Ok, it’s been a long week. But here’s my Pac-10 preview, in before the first conference game is over. Barely.

This is an improved Pac-10 conference.

Stanford's Kayla Pedersen and Nneka Ogwumike - Deb Gumbley photo

There are six strong teams in this conference with a collection of impressive wins in the non-conference.

Pac-10 teams have beaten Connecticut, Xavier, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Mississippi, DePaul, Gonzaga, North Carolina State. Gone to overtime against Tennessee.

Four teams – Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State and USC rank among the 16 in the RPI according to CollegeRPI.com.

This conference season is going to be competitive, particularly among the top 5-6 teams, but hopefully not too competitive.

If the Pac-10 wants to send a literal handful of teams into the NCAA field come March, there needs to be separation, a clear line of demarkation between the strong and the not-so-strong.

My prediction: Five teams will reach the NCAA Tournament from the Pac-10 this year.

Stanford

UCLA

USC

Cal

Arizona State

WNIT

Arizona

Oregon

Order of finish in the Pac-10

1. Stanford

2. UCLA

3. USC

4. Cal

5. Arizona State

6. Arizona

7. Oregon

8. Oregon State

9. Washington State

10. Washington

Arizona

Non-conference record: 9-2

Good wins: at Mississippi, at New Mexico

Bad losses: at Nevada.

Best player: So. G Davellyn White 15.5 ppg

Outlook: Look out for the Wildcats during the Pac-10 season. This team, which put up its best non-conference record since 2004-2005, could easily disrupt the order of the Pac-10 universe. The addition of point guard Shanita Arnold, the transfer from Arkansas, elevates this team, perhaps into the top tier of the conference. Arizona ranks No. 2 in scoring offense in the Pac-10 thus far, averaging nearly 80 points a game. Ify Ibekwe will challenge Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike for the conference rebounding title. Davellyn Whyte is the offensive tone-setter. Niya Butts is building a nice program in Tucson. This could be the breakout season.

Arizona State

Non-conference record: 8-2

ASU's Dymond Simon - ASU Athletics

Good wins: DePaul at home; at South Dakota State

Bad losses: vs. Florida State in Bahamas

Best player: Sr. G Dymond Simon, 15.3 ppg

Outlook: Last year’s inexperienced team is in the past. The Sun Devils come into conference play on a five-game winning streak after a 3-2 start, the best win among the bunch a victory over DePaul. This is ASU’s best record over 10 games since the 2006-07 season. Fifth-year senior point guard Dymond Simon leads the way. But ASU still knows how to do it with defense. In the last five games ASU has allowed 54.4 points per game; held opponents to a shooting percentage of .372 and averaged 13.0 steals per game.

Cal

Non-conference record: 8-3

Good wins: Rutgers at home; at Illinois

Bad losses: at New Mexico in double OT

Best player: So. F DeNesha Stallworth, 16.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg

Outlook: The Bears have a lot of young players with a lot of playing time under their belts. They have played well in the non-conference season and will open with a tough assignment against Stanford. Cal needs to find out how well it will play on the road. The Dec. 28 win at Illinois was the Bears’ only true road win of the non-conference season. DeNesha Stallworth is one of the best interior players in the conference with five double-doubles in 11 games. She’s had four games of at least 20 points.

Oregon

Non-conference record: 9-2

Good wins: at St. Mary’s; at Portland

Bad losses: vs. Bakersfield at home

Best player: Jr. G Amanda Johnson, 19.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg

Outlook: The Ducks have a great record and a very strong player in Amanda Johnson, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring average coming into the conference season. And they will have the excitement of playing in a new gym at Matthew Knight Arena. It’s not a surprise that the Ducks, playing their second season under Paul Westhead and his fast-break offense, is the best scoring offense in the Pac-10. They are forcing more than 27 turnovers and picking off 15 steals a game. But Oregon didn’t play anyone in the non-conference and will find out quickly where they belong in the Pac-10 pecking order.

Oregon State

Non-conference record: 7-4

Good wins: at UNLV

Bad losses: vs. Pepperdine at home

Best player: Fr. Alyssa Martin 15.5 ppg, .829 ft pct.

