1. Stanford (26-2, 17-0). The Cardinal, who clinched their 11th straight title this weekend, are withstanding the physical punishment of Pac-10 opponents every game now. Next up Thursday night’s regular-season finale against Cal and then a week-long break before the Pac-10 semifinals.
2. UCLA (24-3, 14-2). No stumbles for the Bruins in the desert this weekend. A sign of toughness to be sure.
3. Gonzaga (26-4, 14-0). The Zags beat second-place St. Mary’s by 40 points and then closed out a second consecutive unbeaten conference season with a win over San Diego. This WCC Tournament isn’t likely to have a surprise ending.
4. Arizona State (17-9, 9-7). The Sun Devils, who have won four of six, are one game ahead of Arizona and USC for the No. 3 spot in the Pac-10 with two games to go.
5. Fresno State (21-7, 12-2). The Bulldogs have won six in a row heading into the final weekend of the WAC schedule.
6. Arizona (17-10, 8-8). The Wildcats are finishing with a flourish with four wins in five games and have a chance to do even better with a road trip against the struggling Oregon schools.
7. USC (16-11, 8-8). The Women of Troy are again putting their postseason hopes in jeopardy with a pair of weekend losses in Arizona. They are going to need a sweep this weekend at home against the Washington schools and at least one win in the Pac-10 Tournament to stay in the NCAA picture.
8. Cal (15-13, 7-10). The Bears ended their five-game losing streak by beating Oregon State on Saturday. And now a regular-season finale at Maples against Stanford. Barring a unlikely ending at the Pac-10 tourney, this may be the first time since Joanne Boyle arrived in Berkeley that the Bears miss the postseason altogether.
9. St. Mary’s (19-10, 11-3). The Gaels might be the second-best team in the WCC, but are they a true threat to Gonzaga next week in Las Vegas? St. Mary’s heads into the conference tournament having won five of six games.
10. Cal Poly (16-10, 12-3). The Mustangs won at least a share of the program’s first-ever Big West title this weekend with a win over Long Beach State.

Live-blogging again today! No. 2 Stanford vs. Oregon at 2 p.m.

Going to make an argument or two here and then we can argue about it.

Stanford's Jeanette Pohlen - Deb Gumbley file photo

I’m going to two make somewhat out-of-the-box picks for Pac-10 postseason awards.

First of all, Stanford’s Jeanette Pohlen should be the Pac-10 Player of the Year.

She ranks in the top five in five categories in the Pac-10 statistics, leading the way in free-throw percentage, 3-pointer percentage and total 3-pointers made.

She’s had an outstanding all-around season as a scorer, distributor and leader.

Oregon State’s Scott Rueck should be the Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

It’s obviously easy to say that Tara VanDerveer should win, for she is coaching the best team in the league.

It might even be easy to see UCLA’s Nikki Caldwell win it, considering the unprecedented nature of the Bruins’ season and their Top 10 ranking for much of the season.

But has any coach in the league had to work harder to coach their team than Rueck.

He started with almost nothing – literally.

He cobbled together a team with open tryouts and preseason recruiting and convincing other athletes from other teams to join the program.

He wondered whether they would win a game. The Beavers have won nine. Two of them in conference play, including last week’s rivalry game against Oregon at Gill Coliseum.

Oregon State has not been a walk-over. The Beavers have been competitive. Eight of their conference losses have come by 10 points or less.

Rueck has done more with less. And that’s an understatement.

He would have my vote. I’m guessing he’s going to have a few others.

1. Stanford (24-2, 15-0). The Cardinal won a big game yesterday, beating second-place UCLA on the road without Nneka Ogwumike. As a bonus, Stanford got great minutes from freshman guard Toni Kokenis. Stanford should clinch at least a tie for the Pac-10 title on Thursday night against Oregon State.

