The regular season has finally come to a close in Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball. The seedings and schedules have been set. But the madness has just begun.
Stanford (23-4, 15-3 Pac-10) leads the way as the No. 1 seed in this weekend’s Pac-10 Tournament. The Cardinal clinched the title for the third straight year with a win over UCLA two weeks ago.
Junior Nicole Powell has been the rock for Stanford all season as the leading scorer and rebounder, which has helped the Cardinal stay above the rest of the conference.
Powell averages 18.3 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game. The Phoenix native posted 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots in Stanford’s final game against Arizona State.
Powell will look to lead her No. 9 Cardinal to the Pac-10 Tournament championship and deep into the heart of the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s not the same as a regional championship or a national championship, but you have to win your conference to get where you want to go,” Powell said. “You have to win games and do all the little things.”
Even with a Pac-10 title, the Cardinal are far from being satisfied and understand that hard work still lies ahead in order to be successful.
“I think we’re just finding ourselves,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I think we’ve
got a lot more to go and a ways to improve.”
VanDerveer captured her 11th Pac-10 title this season and was recently named as one of 25 finalists for the Naismith Women’s College Basketball Coach of the Year Award.
Stanford’s first game of the Pac-10 Tournament will be Saturday evening. The Cardinal will face the winner of the Arizona State-California matchup.

Dawgs get dirty
Washington may have not clinched a Pac-10 title, but it has plenty to be proud of after destroying Washington State by 24 points Saturday.
No. 25 Washington (21-6, 13-5 Pac-10) will be the No. 2 seed in the Pac-10 Tournament after wrapping up a record of 14-0 at home. The Huskies have not gone undefeated at home since 1988-89.
The Huskies were led by Giuliana Mendiola with 20 points and five steals as the Dawgs jumped to a 26-9 lead early on their in-state rival Saturday.
At one point, the Cougars went seven minutes without a field goal and finished the game with more turnovers (18) than first-half points (17).
“It’s been an amazing year and great at home,” Washington head coach June Daugherty said. “I’m so proud of our ball club and the success we had all season.”
The Huskies could potentially wreak havoc on the Cougars again. Washington will face the winner of the USC-Washington State matchup in their first game of the tournament.

No surprise here
She lives to break records.
She receives Pac-10 Player of the Week honors almost every other week.
She is freshman Shawntinice Polk of the Arizona Wildcats.
Polk recently received her fourth weekly award of the year after she averaged 22.5 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in a sweep of the Bay Area schools.
Polk broke three school records in one game on March 1, a Sun Devil defeat of Cal. Her nine blocks broke the old record set in 1980-81, before she was born. The center also set a new freshman scoring record at Arizona and a new single-season record for rebounds.