Outlook: The Beavers were better than anyone thought they could be in the non-conference. But coach Scott Rueck said he was concerned about how his team will battle against elite athleticism and the Beavers may learn the hard way. Freshman post Alyssa Martin and senior El Sara Greer, who stuck with the program through last summer’s trials, are the leaders of this team early in the season.

Stanford

Non-conference record: 8-2

Good wins: at Gonzaga; Rutgers at home;

Bad losses: at DePaul

Best player: Jr. F Nneka Ogwumike, 17.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg

Outlook: The favorite to win an 11th straight league title and after a week in which Stanford knocked off No. 4 Xavier by 37 points and then ended Connecticut’s 90-game win streak, the teams who want to challenge the Cardinal should be concerned. Stanford is finding its groove after two mid-December losses on the road behind the stellar play of Jeanette Pohlen and Nneka Ogwumike.

UCLA

Non-conference record: 10-1

Good wins: at Notre Dame; at San Diego State

Bad losses: LSU at home (only loss).

Best player: Jr. F Jasmine Dixon, 11.1 ppg

Outlook: The LSU loss at home this week was the Bruins’ only loss of the non-conference, which was highlighted by a road win over Notre Dame. The Bruins are playing great defense, are experienced in the backcourt with seniors Doreena Campbell and Darxia Morris, strong up front with Jasmine Dixon and Markel Walker and ready to stay at the top of the conference standings.

USC

Non-conference record: 8-3

Good wins: vs. Georgia at home; vs. Gonzaga at home; at North Carolina State

Bad losses: vs. Princeton in Nashville

Best player: Jr G Ashley Corral 14.8 ppg, 4.0 apg

Outlook: USC played the second-toughest schedule in the Pac-10 behind Stanford, collected some big wins and could challenge UCLA for the mantle as the second-best team in the Pac-10. The Women of Troy came into the season-opener against Washington State with four straight wins and their best non-conference record since 1994-95. Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath are both averaging 14.5 oints a game. Fifth-year senior Jacki Gemelos is averaging 12.7 points per game and scored a career-high 27 points earlier this week against Florida State.

Washington

Non-conference record: 5-4

Good wins: at Utah

Bad losses: vs. Kent State at home; vs. Georgia Tech at home.

Best player: G Kristi Kingma, 17.2 ppg

Outlook: The Huskies haven’t turned the corner and injuries may make it tough for Washington to turn the corner in the Pac-10. Regina Rodgers has missed all but one game this season. Mercedes Wetmore has missed two games. Mollie Williams is nursing a concussion.. Washington ranks 10th in the Pac-10 in scoring offense, 9th in free-throw percentage (.564) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.362). Kristi Kingma is carrying a big load, averaging 17.2 points a game, which averages second in the Pac-10. The die is not cast, but those numbers have to improve if the Huskies want to stay out of the cellar and perhaps save Tia Jackson’s job, because a last-place finish may give AD Scott Woodward reason to make a change.

Washington State

Non-conference record: 2-10

Good wins: vs. Long Beach State in Hawaii; vs. Nevada at home.

Bad losses: at Wyoming; at UC Davis

Best player: So. C Carly Noyes, 9.4 ppg

Outlook: A tough non-conference schedule for the Cougars — including just three home games –  sends them into Pac-10 with the league’s worst record and there’s not much reason to think that the conference schedule will be different. WSU is allowing opponents to score nearly 75 points a game and has no one averaging in double figures scoring. Center Carly Noyes leads the way at 9.4 points a game.

http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/30/stanford-ends-uconn-womens-record-90-game-winning-streak/

Pregame notes: Packed to the rafters at Maples Pavilion.

CSN Bay Area’s nightly show “Chronicle Live” went live from 5-6 p.m. in the concourse. You can watch the replay at 11 p.m. tonight.

Courtside – Jayne Appel, Candice Wiggins, Ros Gold-Onwude. Sitting behind me – Vanessa Nygaard (with new baby girl). Also here – Alana Beard, former UConn star Kara Wolters.

Will keep you posted on who’s in the house as we go.

