Only one women’s basketball team survived the first 10 days of Pacific-10 Conference play without suffering a loss.
UCLA (9-3 overall, 3-0 Pac-10) fended off its first three conference opponents during
a three-game homestand, which started
with a victory over cross-town rival Southern California on Dec. 28, followed by a more
recent sweep of the Oregon schools.
At 71.6 points per game, the No. 22 Bruins are third in scoring among Pac-10 squads. Sophomore Noelle Quinn along with juniors Nikki Blue and Lisa Willis make up arguably the most potent trio of guards on the West Coast.
Yesterday, Quinn was honored as the Pac-10 Player of the Week for the third time this
season. She recorded a combined 35 points and 19 rebounds against Oregon and Oregon State. In 12 games this season, Quinn is
averaging 18.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Willis is scoring 13.8 points per game and Blue is contributing 11.4. Willis leads the conference in steals with 3.4 per game. Quinn is second, averaging 3.3 and Blue is not far behind with 2.4.
Arizona (10-3, 2-1) held the longest
winning streak in the Pac-10 at four games until it lost to intrastate rival Arizona State on
Monday. The Wildcats were without starter Shawntinice Polk, who was averaging 13.9 points per game before suffering a sprained MCL in her right knee. The senior center is listed as day-to-day. Freshman guard Jessica Arnold, also a starter, injured her left shoulder and her playing status is still unknown.
The Wildcats will have to continue relying on senior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler for the time being. Wheeler scored 26 of Arizona’s 47 points against the Sun Devils and is averaging a conference-best 19.0 points per game.

“Our inside game (against Arizona State) was horrible, we had too many turnovers, we didn’t play well defensively, we didn’t execute on offense and our free-throw shooting was a joke,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. “The only bright spot was Dee-Dee.”
Arizona State (10-3, 2-1) and Stanford have been the toughest teams to score against this
season. The Sun Devils have held opponents to 49.9 points per game while the Cardinal only
allows 51.5. Arizona State has the best defense against three-pointers in the conference holding opponents to .225 from behind the arc. Stanford has limited opponents to a Pac-10 low 33.2
percent field-goal percentage.
On average, Stanford (11-2, 3-1) scores 21.8 more points and pulls down 9.5 more
rebounds than its opponents, which are both conference-best margins.
California (8-5, 2-2) has the best three-
point shooting in the conference, at 47.1
percent. Kristin Iwanaga leads the Pac-10 in shooting from beyond the arc, making 69.4 percent of her shots.
Cathrine Kraayeveld has posted double-digit point totals in each of the last eight games for Oregon. The senior forward has led the Ducks in points and rebounds in the same contest five times this season.
Oregon is averaging the highest attendance in the conference at 3,656 fans per game. The Ducks drew 4,651 spectators – a Pac-10 season-high – for their upset of Stanford on Dec. 29. Washington has filled 24,231 seats this season in eight home games while Oregon has attracted 21,939 fans into McArthur Court in six games.

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