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Full of surprises
By Maureen Mullen, Special to CNNSI.com This week in Pac-10 basketball showcased more surprises than an Agatha Christie mystery novel. Both Oregon and Arizona were upset, leaving every team in the Pac-10 with at least one win and one loss only three weeks into conference play. With Washington State triumphing over the Ducks, and both UCLA and USC prevailing over the Wildcats, one thing is certain -- this year's conference title is for the taking. The Cougars, perennially the conference's worst team, showed this weekend that they should be taken seriously. Already posting wins over the Bruins and the Trojans, Washington State single-handedly dethroned the conference queens. Senior guard Johanna Smith, who averages just 2.6 points a game, came off the bench in the second half to give Washington State a much-needed lift. Down by 10 midway through the second period, Smith hit a critical three to lessen the Oregon lead to five, then hit another trey three plays later to give the Cougars their first lead of the game with 9:51 remaining. Smith hit her third trey with 17 seconds remaining sealing the victory for Washington State. The emergence of the Cougars, is a signal to the rest of the conference that the gaps have been sealed, and that there are no games to be taken for granted this season. In Oregon's defense, the Ducks weren't at full strength in Saturday's loss. The team was without the services of senior forwards Angelina Wolvert and Lindsey Dion, who both sustained injuries in the Washington win on Thursday. Wolvert, the team's leading scorer, suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in her left knee battling for a loose ball, while Dion sprained her ankle. The status of both players is unknown for this weekend's games against UCLA and USC. Wolvert, the team's leading scorer, and Dion, a critical starter, are without argument huge assets for the Ducks, and at full strength, nobody in the conference is playing better basketball than Oregon. However, not only was Washington State able to exploit the Ducks' missing links, they were also able to limit Oregon to only three shots from beyond the arch. With the eruption of Pac-10 three-point leader Jamie Craighead in recent games, it has been the perimeter shooting that has destroyed Oregon's other conference foes, not the Ducks powerful inside game. Don't count them out yetWith all the hype on the 4-0 start of in-state rival Arizona, Arizona State came into this weekend at a respectable 2-2 in conference play, seemingly destined to spend another season floating in the middle of the Pac-10 standings. However, while the Wildcats were surprisingly upset by UCLA and USC this weekend, who between them had only notched one win this season, the Sun Devils outlasted both of the Southern California schools, finding themselves at 4-2 and only a half game out of the conference lead.The Sun Devils, which tallied their first Pac-10 road sweep since 1992, can credit much of their success to a group of four newcomers: junior transfers, Melody Johnson and Amanda Levens, junior college transfer Cian Carvalho and freshmen Betsy Boardman. The four constitute Arizona State's top scorers. It isn't taking long for the Pac-10 coaches to realize that the Sun Devils newcomers are a force to contend with. Johnson, a transfer from University of Colorado, earned conference player of the week honors in December, while Levens, a transfer from Old Dominion racked up the title this week. Levens scored 15 points in each of the games this week, while Carvalho added a career-high 16 points versus UCLA. Johnson had a game-high nine boards in addition to her 14 points against USC, while Boardman chipped in 12. Back on trackNotching only one win in early season conference, UCLA seemed to be slipping into basketball oblivion. Take into account the loss of sophomore stand-out Nicole Kaczmarski, and critics were left wondering if the Bruins would win a single conference game.Throughout all of the turmoil, the one bright spot in Bruin basketball has been junior guard Michelle Greco. Greco has basically been the team's only scoring threat and has averaged a conference leading 19.4 points per game. However no matter how many points Greco managed to rack up in a single evening, the Bruins weren't getting the critical tallies in the win column. However, volleyball star Kristee Porter, and soccer starter Whitney Jones are finally in full basketball mode and have moved their way into the starting lineup. These two multi-sport stars seem to be just the supporting cast Greco and the rest of the Bruins need to propel them to the next step in basketball success. After being devastated in two opening conference losses at the Washington schools, UCLA seems to have regained the poise that comes with being a historical basketball great. The Bruins swept past hometown rival USC last weekend and defeated No. 23 Arizona in overtime to win two of their past three contests. A look aheadWith the surprises of last week, fans are left salivating for more tight Pac-10 basketball action this weekend, and they won't be disappointed.Both Oregon and Oregon State return to the comforts of home to face off against UCLA and USC. Both the Bruins and the Trojans have the capabilities to upset the injury-ridden Ducks. If either team can pull of the win, the seemingly tight grasp Oregon seems to have on the conference, will definitely be put in a precarious position. As for the Beavers, they are playing great basketball, but don't really have the record to show it. Look for them to try to sweep at home and rise in the conference standings. Washington and Washington State will travel down to the Bay Area to meet Stanford and California. Both the Cardinal and the Golden Bears have been struggling lately, and will have to be at the top of their games to beat the surging Husky and Cougar squads. In the final game of the week, the 4-2 Arizona and Arizona State squads will face off in Tempe. Whoever emerges with the win will solidify themselves as one of the conference leaders.
Maureen Mullen is a reporter for The Stanford Daily, the student newspaper of Stanford University.
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