11 minutes tip tip and Huskies are back in the locker room after warm-up. Greeted with a smattering of boos.

Geno’s on the floor with 10 minutes to go before tip.

Starting lineups:

Connecticut

3 Tiffany Hayes G

14 Bria Hartley G

23 Maya Moore F

31 Stefanie Dolson C

34 Kelly Faris G

Stanford

13 Chiney Ogwumike F

14 Kayla Pedersen F

15 Lindy LaRocque G

23 Jeanette Pohlen G

30 Nneka Ogwumike F

First half:

• Maples is rockin.
• Gracious applause for Maya Moore.
• Not so much for Geno.
• Chiney on Maya to start.
• Nneka picks up a quick first foul at 1918
• Hayes picks up an offensive foul at 17:25
• Connecticut starts 2 of 6.
• Two 3-pointers for Pohlen
• Media timeout: 15:14. Stanford 8, Connecticut 4.
• Officiating crew is a Pac-10 group: Michael Price, Melissa Barlow, Brenda Pantoja.
• Out of timeout: Huskies are 2-for-9 to start.
• Connecticut 2 for 11 and 0 for 5 on 3-point attempts.
• LaRocque 3-pointer sends the place into orbit.
• Pohlen cuts baseline and scores on feed. Connecticut calls timeout down 17-4.
• Pohlen has 10 points.
• Maya picks up first foul away from ball on Nneka.
• Connecticut within 22-13 after back-to-back Hartley baskets.
• Stanford’s ball security starting to slip a bit as Connecticut turns up defensive pressure.
• Media timeout: Stanford 22, Connecticut 13.
• Stat of note: Cardinal 4 of 5 from beyond 3-point arc.
• Lorin Dixon, who sat out UOP game with ankle injury, is in the game.
• First foul on Chiney.
• Tiffany Hayes two fouls at 10:18.
• Maya still not on the board at the 10-minute mark.
• That was almost ridiculous. Nneka up for lob and it rolls off.
• But Dolson picks up her second foul.
• Second foul on Chiney Ogwumike at 9:27.
• First appearance by Sarah Booth, in for Chiney
• Connecticut in a zone.
• Media timeout: Stanford 24, Connecticut 19.
• A 10-2 Huskies run with no scoring from Maya.
• Short sign-off folks. Need to figure out what my computer isn’t getting any power here at my seat.
• Just going to keep going. Stanford three straight baskets. Up 30-19.
• Kayla Pedersen might not be scoring, but she’s doing some big things for the Cardinal. Hustle plays galore.
• Stanford in the bonus.
• Cardinal 8-0 to lead 32-19.
• Media timeout: 3:51 to go. Stanford 32, Connecticut 19.
• That’s it for now. Back after the half. Sorry!
• Halftime score: Stanford 34. Connecticut 30. Late foul call with 1.1 seconds to go sends Kelly Faris to the line to pull the Huskies within four.

Halftime thoughts: The Cardinal are leading Connecticut for the third straight game and if they want this one to turn out differently, they are going to need to get more offense from Kayla Pedersen, who has just two points and is having trouble finding open shots.

Nneka O. played 11 minutes and Chiney played just 10 with foul trouble.

Stanford put up just 10 points over the final 10 minutes of the first half. That’s not a pace that’s going to keep you in the lead against the No. 1 team in the nation.

Second half

More in the house: Tina Charles and Jessica Moore behind the UConn bench.

Would be big for Stanford to come out and score a couple of baskets and put UConn in a position to respond.

Just like old times: Jayne Appel and Tina Charles standing under the basket chatting.

