OK, women’s hoops fans: The Pacific-10 Conference season is half over, and while many surprises have already provided many sleepless nights, many more could be yet to come.
With many wanderers, Arizona State sits alone at the top of the conference standings with a 7-2 record. The little Devils now hold their own destiny: Win out and win their first Pac-10 crown. But in such a stacked league — where just two games separate the top five teams — you can bet the boys in Las Vegas (if they had lines on women’s games) wouldn’t pick ASU to accomplish such a feat so easily.

The Cards are stacked
After a 1-3 start in Pacific-10 Conference play, which included a 72-54 loss at McArthur Court Jan. 13, Stanford has rolled into the mix, and is now tied for second place — ahead of Oregon.
An 89-75 trouncing of USC Sunday improved the Cardinal to 6-3 in the conference, 12-7 overall. The Ducks and Stanford will face off 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Maples Pavilion.
The win in Los Angeles gave Stanford five straight victories, and its first road sweep in two years. Stanford is now in contention for its 10th Pac-10 title.
“We had our back against the wall and now we are fighting and that’s great,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We are in the mix.”
The Cardinal were led by Lindsey Yamasaki’s game-high 28 points against USC.
“We had fire in our eyes tonight. Every player on this team was ready to go and it showed,” Yamasaki said. “We know we can win and if we focus, we will win.”

Arizona coach records

win No. 500
Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini was carried off the court by her team after defeating Oregon State 83-73 Saturday to earn her 500th career coaching victory.

She has a 500-181 overall record in 22 seasons at Long Beach State and Arizona. She is the 17th active Division 1 coach to reach the 500-win plateau.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate in my career to have tremendous people around me,” Bonvicini told the Tucson Citizen. “Hopefully, my competitiveness and trying to instill pride to give your best all the time are the reasons why I’ve had a positive impact in all their lives.”
In the locker room after the game, Bonvicini was showered with cups of water by the Wildcats.
“We’re glad that we got it for her,” Arizona guard Resha Bristol said. “It puts a win in our column. Now we can go on from here and continue winning and give her 501, 502, 503 and so forth.”
The Wildcats (16-5, 6-3) are in a three-way tie for second place in the conference.

Weekend update
The Huskies (13-6, 6-3) stayed in the hunt for the conference title with a 91-71 win at dreaded Washington State. With 15 points, senior Megan Franza led the Huskies to their 11th-straight win over the Cougs (8-11, 3-6), who dropped their third straight.
Cal’s Ami Forney sank a layin with 3.5 seconds left to give the Bears a 58-57 win at UCLA. The Bears improved to 4-5 in conference play, while the Bruins kept their lead at the bottom of the pile at 2-7 (3-17 overall).
Oregon State, after a good preseason, has lost three straight, and four of their last five. In the desert, the Beavers showed a little more promise than their in-state rival, falling by a combined 17 points to Arizona and Arizona State. The Ducks lost by a combined 22 points.