If there was one word that could describe the Pacific-10 Conference this season, it would have to be “parity.”
With three teams tied for second place, and another three one game behind, all but a few stand a chance to finish with a winning record in conference play.
In the first Civil War game of the season, Oregon State (10-9 overall, 6-3 Pac-10) outlasted Oregon, putting the Beavers two-and-a-half games behind Stanford for first place. The win marked the first time the Beavers had won at McArthur Court since 1993, and it was a big one.
“This was a great win for us,” Oregon State guard Felicia Ragland said about her only career win against the Ducks. “It’s gonna be a great memory.”
Meanwhile, Southern California and Arizona State were up to a few tricks of their own. USC (10-8, 6-3) was upset by Arizona, 78-74, on Thursday. In the other game taking place in the City of Angels, Arizona State (15-5, 6-3) easily defeated UCLA, 70-57.
That led to one of the biggest and most important games of the season at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
In what was supposed to be a close game, USC dominated, scoring 40 points in the second half en route to a 68-49 trouncing of then-No. 23 Arizona State.
The Sun Devils hung with the Trojans for a while, but USC’s offense proved to be too much.
Against Arizona, USC was without its top-two scorers, Ebony Hoffman (who was suspended for fighting) and Aisha Hollans (suspended for breaking team rules), and their inability to step on the court hurt the Trojans (9-9, 5-4).
Against Arizona State, Hoffman had 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Hollans posted 16 points.
Arizona State saw its four-game winning streak come to an end against USC.

Golden Bears

break out of the cellar

Apathy comes to mind when thinking of a game between two of the conference’s worst. Just that happened Saturday in Pullman, Wash. And when both squads have been shut out in conference play, someone had to come out on top.
California (6-11, 1-7) was the lucky team, and earned its first Pac-10 win with a 62-50 win over Washington State (2-17, 0-9). The Cougars finished the first half of conference play without a win.
“We were all fired up about the last two games and how (poor) we were playing,” California freshman Kristin Iwanaga said. “We came out mad and came out ready to play in the second half. Our defense really picked it up. We started to get stops and rebounds, and our transition scoring was good.”
California’s Ami Forney, the team leader with 13.5 points per game, scored only three against the Cougars, but saw the Golden Bear offense pick up its play.
California has won just two games in the last two months, having lost 11 of 13 games. Washington State has lost a school-record 14 straight.
So where do they go now? Cal stays at home against Arizona and Arizona State, two teams with a combined record of 11-7 in conference play. Ouch.

Ragland earns honors
Ragland earned the second Pac-10 Player of the Week nod of her career after she led the Beavers to their first win in Eugene since 1993.
The Tulare, Calif., native averaged 26 points in two games last week, including Oregon State’s 79-73 loss to UC-Santa Barbara. She also had 8.5 rebounds per game and made eight three-pointers for the week, and is now tied for ninth in the conference with a shooting percentage of .377 from beyond the three-point arc.
Ragland is the only Oregon State player to earn the honor this season.