WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Stanford takes on UCLA in a showdown for first

by Craig Wentz

With a seven-game win streak and a one-game lead on the Pacific-10 Conference field, the Stanford women's basketball team can put itself in great shape for its ninth Pac-10 title in 10 years with a sweep of UCLA and USC this weekend at Maples Pavilion. After crushing rival California, 79-51, last weekend in front of 5,024 fans at Maples, the nationally No. 6-ranked Cardinal (9-1, 13-5) have a half-game lead on second-place UCLA (9-2, 14-6).

On Thursday, the Cardinal and Bruins will meet in a showdown for first place at 7:30 p.m.

A win over UCLA and then on Saturday versus USC will give the Cardinal at least a 1 1/2 game lead with six conference games remaining. However, Thursday night's showdown with UCLA won't be easy.

UCLA is coming off impressive wins against third-place Oregon, 80-54, and Oregon State, 81-70 last weekend in Westwood.

Stanford narrowly beat the Bruins in Westwood, 75-70, on Jan. 18 with Kristin Folkl contributing 20 points. Folkl's status for Thursday's game, however, was unknown as of Monday. If her two fractured fingers keeps her sidelined for a second straight game, her teammates will have their hands full against a UCLA bunch that relies on a strong interior game.

"UCLA is a team that has a good of front line as anybody. They're a talented team," said Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer. "It will be a real challenge and we're going to need another post player to step up if Kristin doesn't play."

UCLA forward Maylana Martin is one of the premier players in the conference, averaging 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest and leads a front line that is second in the Pac-10 in rebounding with 41.1 per game.

And if Folkl can't go Thursday, Stanford's front-line depth will be a factor.

Seniors Olympia Scott and Heather Owen can hold their in the post. Against Cal, however, the Cardinal's front-line reserves added just eight points and only five rebounds combined in 19 minutes of action.

Folkl averages 19 points and 9.6 rebounds in 26 minutes per game coming off the bench. Her 20 points against UCLA last month was a key factor in the victory.

Thursday night's game also should be a high-scoring one, figuring that Stanford (84.1 ppg) and UCLA (81 ppg) are the two highest-scoring teams in the conference, yet are two of the worst at yielding points.

Last Friday against Cal, Scott proved again that she's one of the top players in the Pac-10 by scoring 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field and hauling in eight rebounds in only 28 minutes. Scott's career high is 33 points, set against Colorado in December.

Owen was also instrumental in the easy win over Cal, tallying 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while playing a team-high 34 minutes.

"We miss Kristin," said VanDerveer. "But I think some people used that as a challenge and we knew we had to do the job."

Against Cal, Stanford allowed a season low 51 points to the Bears and forced 23 turnovers in the first half alone, yet only led 33-20 at halftime.

But with Scott's 20 points in the second half, the Cardinal pulled away by shooting 56 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Bears, 46-31.

Stanford will need two solids halves, however, to put away UCLA this week.

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