Publication Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Stanford women find trouble at USC
Stanford women find trouble at USC
(January 28, 2004)and lose sole possession of Pac-10 lead
by Rick Eymer
If the Stanford women's basketball team has any designs on driving deep into the NCAA tournament this year, then playing well on the road becomes paramount to its success
The easiest thing for the Cardinal, who split a pair of games in Los Angeles over the weekend, is to focus their attention on the next two weeks. After hosting Washington and Washington State this week, Stanford travels to Arizona and Arizona State. The game in Tucson on Feb. 5 may never well determine the Pac-10's regular-season champion and the top seed in the conference tournament.
USC ruined eighth-ranked Stanford's perfect conference mark on Sunday with a 59-56 victory, it's second straight home victory over the Cardinal.
Stanford was extended in a 78-71 overtime victory against UCLA on Friday.
Stanford (8-1, 15-3) and Arizona (8-1, 16-4) are tied for the Pac-10 lead at the midway point. The Women of Troy (7-2, 10-7) are in third, a game behind, and Arizona State (6-3, 12-6) remains a threat.
The next two weeks won't be easy for the Cardinal, who saw their season-best eight-game winning streak come to an end after losing for just the fourth time in their past 48 conference games. All four losses have come on the road.
Washington, projected as a title contender before the season, would like nothing better than deliver a knockout punch to Stanford's title hopes when it comes to Maples on Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest.
The Huskies, who had a chance to win the game in the final minute, were sent reeling, 77-69, by Stanford on Jan. 4 and are now stuck in a logjam in the middle of the pack.
Arizona is aching for the chance to get the Cardinal on its own court after playing its worse half of basketball ever at Maples Pavilion earlier in the season.
Stanford had problems with one of the best guards in the conference in UCLA's Nikki Blue, and one of the best post players in USC's Ebony Hoffman. The Huskies also have one of the top guards around in Giuliana Mendiola, and Washington State has a solid post player in Bianca McCall.
The Cardinal will have to deal with both a top guard (Dee-Dee Wheeler) and post player (Shawntinice Polk) in Arizona. Even Arizona State won't be a picnic with five returning starters.
Stanford had a problem handling the ball against the Bruins and Women of Troy, coughing it up 39 times to its opponents 19. That was one of the reasons UCLA was able to stay with Stanford. The Bruins scored 25 points off turnovers; Stanford managed six.
The five starters were forced to play at least 32 minutes each against UCLA, with Nicole Powell playing 39. That took its toll against USC, as Powell, Kelley Suminski and Susan Borchardt all played at least 35 minutes.
Powell again had to carry a large share of the offense. She scored 27 points - seven in overtime -- and grabbed 14 rebounds against UCLA, and then went for 29 points and 12 rebounds against USC.
There were other contributors against the Bruins. Kristen Newlin scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds and T'Nae Thiel added 10 points in a game that featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties.
Powell didn't get a whole lot of help against the Women of Troy, and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was a little distressed that the offense was interrupted when Powell had to leave the game with a twisted ankle in the final two minutes.
Powell attempted 21 shots against USC while the other four starters combined for 20 shots. The shots the Cardinal were making against UCLA were falling just short against the Women of Troy.
The road doesn't get any smoother the rest of the way.
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