1. Stanford (4-1).  A 10-point loss on the road to Connecticut exposed some things the Cardinal needs to work on in the next few weeks before Tennessee comes to town. One thing is clear, Nneka Ogwumike needs to stay on the floor. She has been dominant thus far.
2. Arizona State (4-1). Falling just short against Rutgers proves that ASU might be ready to regain its place as the Pac-12’s No. 2. The Sun Devils’ next big challenge on the schedule doesn’t come until the Dec. 16 game at DePaul.
3. Cal (4-2).  Beating Virginia and former coach Joanne Boyle – the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2009 – was a big way to end a Hawaiian tournament for the Bears. Layshia Clarendon posted her first double-double of the season in the win.
4. Gonzaga (3-1). Katelan Redmon and Kayla Standish scored 47 of their team’s 99 points in Sunday’s win over Portland State. On Wednesday the Zags will take on Washington State for the first time in 10 years.
5. USC (2-3). The Women of Troy finished up their brutal road run with a win over Gardner-Webb, but now have to come back to California and rebuild their resume and their confidence after losses to Nebraska, Georgia and Notre Dame. The next big challenge is Sunday’s road game against Gonzaga.
6. UCLA (3-2). A 33-point loss to Baylor was humbling for Cori Close’s team, but the Bruins have big opportunities to get some momentum back with a Wednesday road game against San Diego State before a big December that includes games against LSU (and former coach Nikki Caldwell), Tennessee and the start of conference play against Cal and Stanford.
7. UC Davis (5-0). The Aggies are 5-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Samantha Meggison has scored in double figures in every game so far. The biggest challenge of the preseason comes Wednesday night at Stanford.
8. Arizona (4-0). The Wildcats are off to a strong start and have posted a 3-0 record on the road. BYU will provide Arizona a tough test in Hawaii on Thursday.
9. Oregon (6-0). How do you rate a Ducks team that hasn’t played away from home, hasn’t played anyone that will truly challenge them, but keeps on winning? They are 6-0 for the first time since 2004-05. But Thursday’s road game against Fresno State should be a good barometer.
10. San Diego State (4-1). This team has good wins over DePaul and Washington and the Pac-12 portion of the schedule has commenced. Next up is UCLA on Wednesday and Washington State on Friday. Courtney Clements, the transfer from Arizona, is leading the way at 19.2 points a game.

Before boarding my fight home…

To play Connecticut on the road in November in the week before Thanksgiving is less about winning than information gathering for Stanford.
But, and that’s a big but, winning would be good too.
Winning would mean you are farther than you thought you were, matching up with a team that could very well again be the best team in the nation by the time the season’s over.
Winning could mean that you’ve executed well the things you’ve been practicing over the last month and a half.
Winning would have been cool.
Stanford will have to leave Connecticut this morning with the consolation prize that Monday night’s 68-58 loss to UConn was a winnable game.
The Cardinal could have silenced the crowd at the XL Center, could have knocked the Huskies back. Could have. But they didn’t.
And maybe the valuable lessons on Monday night are ultimately more valuable.
Lesson No. 1 – Turnovers will cost you. Should be an obvious one, and there was a portend for this in Stanford’s game against Gonzaga more than a week ago when the Cardinal struggled to take care of the ball in the first half against the Zags, but did a better job in the second.
But 16 turnovers against the Huskies translated into 16 lost opportunities to score. Can’t do that against Geno’s team.
It was a rough night for guard Toni Kokenis, who had three turnovers. It was even rougher for Chiney Ogwumike, who turned the ball over five times. And neither could make up for mistakes with offense, combining to shoot 5 of 25 from the floor.
Lesson No. 2 – Foul trouble will cost you too. Grouse about the officiating if you’d like, but Nneka picking up her second foul trying to take a charge was a high risk choice on her part and it led to her spending 14 minutes on the bench in the first half. Minutes that Stanford needed her on the floor.
Lesson No. 3 – Defense needs some shoring up. Connecticut missed a lot of shots, but they weren’t bad shots. The Huskies might not have taken advantage of every opportunity, but there were a lot of them. It would sound like holding the Huskies to 35.7 percent shooting would be a win. But it’s a deceiving number.