• Tried to post up Kayla P on first play. Pass out of bounds.
• Dolson picks up third foul at 18:15.
• Pohlen for 3 and gets a big steal.
• Cardinal up 40-33 and rebounding well out of the break.
• Chiney picks up third foul on the baseline.
• Media timeout: Stanford 40, Connecticut 35.
• Faris about to go to the line.
• State of note: Stanford leads in rebounding 24-19, but turnover number has popped up to 11.
• Maya Moore 2 of 8 for 6 points.
• Jeanette Pohlen 17 points.
• Full-court pressure from UConn
• Maya picks up second personal on Nneka away from ball.
• Cardinal maintaining the momentum and Pohlen has 22 now after that 3.
• Stanford up 47-38. Pohlen is putting all Connecticut ghosts to bed.
• Hayes has three fouls at 1227.
• Media timeout: Stanford 48, Connecticut 41.
• Fourth foul on Chiney with 1001 to go.
• Pohlen has a new season high with 25 points.
• Nneka’s steal and layup gives Cardinal some breathing room.
• Maya’s third foul, undercutting Kayla with 8:34 to go.
• Connecticut looking a little frustrated with the fouls right now. One more for the bonus for Stanford.
• Maya finding the hoop. ANother 3 pointer.
• Ok, gotta write. Watch TV.
• Media timeout: Stanford 61, Connecticut 55.
• Lot of time left and Cardinal missing some offensive opportunities.

Here we are.

Thursday night at 6 p.m. at a sold-out Maples Pavilion Stanford will take on Connecticut with a chance to end the Huskies NCAA record 90-game winning streak.

The national spotlight will be on the Cardinal, who looked worthy of the attention with a 37-point win over No. 4 Xavier on Tuesday as the undercard.

But the cold, hard facts are these: Stanford has faced Connecticut five times since 2007-08 and won only once in the 2008 NCAA semifinals. They are 1-4.

What needs to be different on Thursday night in order for the outcome to change?

Let’s make a list.

1. Momentum out of the half. The Cardinal have led the half in three of these last five games, including both matchups last season. The Cardinal can’t sustain it. A great half quickly goes by the wayside.

“Going into halftime, we are going to have to come out and be the aggressors in the second half. A lot of the time we wait to see what changes they make in the second half, how they are going to play us. I think this time we need to do what we are going to do and stay with that,” said senior forward Kayla Pedersen.

2. Jeanette Pohlen. The Cardinal senior guard has not had her best games against the Huskies. She’s been tentative at times, prone to mistakes and has not been able to knock down shots. In last year’s games, Pohlen was 6-for-18 from the floor.

But Pohlen is playing the best basketball of her career right now.

“I don’t even really think about past games because I feel like I’ve improved a lot since then, so it’s not really in the back of my head,” Pohlen said. “But obviously, it would be nice to have a good game against them, but I’m not going to get it in my head from past games.”

Pohlen said she will go over film and the scout carefully.

“Little changes, but I would do that with anybody,” Pohlen said.

3. The matchup inside. Tina Charles is gone. She isn’t there to clog the paint or pull down rebounds at will. Connecticut is inexperienced inside and not very deep, though Heather Buck is coming on and posted a career-high 11 points against Pacific on Tuesday.

Stanford can come at UConn with the Ogwumike sisters, Sarah Boothe, Kayla Pedersen, even Joslyn Tinkle. They will have the advantage here.

4. Perimeter defense. Stanford has to figure out a way to defend the dribble-drive. It has killed them in past games against the Huskies. The Cardinal haven’t found their defensive mo-jo on the perimeter since the departure of Ros Gold-Onwude. Freshman guard Bria Hartley is averaging 14.4 points per game. She scored 21 points against Florida State in the Huskies’ record-breaking game.

5. The home court. Stanford has won 51 in a row at home. Connecticut hasn’t played at Stanford since 1993, the year after the Cardinal won their second national championship. These players have no experience at Maples, which will be bursting at the seams and rocking. It could be a big factor for the Huskies’ young players.

My Fanhouse story from today’s Stanford-Xavier game.

http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/28/stanford-looks-ready-for-uconn-after-routing-no-4-xavier/

Need a refresher, then refresh…

Pregame notes: We all remember last year right? Two missed lay-ups, Jeanette Pohlen goes coast-to-coast with 4.4 seconds left and the Cardinal got to the Final Four.

Xavier is coming off a tough loss at Duke, 46-45 on Dec. 21.

