Throw the rankings, the odds and the winning streaks out the window when it comes to college basketball.
Washington State women’s head coach
Sherri Murrell said her team’s confidence was restored when the Cougar men overthrew
No. 11 Arizona last week.
“The hope that we can beat a ranked team or overcome streaks and odds … The men defied that, and we have to build on that,” Murrell said.
There are women’s teams in the Pacific-10 Conference that can pull off that same sort of win, and some of them have already proved it.
Early in the season, Arizona State upset then-ranked No. 11 Georgia and No. 8 Connecticut by ten or more points each in a two-week span.
UCLA surprised then-No. 4 Texas and
No. 14 Purdue on consecutive weekends to earn a low spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for several weeks, until it assumed its current downward spiral as a result of an injury to sophomore Noelle Quinn.
On the same day that the Bruins knocked off the Longhorns, Stanford — the conference’s best team at 10-1 and 19-2 overall — beat
No. 12 Texas Tech.
In its fourth game of the season, Washington also managed to roll over a ranked team. The victim: then-No. 14 Minnesota.
Arguably the biggest defeat between two Pac-10 teams occurred when Oregon upended then-No. 10 Stanford on Dec. 29. The Ducks secured so much confidence from that win that they haven’t lost a home game since.
Undeniably, these wins provide underdogs everywhere some much needed motivation and a glance at the possibilities in front of them.
“(The Pac-10) just has great balance in a number of top teams,” said Oregon State head coach Judy Spoelstra, whose team is “reloading” this season. “On any given day, somebody is cold and somebody is hot.”
Pac-ked together
The Cardinal has built a respectable two-game advantage over its conference opponents, and at No. 4, it is the only Pac-10 team to be ranked. Arizona and UCLA are still receiving votes but find themselves stuck in the bunched group of teams that are at or above .600, which includes Oregon and Arizona State.
“At this point, there are six teams looking to go to the tournament, and there might not be enough room,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It’s going to come down to the wire in terms of who is playing well at the end.”
Washington is one game below .500, while California will have to overcome a seven-game losing streak to restore its confidence. Oregon State and Washington State remain chin deep in quicksand with identical 1-10 conference records (5-15 overall).
Davis working to start
Ten Player of the Week honors have been handed out by the Pac-10 this season — two of them going to non-starters. Sophomore guard Eshaya Murphy of USC has only started two games this season but received the honor on Jan. 17 recognizing her efforts to help the Women of Troy beat the Arizona schools.
The most recent recipient of the award is Oregon’s Brandi Davis, the only Player of the Week that hasn’t started a game this season. The senior guard averaged 21 points over the Ducks’ two-game homestand against the Los Angeles schools and has provided an explosive spark off the bench for the Ducks. With the shooting guard position up for grabs, Davis appears to be determined to start a game on the floor.
“Her weekend was a very good performance,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “She will have a chance to work her way into the starting lineup this week.”
Surprises, upsets play big part in women’s Pac-10
Daily Emerald
February 2, 2005
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