Ok on the positive side…

Bright spots – Sarah Boothe. Boothe had her best game in a very long time. She was 4 of 5 for eight points in 19 minutes on the floor and did good, physical defensive work on Connecticut’s Stefanie Dolson, who ended up hitting just two shots from the floor.
Jasmine Camp. The freshman guard was the Cardinal’s most productive backcourt player. She scored 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting and dished out three assists with no turnovers. She was poised and played well under pressure.
Next up is a Xavier team that is frankly a shell of its former self with the departure of coach Kevin McGuff and the graduation of Ta’Shia Phillips and Amber Harris.
Time to start applying lessons.

1. Stanford (3-0). It’s time to find out if a strong start means an elite team for the Cardinal. Tonight’s game against UConn in Hartford doesn’t mean a lot, but it will say a lot about where the Cardinal are in late-November.
2. Arizona State (3-0). A very good start for the Sun Devils, who are 3-0 for the first time since 2006-07. Kimberly Brandon emerging as the team’s offensive leader with 18 points on Sunday against Boston College.
3. Cal (3-0). Back to back 24-point victories for the Bears lead into a trip to Hawaii for the Thanksgiving weekend and games against Hawaii, Texas and Joanne Boyle’s Virginia team, coming off Sunday’s big upset of Tennessee.
4. Gonzaga (2-1). Kelly Graves won his 300th game against Idaho last Thursday and take a weeklong break before playing at home against Portland State on Sunday.
5. USC (1-2). Questioning the wisdom of such a tough schedule to start the season. The Women of Troy lose on the road at Nebraska and Georgia and now on to the Bahamas for two more tough games. Not out of the realm that USC comes home 1-4. How does that help?
6. UCLA (2-1). A 33-point loss to No. 1 Baylor stings, but the Bruins should be able to gather itself in the Northridge tournament this weekend with games against West Virginia and Northridge.
7. UC Davis (4-0). The Aggies are 4-0 for the second straight year and playing well under first-year head coach Jennifer Gross. Next up – games against USF and Santa Clara before a big date with Stanford.
8. Arizona (3-0). Davellyn Whyte and Candice Warthen are combining to average 45 points a game and the preseason schedule continues to look friendly to the ‘Cats with games this week against New Mexico State and North Texas.
9. St. Mary’s (2-2). The Gaels are alternating wins and losses so far, but have a chance to gain some momentum with their annual Thanksgiving tournament this weekend. SMC will face Virginia Tech on Friday to open.
10. Fresno State (2-2). Fresno State pulled out a big one-point win over Cal Poly on Sunday, a good bounce-back after the double-overtime loss to Pepperdine on Friday night. The ‘Dogs are now headed to the SMU Tournament in Texas to open against Tennessee State.

Join me tonight a 6:45 p.m. for a live blog of Stanford vs. Old Dominion from Maples Pavilion. It is the Cardinal’s last game before they head east for Monday’s showdown against Connecticut.

1. Stanford (2-0).No cupcake start for the Cardinal. A good win at Texas without Nneka Ogwumike and a home win over Gonzaga that wouldn’t have happened without Nneka Ogwumike.

LCH File Photo

2. USC (1-0). The Women of Troy open with a home win over Fresno State and then wait a week before hitting a defining stretch that includes games at Nebraska, Georgia and then Notre Dame and likely Duke in the Bahamas.

3. Arizona State (2-0). The Joseph Anders era opens with two wins this weekend, including a hard-fought road win at Colorado State. It was ASU’s first overtime game since February 2010.

4. Gonzaga (1-1). The Zags look strong as they move forward after the Courtney Vandersloot era. This team will be ranked before the end of 2011.

5. Cal (0-1). The Bears comported themselves well on the road against Rutgers, leading at the half and losing narrowly.

6. UCLA (2-0). What do the Bruins earn for their first two wins in the Preseason WNIT? A semifinal game against Baylor in Waco on Thursday. Senior Rebekah Gardner posted her first career double-double against Tennessee State on Sunday.

7. UC Davis (2-0). The Aggies went to Washington and came home with two wins, including a big one over Washington.

8. Arizona (2-0). The Wildcats won two games on the road in Georgia behind the scoring of sophomore Candice Wirthen, who scored 49 points in two games.

9. St. Mary’s (1-1). After opening with a loss at DePaul, the Gaels rallied for a road win against Montana. Jackie Nared, the redshirt sophomore guard who transferred from Maryland, broke out for 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Grizzlies.

10. Fresno State (1-1). The Bulldogs played well on the road against a good USC team, and opened at home with a win over Santa Clara.