Swish.
Swish.
It may not have been the most poetic way to do it, but Shaquala Williams’ two free throws nine minutes into last week’s contest against Stanford moved her into 10th place on Oregon’s all-time scoring list.
But the way she has been shooting this season, it seems to be the most legitimate.
“I didn’t even know how I scored it, but (free throws) makes sense,” said Williams, a junior guard. “That’s where I’ve been most consistent this season, so to do it that way is fitting.”
Her two points put the Ducks up by three, but Oregon eventually fell short in the loss to the Cardinal. Williams’ 22 points were a team high, and she was the only Duck to finish in double figures.
However, that total is far from her career-high 31 points against Arizona State earlier this season.
“Scoring is just kind of what I do, and I know that I’m one of the top-10 scorers in the history of the program, and that’s definitely an honor, but I’m more focused on getting this team back on track than to break into individual honors,” Williams said.
The 2001-02 season has been a trying year for the junior from Portland. With a young squad, Williams is looked to as the team’s main offensive leader. That has led opponents to focus on stopping just her, forcing others to take shots.
But that hasn’t deterred Williams. In what was supposed to be her senior year — but isn’t because of a knee injury that forced her to sit out last season — Williams has racked up 411 points, with 271 coming in Pacific-10 Conference play. At 1,275 career points, she needs 30 more to move into ninth place in Oregon history, passing Angelina Wolvert.
Perhaps Williams’ greatest feat this season is her ability to knock down her free throws with precision.
“I really don’t ever practice free throws,” she said. “I think it’s just more of a mental thing, being confident when I shoot.”
In 85 attempts this season from the charity stripe, Williams has made 75. She leads the Pac-10 with an 88 percent free-throw average and is looking to etch her name in Ducks’ history with the highest percentage in a season in school history. In the 1994-95 season, Sally Crowe made 86 percent of her free throws.
“It’s weird. When I was younger, I used to practice free throws all the time, and I was only about a 75, 80 percent shooter,” Williams said.
Williams is already the school’s all-time leader, shooting 84 percent for her career.

Dodgin’ a bullet
Unlike past seasons, the Ducks have been blessed with good health this year.
Only three players — Edniesha Curry, Amy Parrish and Kourtney Shreve — have missed time due to an injury or sickness this season, and all were for only a short period of time.
“I think that it helps you in practice,” head coach Bev Smith said. “You’re able to get people the amount of repetition (they need). Being this is a new team and a new system, that counts big time.”
Curry, the most seriously injured of the three, was a late scratch from the starting lineup at USC in December because of an injured foot. She entered the game late, but the Ducks were unable to overtake the Trojans, losing 83-73.
She sat out the next three games against Washington, Washington State and Arizona, seeing the Ducks go 3-0.
Parrish and Shreve have each missed one game. Shreve sat out Feb. 2 against Arizona, a game the Ducks lost 84-68.
“In a game like that where we didn’t have anything firing, she could have been important,” Smith said.
In an 18-game conference season, and with an additional 10 out of conference, injuries are a normal part of the game. However, the Ducks have survived the common sprains and pulls that can hinder athletes during games.
“We have to give credit to Geoff Ginther, our strength and conditioning coach,” Smith said. “We haven’t had a lot of those wear and tear injuries, and it seems like we’re doing something right in that area of preparing our athletes physically so they can come back the whole season.”

The “K” factor
She’s 6-foot-3, and averages 8.9 points per game. She grabs 7.8 boards per game and has increased that total to 9.7 in Pac-10 play.
But Cathrine Kraayeveld does not care about her statistics.
“I don’t really pay much attention to it, but I just know that my team needs it right now,” she said.
In her last nine games, she has collected 107 rebounds, good for 11.7 per game. In addition, her 9.7 boards per game in conference play places her third in the Pac-10.