At the midway point of the Pacific-10 Conference season, Stanford, Arizona and USC are right where they want to be: At, or near, the top of the Pac-10 standings.
The Trojans, third in the conference, are off to their best Pac-10 start in seven years.
That start came at the expense of then-No. 6 Stanford in a come-from-behind, 59-56, victory Sunday.
“We feel we’re in the conference race now,” USC head coach Chris Gobrecht told reporters after the game. “A loss would have put us three games out.”
Gobrecht’s team showed the Cardinal that it’s not the only talented team in California when the Trojans (10-7 overall, 7-2 Pac-10) wiped out a 12-point deficit in the final nine minutes. USC outscored the Cardinal, 23-8, to earn the victory.
The loss was the first conference defeat for the Cardinal (15-3, 8-1) this season.
“It’s not good for the conference if one team sails through undefeated,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Stanford is tied for first place in the conference with Arizona (16-4, 8-1). The Wildcats have a four-game winning steak in progress and travel to Arizona State Saturday.
USC returns home for a visit from Oregon and Oregon State, while Stanford hosts Washington and Washington State, this weekend. Washington is winless in Pac-10 play on the road this season while the Cougars are 0-9 in the conference.

Golden Bears pull through tough week
After California reserve Alisa Lewis died Jan. 19 from bacterial meningitis, her teammates continued their season with a planned road trip to Los Angeles for games at USC and UCLA.
The Golden Bears (9-9, 2-7) lost Friday’s game to USC, 67-47, before losing in the final seconds Sunday to UCLA, 67-66.
“I think we all decided that it’s important for us to do the things we normally do,” Leigh Gregory, a forward on the team and Lewis’ roommate of the past two years, told the Daily
Californian on Jan. 21. “Alisa was an active person, and she would want us to get out there.”
California players are honoring Lewis’ memory on their uniforms. Across each left shoulder strap is a black strip with pink lettering that says “AL #31.” The patch, which has pink because it was Lewis’ favorite color, is meant to honor her personal and athletic achievements.
At a memorial held in Lewis’ honor Thursday in Haas Pavilion, the team presented Lewis’ parents with an autographed basketball and a charcoal sketch of Lewis drawn by a
teammate. On behalf of the university, head coach Caren Horstmeyer presented Lewis’ parents with their daughter’s framed jersey.
“As a player she gave every ounce of effort and her best every day,” Horstmeyer said at the memorial. “There is a basketball court in heaven, and she’s on it.”
During the memorial, the California Athletic Department announced the launch of a scholarship in Lewis’ name.
 
Stanford falls in polls
Despite its loss to USC Sunday, Stanford remained in the top 10 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today polls. The Cardinal fell to No. 8 in both polls from a No. 6 ranking last week.
Pac-10 teams receiving votes but not ranked in the top 25 in the AP poll are Arizona and USC. Arizona, Southern California and Arizona State all received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.