Chiney Ogwumike missed the USF game last week after turning her ankle in shoot-around. She dressed and looks ready to go

Starting lineups:

Xavier

53 Ta’Shia Phillips C

0 Tyeasha Moss G

23 Megan Askew G

40 Katie Rutan G

1 Special Jennings G

Stanford

14 Kayla Pedersen F

30 Nneka Ogwumike F

15 Lindy LaRoque G

13 Chiney Ogwumike F

23 Jeanette Pohlen G

First half:

• No Amber Harris in starting lineup for Musketeers.
• Foul on Ta’Shia Phillips with 19:09 on the clock.
• Stanford out to a 6-0 lead. Xavier misses first three shots.
• Harris checking in now. 16:26.
• Xavier 0 for 7 to start.
• Make that 0-for-10. With 14:25 to go, still scoreless.
• Cardinal dictating tempo, but not much going on inside.
• Katie Rutan hits 3 off loose ball for Xavier.
• Cardinal have no offensive rebounds yet. They are going to need to make shots to hang on to this lead.
• With Phillips out, Chiney comes in. And Nneka is headed to the line after being fouled underneath.
• Harris hits a 3 for her first points. Philips is scoreless.
• Media timeout: Stanford up 18-10 with 9:40 to go.
• Pohlen hits a 3 out of timeout and Cardinal up 21-10.
• Guard Special Jennings picks up her second foul at 7:24.
• Media timeout: Stanford 23, Xavier 12.
• Cardinal doing a stellar job on the defensive end.
• Phillips finally scores inside at 7:10.
• Media timeout: Stanford 27, Xavier 18 with 5:13 to go.
• Pohlen scores on a quick drive to the hoop to put the Cardinal 33-22 and Xavier calls timeout.
• Phillips looks winded.
• Nneka one-handed tip on rebound and the Cardinal are up 15. Crowd appreciative.
• Halftime score: Stanford 37, Xavier 24.
• Stats of note: Xavier shooting 10 of 30 after an 0-for-10 start.
• Harris and Phillips a combined 5 of 13 for 13 points.
• Cardinal end up with eight offensive rebounds.
• Nneka 15 points and 8 rebounds at half.

Second half

• Xavier calls timeout with the Cardinal up 46-28 after an inside basket by Nneka Ogwumike.
• Cardinal are doing a good job of getting hands on passes inside.
• It’s a 56-30 lead for Stanford after LaRocque hits a 3.
• This has been an impressive performance for a Cardinal team that needed one.
• Media timeout: 56-30.
• Stat of note: Stanford winning rebounding battle 29-22 and have forced 13 turnovers. Cardinal 8 of 11 so far from the floor in second half.
• Nneka up to 21 points.
• Pohlen leaves the floor with three fouls at 12:18.
• Cardinal continue to pound away offensively. Up 71-31 now with 8:21 to go.
• After a tough week on the road, this is a great cure-all and it sets the stage well for the UConn game.
• Up by 30 on a team that lost one game so far this year by one point.
• Xavier looks shell-shocked.
• Media timeout: Stanford 71, Xavier 41.
• Stat of note: Xavier 2 of 16 from the 3-point line.
• Nneka picks up a foul and leaves the game with 23 points. She might not be back.
• Special Jennings picks up fourth foul for Xavier.
• Four fouls on Pohlen who has had a great game. She has been Stanford’s tone-setter. She finishes with 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists.
• Nneka leads with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Pedersen with 14 points, six rebounds.
• Amber Harris finishes with 18 points, 9 rebounds. Ta’Shia Phillips with six points and 12 rebounds.

To call Oregon State’s women’s basketball team “a work in progress” as coach Scott Rueck did, is to sell the Beavers very, very short.

The fact that they are sitting at 7-4 at the end of the non-conference season is, if not a true miracle, a major-league surprise.

When coach LaVonda Wagner left in the wake of a player exodus and allegations of abusive treatment the program was left in shambles. Two players remained on the roster. There were two signees. And a big mess to clean up.

Enter Rueck, who, a year ago was coaching the defending Division III national champions at George Fox. He bolstered the roster with an open-tryout that allowed him to recruit four walk-ons. He convinced athletes from other sports to add basketball to their plate. He built a team, put them on the floor and watched them win four of their first five games. They closed the non-conference record with a 7-4 record that included a win last week over Eastern Washington, the team that won the Big Sky Conference title last season.