2. UCLA (22-3, 12-2). The Bruins had an opportunity yesterday against Stanford and they missed it. UCLA needs to regroup and finish the Pac-10 strong to keep a top 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

3. Gonzaga (24-4, 12-0). The Bulldogs clinched their seventh straight WCC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament this past weekend. St. Mary’s should provide a good pre-tournament test at home on Thursday.

4. Arizona State (16-8, 8-6). The Sun Devils did what they had to do up in Washington, coming up with a hard-won sweep that keeps them on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Hosting the L.A. schools this weekend is a chance to keep up the good work.

5. USC (16-9, 8-6). The Women of Troy want to be the solid No. 3 team in the Pac-10. Thursday’s game at Arizona State will be a big step in that direction.

6. Fresno State (18-7, 9-2). The Bulldogs seniors have won 90 games during their college careers and will set a school record with one more victory.

7. Arizona (16-9, 7-7). Three straight wins for the Wildcats puts them in the top half of the Pac-10 standings with four games to go. Senior Ify Ibekwe finishing her career strong with another big scoring performance against Washington with 24 points.

8. Cal (14-12, 6-9). Such a tough stretch for the Bears with five straight losses. The Oregon schools – the bottom two teams in the Pac-10 standings – are coming into Haas Pavilion, giving the Bears a chance to get on a winning track. With three games to go and a season-closing date at Stanford, the Bears could well finish with a losing record in conference play for the first time since Joanne Boyle arrived six years ago.

9. St. Mary’s (17-10, 9-3). The Gaels have won four in a row and closed out their home schedule this weekend with wins over USF and San Diego. If St. Mary’s wants to demonstrate some real momentum, the time to show it is this weekend on a regular-season closing trip to Gonzaga and Portland. Louella Tomlinson is on a roll with six straight double-doubles.

10. Cal Poly (14-10, 10-3). The Mustangs are hanging on to first place in the Big West despite two straight losses. Cal Poly has a one-game lead over UC Santa Barbara.

LOS ANGELES – Defining games.

There are a few of them every season for every team, games in which you find out where you are as a team, how far you’ve come, how much farther there is to go.

Sunday at Pauley Pavilion, No. 3 Stanford taking on No. 9 UCLA.The Bruins were looking to grab a share of the lead in the Pac-10 standings, looking to grab of share of Stanford’s top 5 national stature and prove that they indeed belong among the “elite”.

