It’s just two weeks into the Pacific-10 Conference basketball season, and the dominant teams are already emerging. After two decisive blowouts from Stanford and California, the standard has been set for the rest of the conference.
The No. 9 Cardinal (13-3 Overall, 4-0 Pac-10) have won five games in a row, including two consecutive games in which they surpassed the 100-point mark. On Jan. 8 they demolished the 5-8, 1-2 Washington Huskies by a score of 112-35. Two nights later the team outscored Washington State (7-7, 0-3) 102-53.
As for the No. 11 Bears (13-2, 4-0), their last two wins were also blowouts of the Washington schools. They beat the Cougars by 23 on Jan. 8, followed by 28-point win on Jan. 11 in which they outscored the Huskies 32-9 in the first half.
The Golden Bears and Cardinal are set to play this Sunday, Jan. 18 in Berkeley, and the matchup is sure to be filled with offense. Cal has seven players averaging more than five points a game, led by senior Ashley Walker’s 21.6 per game and 8.2 rebounds a game.
Stanford has six players averaging over nine points a game, including four who are over 10. Junior Jayne Appel leads the team with 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
A few other games to look out for this weekend include UCLA at Arizona State on Thursday, and USC at Arizona State on Saturday. The 10-6 Sun Devils are coming off the big win against the Ducks last week, and two more wins against teams above them in the standings would be a huge boost for the program.
The Sun Devils play a very competitive pressure defense that frustrates a lot of teams. The team is two close losses from being undefeated in the conference. It lost by three to Stanford a couple of weeks ago, and then lost by one, 54-53 to California two days later.
UCLA also received votes in the latest AP poll, following its 12-point win over USC last Sunday. The Bruins (11-3, 2-1) were upset by Oregon (5-9, 2-2) on Jan. 4 in Los Angeles.
The Bruins are led by sophomore Doreena Campbell. She averages just more than 12 points a game, and her 55 assists are also top on the team. The guard from Alexandria, Va. has been pivotal in the Bruins’ success this year, because of her solid shooting and leadership. She plays the most on the team, and shoots more than 40 percent from the field and 87 percent from the line. Against the Ducks, Campbell was held relatively in check, scoring only 12 points, and she was the only UCLA player in double-figures.
Although the Ducks did do well against UCLA and Arizona in keeping the turnovers low and getting a high number of assists, their performance so far this season reflects how poorly they rank compared to other teams in the Pac-10 in those two categories. Oregon is ninth in the conference in assists, averaging 11.14 a game. Stanford, which leads the conference, averages around 19 per contest.
In turnover margin, the Ducks are last. They average 3.64 more turnovers per game than their opponents, and are averaging 20.6. This past weekend, the turnover column reflected their overall performance. Against Arizona last Thursday, the team had season-low nine turnovers and won by 13. On Sunday, the Sun Devils forced the Ducks into 24 turnovers, and the team lost by more than 25 points.
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