Ducks Head To Cowgirl Country for WNIT 3rd Round
Note: This is an abbreviated version of Oregon's Weekly Basketball Notes. For the complete release, including stats, box scores, player capsules, etc., please view the PDF.
WNIT THIRD-ROUND THEME: AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE!
When the Oregon Ducks and Wyoming Cowgirls take the floor on Thursday in the third round of the 2007 Postseason WNIT, Oregon second-year assistant coach Phil Brown will see three of his former players from his days as the head coach at the Australian Institute of Sport. Oregon’s Eleanor Haring, and Wyoming’s Hanna Zavecz and Rebecca Vanderjagt, all played under Brown at AIS before coming to the States to play Division I women’s basketball.
Haring (12.7 ppg) and Zavecz (13.5 ppg), who spent a full year as teammates at AIS, now lead their respective teams in scoring.
“She’s a very smooth player and very good defensively,” said Brown of the 6-0 Zavecz. “She is very versatile and can play the 1, 2, 3 or 4 position.”
Vanderjagt has appeared in 28 of Wyoming’s 32 games this season and averages 11.2 minutes per contest.
INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF BASKETBALL
The Ducks and Cowgirls combine for 11 players - including redshirts - born outside of the United States. UO has two Australians, three Canadians, one Italian and one New Zealander, while Wyoming boasts three Australians and one player from Poland.
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE
Oregon’s upcoming practice schedule is as follows:
Tue., March 20, 8-9:30 a.m.
Wed., March 21, 8-9:30 a.m.
Practices at McArthur Court are open to the media and interviews may be conducted at the conclusion of each session. Please contact Andy McNamara (541-346-2253) if you plan on attending. All times are subject to change.
DUCKS IN THE WNIT
The Ducks have made three prior trips to the WNIT - formerly known as the National Women’s Invitational Tournament - and have won two championships (1989 and 2002). Their first two appearances came in 1979 and 1989, when it was an eight-team event. In 2002, the WNIT had 32 participants. This year, the tourney expanded to 48 teams.
1979 ? at Amarillo Texas
Quarterfinals
Oregon 85, Minnesota 74
Semifinals
South Carolina 85, Oregon 63
Consolation
Oregon 81, N. Kentucky 72
1989 ? at Amarillo Texas
Quarterfinals
Oregon 82, DePaul 77
Semifinals
Oregon 93, Toledo 63
Championship
Oregon 67, San Diego State 64
2002 ? at McArthur Court, Eugene, Ore.
First Round
Oregon 71, St. Mary’s (CA) 61
Second Round
Oregon 58, Oregon State 48
at Bank of America Arena, Seattle, Wash.
Quarterfinals
Oregon 77, Washington 73
at McArthur Court, Eugene, Ore.
Semifinals
Oregon 65, Michigan State 54
Championship
Oregon 54, Houston 52
MORE WNIT
-UO is 5-0 at home all-time in the WNIT, 1-0 on the road, and 5-1 at neutral sites.
-Through the first two rounds, home teams are 26-4 in this year’s Postseason WNIT, including 15-1 in the second round.
-Contrary to popular belief, WNIT teams are not required to play a minimum number of road games during the tournament. Site selection is determined primarily by attendance and travel compatibility.
-Wyoming, Oregon’s third-round opponent, will be hosting it’s third straight game in this year’s tournament. The Cowgirls drew 2,644 fans in the first round and 3,595 in the second round.
QUICK QUACK
Oregon returns six players from last year’s squad, which went 14-15, 5-13 in the Pac-10. Of UO’s 10 active players, five are seniors, including F Eleanor Haring, a former Pac-10 All-Freshman team honoree.
CLIPPED WINGS
SR F/C Jessie Shetters, who missed a month with a stress fracture in her back has played in four of UO’s last five games - all off the bench. FR G Taylor Lilley will be day-to-day for the remainder of the season with a precursor to a stress fracture in her right leg.
HITCHIN’ A RIDE
The Ducks will be traveling to the third round of the WNIT in style as they hitch a ride with the UO men’s team on their chartered jet to the NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinals in St. Louis. The women will be dropped off in Denver and bus the remaining 150 miles up to Laramie.
GANE-ING ON 1,000
Thanks to UO’s postseason appearance, SR F/C Carolyn Ganes still has an outside shot at joining the Ducks’ 1,000-point club. Ganes enters Thursday’s game at Wyoming 48 points shy of the century mark.
BEV HITS CENTURY MARK
Oregon sixth-year head coach Bev Smith recorded the 100th collegiate coaching victory of her career in UO’s WNIT second-round win over UC Santa Barbara on March 17.
BACK-TO-BACK PAC
Oregon’s win over Washington State on Feb. 22 gave the Ducks back-to-back conference road victories for the first time since 2004, when UO earned consecutive victories over Washington State (Jan. 17) and UCLA (Jan. 29).
NURSE NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
SO G Tamika Nurse was selected as the Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 4 after helping the Ducks defeat UCLA and USC at home. Nurse scored a career-high 22 points against the Bruins and grabbed a career-best six rebounds against the Women of Troy. Over the two games, the Hamilton, Ontario native was 24-of-26 at the foul line. Nurse was UO’s first weekly honoree this season and first since SR F/C Carolyn Ganes took home the hardware Dec. 19, 2005. It was the first weekly award for Oregon to come during Pac-10 play since Brandi Davis won for the week of Feb. 12, 2005.
DUCKS ADD AUSSIE KENYON
G/F Victoria Kenyon, a 17-year-old Australian from Brisbane, Queensland, joined the Ducks prior to the start of winter term and will redshirt the remainder of the 2006-07 season. Kenyon, who comes to Eugene from the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS), will participate in all practices and travel with the team.
GOODBYE GARBY
SR G Nicole Garbin has called it a career and will not continue to play basketball for the Ducks. Garbin, a sixth-year senior, played in three games this season following a standout soccer career at UO.
MAC COURT 300
Oregon’s win over BYU on Dec. 30 was the program’s 300th home victory at McArthur Court. The Ducks have an all-time Mac Court mark of 304-104 (.745).
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Ducks have had plenty of success outside of the Pac-10 Conference in recent years and this one is no different. Over the past three seasons, UO is a combined 27-9 in non-league games. Oregon is 9-3 in non-conference games this year.
PAP? PLAYER
SR F Eleanor Haring earned the MVP award at the ninth annual Pap? Jam at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Dec. 9. Haring led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting as she paced the Ducks to a 70-60 victory against Big 12 side Colorado.
ALL TOURNEY
SR F/C Carolyn Ganes was the Ducks’ representative on the Oregon Thanksgiving Tournament All-Tournament team after averaging 13.5 points and 4.0 rebounds as the Ducks went 1-1 to take third place. Pittsburgh won the tourney with wins over Utah and Boise State.
2007 RECRUITS
Oregon inked one of its most impressive recruiting classes in recent years, signing four prep players to National Letters of Intent during November’s early period.
6-4 post Nicole Canepa (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep), 5-7 guard Nia Jackson (Seattle, Wash./Chief Sealth), 6-2 post Ellie Manou (New South Wales, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) and 5-11 wing Tatianna Thomas (Newhall, Calif./Hart) will be incoming freshmen in the fall of 2007.
UO’s class was ranked 31st nationally by recruiting outlet Blue Star Basketball.