But in a 67-53 loss, in which the Cardinal dominated the second half after the two teams played to a 28-28 tie at the half, UCLA fell short of all of the above.
Playing in front of the biggest crowd to watch a women’s game at Pauley in 13 years, UCLA missed a big opportunity.
Stanford (24-2, 15-0) played for the first time this season without junior forward Nneka Ogwumike – the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year. Nneka Ogwumike sprained her ankle Friday night at USC and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer made a game-day decision to sit her leading scorer.
But the Cardinal picked up the slack, and that further defined the Cardinal in the mind of VanDerveer.
“Nneka’s dad has a saying ‘Every disappointment is a blessing’,” VanDerveer said. “We were disappointed Nneka couldn’t play. We want her to play and to be healthy. But as soon as it was clear that she wasn’t going to play, I was excited to see what different people would do. I told our team that before the game. I said ‘I’m going to learn a lot about our competitiveness, about how who really wants to be out there.’ This is a tough game to fill in for. There are a lot of other games that would be easier.”
Nneka’s younger sister Chiney continues to impress, finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes on the floor. She was 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.
Senior Kayla Pedersen didn’t have her best offensive day (4 of 12 from the floor), but ended up with 13 points and 11 rebounds and some huge plays down the stretch.
And freshman reserve guard Toni Kokenis capped the best weekend of her college career with 13 points of 5 of 8 shooting to go with three steals.
“We affectionately call our freshmen babies and our babies grew up today,” VanDerveer said. “Toni and Chiney had fabulous games.”
UCLA (22-3, 12-2) could well get another shot at Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament finals, but if the Bruins hope to win, they will have to solve their biggest problem against Stanford in two games – the inability to knock down shots. In the first game between the two teams, a 64-38 Stanford win, UCLA shot 29.4 percent.
This time, the Bruins shot 31.1 percent. They were 19 of 61 from the field, attempting 11 more field-goals than the Cardinal. UCLA had two scorers in double figures – senior guard Darxia Morris who finished with 14 points, but only three in the second half, and junior forward Jasmine Dixon. Dixon, doubled the entire game, ended up with 10 points and 12 rebounds, but was just 3 of 13 from the floor.
UCLA wanted to disrupt Stanford, but Stanford’s size makes that tough. Stanford turned the ball over 13 times. But the Cardinal were able to hit enough outside shots and get the ball inside to take advantage of their superior size.
“Basically, you’ve got to make shots,” said UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell. “Jasmine struggled offensively, but we had some look from our guards and you’ve got to knock those down. And you’ve got to knock those down, and you’ve got to make lay-ups. We blew probably 20 lay-ups as well.”
Caldwell was asked what still separates Stanford from her team.
“Teaching our kids how to compete for 40 and not just be complacent to be in a game,” Caldwell said. “It’s a different mentality to convey here, one that they are grasping slowly, but one that every game we are trying to implement. Coming from a program like Tennessee, you play every day for a championship. You don’t do anything but practice every day and play for a championship. When you want to play with the big dogs, your big dogs have got to show up.”
The Cardinal are No. 3 for now.
Baylor’s loss to Texas Tech on Saturday opens the door for the Cardinal to move up into the top two in the national rankings. Tomorrow’s AP ranking will probably look like this: 1. Connecticut (with one loss) and 2. Stanford (the Cardinal with two losses despite the head-to-head matchup).
Stanford’s conference win streak moves to 53.
And VanDerveer may have more opportunity to rest Ogwumike for the stretch. Next week’s home set includes Oregon State and Oregon and neither team seems worthy of the risk if Ogwumike’s right ankle isn’t quite ready to go.
In the meantime, the Cardinal can rest in the comfort that they continue to define themselves as national title contenders.
“Honestly, I had a lot of confidence today going into the game, no matter who was going to start,” Pedersen said. “I think we were ready. Every single person out there was ready to battle and do what they needed to do.”

Back by popular demand. Noon. Join me, will you?

Tara VanDerveer was asked after her team’s win over USC on Friday night about her selection as one of 12 finalists for the Naismith Hall of Fame.

“I guess means you’ve been at it a long time, you know what I mean. My grandparents are from Springfield, Massachusetts, so as a young girl, I’ve been there. I’m very familiar with it. That’s where my mother’s family is from. So, it’s a tremendous honor. It’s a little surreal, honestly.

“But it’s a reflection of the fact that I’ve coached great student-athletes and Olympians and I’ve worked in great places…and had a lot of support. Honestly, I was totally thinking about this game, thinking about doing really well tonight for our team. I’m kind of an in-the-moment person.”

Senior guard Jeanette Pohlen on her coach’s nomination:

“I think it’s long overdue and well-deserved. She is just a smart person when it comes to a game and what needs to be done. It was just a matter of time, I think.”

Kayla Pedersen:

“That’s pretty big time. I didn’t know about it, so congrats coach. That’s awesome, definitely well-deserved…

Tara: “It’s just a nomination, Kayla…”

Kayla: “It’ll happen coach.”

Stanford senior guard Jeanette Pohlen, who was named Friday as one of 11 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation’s top point guard, had family waiting at the Galen Center. But she took a couple of minutes to chat with me postgame after the Cardinal’s win over USC. Pohlen led Stanford in scoring with 19 points, including 5 3-pointers.

I’m in LA. It’s raining. It’s Friday night. Let’s try something…

I’ve going to liveblog the game and you can join me.

With more than 800 wins, two NCAA titles, eight trips to the Final Four and a 1996 Olympic gold medal to her credit, Tara VanDerveer became one of 12 finalists for basketball’s highest honor Friday, nominated to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Here’s the story from gostanford.com.
http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/021811aaa.html