Asu Win A Message To Cougs

Washington State coach Harold Rhodes was sitting around with his staff Friday night when he looked at the Pac-10 standings and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if UCLA upset Oregon State tomorrow?”

That didn’t happen. However, something even more miraculous did. Pac-10 cellar-dweller Arizona State knocked off Washington on Saturday night, allowing the Cougars and Beavers to move into a second-place tie with the Huskies.

Rhodes, of course, was quite thankful the Sun Devils chose to upset the other Washington team. WSU had beaten ASU just two nights earlier at Pullman.

“ASU didn’t understand that they are at the bottom of the conference,” Rhodes said. “At least not this past weekend. They didn’t care. They just went out and played hard.”

Rhodes is hoping his Cougars (15-5 overall, 6-3 Pac-10) can grab at least one road game this week as the Cougars face Oregon State (14-4, 6-3) tonight and Oregon (12-7, 4-5) on Saturday.

Both games are slated for 7 p.m. tipoffs.

“Our kids looked at that Arizona State win against Washington and we’ve used that as a motivation for this week. The message was, ‘you can beat anybody anywhere.’ ” Rhodes said it’s important for the Cougars to maintain their composure early on to have a chance at winning.

“Regardless of what happens in the first 3 or 4 minutes, what we’ve got to do is stay focused for the entire 40 minutes.

“It’s must-win situations for Oregon and Oregon State. We’re going down there relaxed and confident without the pressure.”

Speak your mind, coach

Gonzaga basketball coach Kellee Barney tends not to mince words when speaking about her team’s deficiencies.

When asked if the Bulldogs match up favorably against Pepperdine, Gonzaga’s Thursday night opponent, Barney responded with a resounding “no.”

“They’re really big,” she said. “Anybody that has any size in their lineup presents a problem for us.”

Gonzaga sits at the bottom of the West Coast Conference with a record of 3-17 overall and 1-7 in league. The Bulldogs are at Pepperdine (10-10, 3-5) for a 7 p.m. game. GU returns to action Saturday night at 7 to face Loyola Marymount (11-10, 2-6).

The Zags lost 6-foot-3 starting center Amy Jo Silva to a career-ending knee injury in December and her reserve, Tenille Jeffries (6-0), to a season-ending shoulder injury shortly thereafter.

But according to Barney, she is more concerned about “intensity” matchups than she is about size matchups.

“We need to play two halves,” she said. “We can’t win playing just 10 to 15 minutes.”

Case in point: Against Pepperdine at home a week ago, the Waves beat the Bulldogs 71-63. Gonzaga made it respectable after trailing 41-17 at the half.

Then on Saturday, LMU thumped Gonzaga 81-69. The Lions led the Bulldogs 45-18 at the half.

“Well, we’ve proven that we’re capable of putting points on the board - but you can’t wait until you’re by 30 to start playing,” Barney said.

In the two halves of those contests, Gonzaga was outscored 86-35. The Bulldogs shot 25 percent from the floor while the Lions and the Waves combined to shoot 60 percent.

In the second half of each game, Gonzaga outscored the two teams 97-66.

Big Sky race wide open, sort of

One wouldn’t be going out on a limb in saying that the Big Sky Conference’s regular season title will reside in Missoula in early March.

The Grizzlies (16-3, 7-0) have gone through the first half of the conference season unscathed and may very well finish unbeaten in league.

Unbeaten in conference is nothing new for the Grizzlies. They went 16-0 from 1989 through 1991, a time when Nevada was still in the conference. The Griz also went 12-0 in the ‘86-87 season and 14-0 in ‘83-84.

The race for second through fourth place is wide open, though. The top four teams qualify for the conference’s postseason tournament.

Montana State and Weber State are 4-3 while Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington, Boise State and Idaho are each 3-4.

Second-year Idaho coach Julie Holt attributed much the conference’s balance to an infusion of new coaches.

“New coaching philosophies, new attitudes - it’s things like that that serve as big attractions to new recruits,” Holt said.

Heidi VanDerveer, younger sister of U.S. Olympic Basketball coach Tara VanDerveer, is in her second season at Eastern Washington; while Northern Arizona’s Charli Turner Thorne is in her third year; Montana State’s Tracey Sheehan is in her first year; and Idaho State’s Steve Hayes is in his first year.

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