Is he surprised?

“I’ll be honest, there were so many unknowns coming in,” Rueck said. “I was new to the Division I level. Our system was effective at Division III, but I didn’t have any idea what type of team we’d be.

“Everything I listened to told me we didn’t have a chance. I thought it might be a year where we might not win a game. I definitely thought it was a possibility.”

El Sara Greer was one of the two players on the roster who decided to stay. She said that she felt like she owed it to her family in Iowa.

“It’s definitely going better than I thought,” Greer said. “I think other teams might have been counting us out, thinking all they had to do was show up and play us, but the coaching staff has put the right people in the right positions.”

Greer said she did not know what was going to happen before Rueck was hired, wasn’t sure there would be enough players who were going to want to play at Oregon State.

She said the returning players were not allowed to be alone with recruits because it was such a sensitive time for the program.

But she said that the team’s performance so far has been “satisfying.”

“I think we’ve surprised people and we’ve surprised ourselves and I can’t wait for the Pac-10 to start,” Greer said.

Rueck is preparing his team for what is shaping up to be a competitive Pac-10 season.

What is still unknown about his team?

“How we will play against elite athleticism,” Rueck said. “We saw it against Rutgers. I was proud of that effort even though we didn’t win. But can we sustain that for 40 minutes? We have to do that every night in the Pac-10 and I know that.”

Rueck said that he’s running across many people who are happy for his players and impressed with their resilience.

He said he thinks that some of what happened in the months before he arrived was “blown out of proportion.”

“I don’t know a lot of the details, but man, the media picked it up and ran with it,” Rueck said. “Honestly, I don’t know a lot of the stuff that’s gone on and I think some of it was blown out of proportion, but I don’t really want to know. It’s a new day.”

As promised, my Fanhouse story…Merry, Merry!

http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/23/tara-vanderveer-hits-800-win-milestone/

Will be writing on last night’s occasion for Fanhouse and posting as soon as its ready.
Wishing everyone a peaceful, restful, joyful Holiday and looking forward to next week!

Katy Steding, Tara VanDerveer, Amy Tucker and Jennifer Azzi

SDSU coach Beth Burns and center Paris Johnson - SDSU Athletics

Good things are happening at San Diego State. The football team is headed to its first bowl game in a decade. The men’s basketball team is ranked No. 7 in the nation.

And the women’s basketball team? They are playing a bit of catch-up after a tough start.

But it could be argued that the Aztec women started the whole thing with last spring’s run to the Sweet 16.

San Diego State graduated its top two players off that team, guards Jene’ Morris and Quenese Davis.

San Diego State sits a 4-5 after opening the season with a 1-4 record. The Aztecs are at home for the first time in six games Tuesday against Washington State with a good chance to get to .500 against the struggling Cougars.

Senior center Paris Johnson said the tough start – which included losses to UCLA, UC Irvine, Cal State Bakersfield and Nevada, came as a “shock.”

“I was surprised,” Johnson said. “We were practicing well. We had good chemistry. But we are basically a new team, an inexperienced team. I think our inexperience showed during games. But I think we are starting to put it together.

San Diego State has won three of its last four games.

“I pretty much knew this was going to be a work in progress,” said coach Beth Burns. “Seven of the 12 kids on our roster hadn’t played Division I basketball before. We have four returning people, but everybody’s roles have changed. We could have had six months to get read and it wouldn’t have mattered. We need to play together.”

Burns said she wasn’t shocked by her team’s struggles.

“Disappointed, but not surprised,” Burns said. “We didn’t practice like a college team until after the Bakersfield game. It would tell them, you can have three slow people running in a race. Somebody’s going to finish first, but nobody’s fast. Everybody was too slow. It just took playing some games and having some film to look at to have them understand what we’re doing.”

The always colorful Burns said it’s like “a grand canyon” between her experiences players and her younger kids.

“Every game out, they’ve played better than the game before,” Burns said.

Johnson remembers that SDSU took it on the chin in the Thanksgiving tournament in the Virgin Islands last fall and still ended up as a Sweet 16 team.

“Everybody understands that,” Johnson said. “We just can’t be losing too many more games.”