Dream Shot -- UW's Moore Wants Recognition As Complete Player

Laura Moore has lived one of life's enduring fantasies.

In making a 17-foot shot with one second remaining to beat Stanford on national television, the University of Washington sophomore did for real what she only had dreamed of doing.

Time was running out. The ball was in her hands. She would decide the outcome of this Saturday-night-live appearance in a matchup that has become the best women's basketball rivaly on the West Coast.

``Sure, when I was younger, in high school and junior high,'' Moore said in recalling how she used to fantasize game-winning shots. ``When you'd be in the gym by yourself, you would just play, whether you were on the free-throw line or shooting from half court. . . . You know, you'd count down to yourself . . . 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . .''

At Stanford, it was for real. Moore, to the left, near the top of the key, picked up the loose ball, looked at teammate Karen Deden, who had her back to the basket, and fired the 111th shot of her Husky career. For the 49th time, her shot went in.

Washington 69, Stanford 68.

``When I picked up the ball I looked at Karen but I don't remember looking at the basket,'' Moore said. ``When I looked at Karen I just kind of shot it. And it went in.''

Moore said her first reaction was to just stand where she had shot.

``It didn't hit me at first, until I saw my teammates running at me,'' she said. ``That's when it finally hit me that we had won the game.''

Moore said she has heard from a lot of people who watched the game, ``and they had nothing but good things to say.''

Her parents, Mike and Linda Moore, watched the game on television at their home in Pendleton, Ore. Their reaction?

``Each of them said they jumped up and down and ran around the house,'' Laura said.

For Moore, a reserve guard who has averaged 11 minutes of playing time this season, her 30-second appearance against Stanford made her an instant - if not enduring - celebrity. She forever will be known as the player who ended Stanford's 42-game, home-court winning streak with a shot verifying her status as the Huskies' best pure shooter.

``She is money from anywhere,'' teammate Laurie Merlino said.

``Money'' said she will continue to hone her shooting skills, but she also hopes to someday be identified as a more complete player.

``I really feel I have an overall game,'' Moore said. ``It might not be as good . . . I might not play as good on defense as Tara Davis or I might not handle the ball as well as Jocelyn McIntire. But I can do those things.''

Shooting, she said, is her strength now, ``and I'm going to continue to work on my strength.''

She said her shooting ability is the part of the game that is the most fun.

``But I hope that in the next couple of years the rest of my game will come up and the people will see that. And I really think it will.''

Moore said the fact she was around basketball most of her young life - her father was a basketball coach - led to her becoming a good shooter.

``I started at such a young age and I kept working on it, working on it and working on it,'' Moore said.

Her basketball reputation began to soar at LaGrande (Ore.) High School, where as a freshman, sophomore and junior, her teams won 59 games and lost 10. Her father accepted a principal's job, and the family to Pendleton for her senior year. That season, she averaged 25.8 points per game as Pendleton went 22-1.

Moore seems to have put The Shot into perspective. She is quick to point out that others were responsible for creating the opportunity that fell, almost literally, in her lap.

``It was a great moment,'' Moore said. ``I'll always remember it. The team will always remember it. But, realistically, the game is over and we have to keep moving forward from here.''

Moving forward means games tonight and Sunday afternoon against Oregon State and Oregon, respectively, at Edmundson Pavilion. For ``Money'' it means more opportunities to shoot and more chances to show that there is more to her game than the fantasy, as real as it was, of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. . . .

Bingo!

LAURA MOORE / BIO

-- Who: Guard, UW women's basketball team.

-- Height, age, class: 5-9, 20, sophomore.

-- Hometown: born and raised in LaGrande, Ore.; graduated from Pendleton, Ore., High School.

-- Family: father, Mike, a high-school principal; mother, Linda, a teacher; two younger brothers, Todd (17) and Kevin (13).

-- Statistics:

Year FG FT Pts. Av.

1990 22/56 43/47 94 3.1

1991 27/55 26/28 93 5.2

Totals 49/111 69/75 187 3.9

HUSKY PREVIEW

WASHINGTON VS. OREGON ST.

TONIGHT'S GAME

-- TIME, PLACE: 7:30 p.m., Edmundson Pavilion.

-- RADIO, TV: KOMO-radio (AM-1000); Prime Sports NW, cable TV, delayed to 4 p.m. Sunday.

-- RECORDS: Washington 9-2 in the Pac-10 Conference, 17-3 overall; Oregon State is 5-5, 13-7.

-- RECENTLY: Washington beat Stanford Saturday 69-68; Oregon State lost to Oregon 65-63 Sunday.

-- SERIES: Washington leads 21-15. Oregon State won the most recent meeting, Jan. 20 in Corvallis, 84-67. Washington is 12-5 against OSU in Seattle, where the Beavers haven't won since Jan. 14, 1983.

-- COACHES: Chris Gobrecht is 140-34 in her sixth season at Washington and is 225-126 in her 12th season as a head coach. Aki Hill is 209-151 in her 13th season as a head coach, all at Oregon State.

NOTES

-- Husky freshman Tara Davis, who has started the past five games at forward, will replace senior Laurie Merlino at off guard tonight. Merlino is in Boston, where she is being interviewed for a graduate-school berth at Northeastern University. Sophomore Erika Hardwick will return to the starting lineup at small forward.

-- Washington is ranked 10th on this week's Associated Press coaches poll. Oregon State is unranked.

-- Judy Shannon, a junior transfer in her first year at Oregon State, scored 42 points against the Huskies Jan. 20. She is at or near the top of four Pac-10 statistical categories - second in scoring (20.5 points per game), fifth in rebounding (9.2), second in blocked shots (1.8), first in steals (3.4).

-- Washington's Karen Deden, named Pac-10 player of the week after scoring 32 points and pulling down 20 rebounds in victories over Cal and Stanford, leads the Huskies in scoring (16.8), rebounding (7.8) and shooting percentage (50.9).

-- Husky streaks: five straight victories since losing at Oregon State; four straight at home since losing to Stanford Jan. 11. The Huskies haven't lost at home to a Pac-10 team other than Stanford since the women's Pac-10 league formed in 1987.

PROBABLE STARTERS

-- WASHINGTON - G Jocelyn McIntire, 5-7 Jr.; G Tara Davis, 5-10 Fr.; F Karen Deden, 6-4 Sr.; F Erika Hardwick, 5-11 So.; C Dianne Williams, 6-2 Jr.

-- OREGON STATE - G Izzy Maryntschak, 5-8 Sr.; G Margo Evashevski, 5-7 So.; F Sonjhia Fleming, 6-1 So.; F Judy Shannon, 6-2 Jr.; C Natalia Mattick, 6-4, Fr.

UP NEXT

-- Oregon at Washington, Sunday, 2 p.m., Edmundson Pavilion.