 40-
50 rebounds per game, were held to 32 while
the undersized Panthers had 36.
In a game that Clackamas looked lethar
gic and slow, the Cougars had 24 turnovers
and only took 47 shots to Portland's 65 at
tempts.
"I think we were pretty tired," said Twain.
"We had come off four pretty strenuous
games so our practices have been a little
lighter.
"A lot of people were thinking that we
were in the lighter part of our schedule,"
added Twain. "They put great pressure on
us, they played really well and I don't want
Cougar I
Sidelines^ |
Hometown athlete
honored
Oregon City native and
women's basketball star
Michelle McKinney was given
the Southern Region's Player of
the Week award for her perfor
mances on Jan. 14 and 17.
McKinney, a sophomore for
ward, scored eight points and
collected 10 rebounds in the
Cougars' 83-60 victory over the
powerhouse
Chemeketa
Chiefs.
She then
improved on
her perfor
mance against
Linn-Benton,
recording 17
points and eight rebounds, in a
76-55 Clackamas win.
McKinney, a member of this
year's Southern Region cham
pion volleyball team as well,
also had four assists, four steals,
and two blocked shots between
the two league games.
This award is the second
straight week in which a Clacka
mas player has received the
honor.
The Player of the Week award
is nominated by the coaches of
the Southern Region of the
NWAACC.
Wednesday, January 28, 1998
to take anything away from that. We just
weren't able to handle the pressure.
"All season our bread and butter has been
our defense and our rebounding," added
Coach Twain, "and against Portland, we
played lousy defense and they
outrebounded us. Every team has a night
like that and when that happens you just
hope that you can escape with a win but
unfortunately we didn't."
Robbie Nix led Clackamas with 22
points and eight rebounds while Michelle
McKinney added 13 points and six re
bounds for the Cougars.
On Saturday, Clackamas let out a little
frustration against Lane Community Col
lege.
The Cougars exploded in the first half
on 56% shooting to take a 37-12 halftime
lead.
"To come back from the Portland loss
andholdLanetoonly 12pointsatthehalf,"
said Twain, "shows that we can do it when
we want to do it That's all we wanted to
know. It's reassuring."
Clackamas never faltered in the 72-53
win over the Titans [2-4,10-9] from Eu
gene.
The win sent a loud message to the rest
of the Southern Division on the talent of
this year’s squad.
There's talent on this team and alot of it
Sophomore reserve player Denise Bean
came off the bench to lead all scorers with
a career high 21 points, seven rebounds and
six steals.
"Atleastrightnow, said Twain, "we like
Bean coming off the bench to the extent
that she gives us a big spark. Any time that
a sixth man or seventh man can come off
the bench and have 21 points, it shows the
kind of depth that we have.
"To have somebody like Bean or
Michelle [McKinney] that can come off
the bench and score a lot it really shows
how deep this team really is," added
Twain. 'Tm not just looking at offensive
stats either. They're some people com
ing off the bench right now, Noelle
[Johnson] for example, that is just play
ing outstanding defense. In almost all of
our games, our bench has always
outscored the other teams' reserves and
sometimes their starting five as well."
Nix also had 20 points, seven rebounds,
four blocks and three steals.
With the victoiy, Clackamas has the
inside track to the Southern Division
title as Umpqua Community College
lost to Chemeketa Community College
on Saturday. The Cougars defeated
both Umpqua and Chemeketa two
weeks ago.
The regular season is far from over, how
ever.
Clackamas plays host to rival Mt Hood
tonight The Saints [4-2,9-9] have been on
the Cougars'heels all season but with losses
to both Umpqua and Chemeketa, they have
slipped in the standings.
"Mt Hood is a very talented team,"
said Coach Twain. "They may have some
of the best talent in the northwest. They
have an excellent point guard in Kelli
Freshman
Melinda
Freeman has
been a terror
on defense for
the Cougars
this season
causing havoc
for opponents
around the
northwest.
Hedlund and a number of good posts.
They are very athletic and can do a lot
of things. They're definitely a team that
worries us.
"They match up pretty well against us
so we just need to play our game and come
out more pumped up than them."
Coach Twain plans to start big against
the Saints with 6'1" Robbie Nix, 6* Nichole
Hayden, 6' Michelle McKinney, 5'10"
Lauren Mohan and 5'5" Melinda Freeman.
She realizes, however, that things may
change pretty quick.
"We've got a number of players that de
serve to start," said Twain. "[Denise] Bean,
Jenny [Hansen] and Noelle [Johnson] are
some of them but we only have five spots.
We're doing the best we can and they all
know their roles. The girls know that it's
not really important who starts but who's in
there at the end of the game."
On Saturday, the Cougars will travel
the long journey to Roseburg to take on
Umpqua[4-2,18-2] in a game that could
greatly change the standings in the divi
sion.
Clackamas holds a one game lead over
both Chemeketa and Umpqua.
"The way to beat Umpqua is to shut
down Sarah Coleman," noted Twain.
"Chemeketa did that on Saturday and they
won and that's pretty much what we did as
well. They have some other players but if
we can keep their star under wraps that will
really help. We're going to work pretty hard
Women's Southern Division Standings
School
Clackamas
Chemeketa
Umpqua
Mt. Hood
Portland.
Lane
SW Oregon
Unn-Benton
League
Season
5-1
4-2
4-2
4-2
3-3
2-4
2-4
0-6
15-4
15-6
18-2
9-9
6-13
10-9
11-9
3-14
to do that.
"It's the same thing with Mt Hood as
well," added Twain. "If we can shut down
Hedlund then things should be okay. Those
two teams are similar in that sense."
The Cougars have their work cut out for
them in the next few weeks.
"We really enter the meat of our sched
ule now," said Twain. "We've gotMt Hood,
Umpqua, Chemeketa, SWOCC [South
western Oregon Community College] and
Portland in that order so we've got our work
cut out for us.
"Inmy opinion," added Twain, "wehave
five must-win games and if we get through
those undefeated then we should be on our
way to NWAACCs."
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undefeated
then we
should be
on oiir
way to
NWAACCs.
_ y
Karen
Twain
Head
Permanent, part-time (.5 FTE).
Wage to be determined. Open
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Support and advocacy to (Dianne).
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