Women’s basketball: Pac-10 not faring well vs. top teams
The Pacific-10 portion of the season starts this week and some teams have some making up to do.
Only second-ranked Stanford has lived up to expectations with a 10-1 record, including 4-1 against ranked teams after upending No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday night.
No. 11 California and Arizona State, which dropped out of the poll this week, are the only other teams to be ranked, but the Bears (9-2) are only 1-2 against ranked teams and the Sun Devils (6-5) are 0-4.
After that it would seem the league could only charitably be called down.
The league is 64-40 going into league play but three teams haven’t played a Top 25 foe and the other four are 0-5 against ranked teams.
Some of the other losses are much worse than losing, often badly, to ranked teams: Idaho State has beaten both UCLA and Oregon State; Pepperdine has beaten UCLA and Washington; Boise State has beaten both Washington teams; Portland has beaten Oregon and Washington State; and South Dakota State defeated Oregon.
June Daugherty, in her first year at WSU after more than a decade at Washington, is concerned about the league, but sees a silver lining.
“It’s an interesting year, no doubt about it,” she said. “It’s good to see teams challenging themselves, but the concern is there are some bad losses in there. … Obviously, the league would like to have done a little better. One thing the (NCAA selection) committee looks at is if you have challenged yourself.”
The Cougars start league play at Stanford on Friday and visit Cal on Sunday.
“We look forward to playing both,” Daugherty said. “Both are front runners, along with Arizona State, so we’re going to find out right from the beginning what the Pac-10 is all about.”
Daugherty is hoping some of the stronger teams the Cougars (3-8) have faced, such as North Carolina State, Alabama and Texas Tech, have prepared her team.
“We’ve really benefited, even if they weren’t wins,” she said. “Every time we’ve gone back to practice the kids have been better from those experiences.”
In addition to Katie Appleton putting up big numbers lately, the Cougars have gotten up to eight healthy players and hope to have a couple more join them after grades are posted.
Besides depth, the areas of concern are execution, unforced turnovers and rebounding, but Daugherty is still pleased with the progress.
“I’m proud. Our kids have been challenged with a new coaching staff and a new system and each week they’re gotten better and better,” she said. “We’re getting closer and closer. That’s a great sign for this young squad.”
“Going into Pac-10 play, junior Briann January (Lewis and Clark) leads Arizona State (6-5) in scoring (11.9), assists (52) and steals (28). Senior Regan Pariseau (Central Valley), who missed two games with an ankle injury, is averaging 3.7 points. January had 22 points in a 62-51 loss to No. 19 Texas. … Freshman Katelan Redmon (LC) leads Washington (5-7) in scoring (13.3) and is second in rebounding (5.3). Her jumper with 3 seconds left gave the Huskies a one-point win over Purdue.
Tip-ins
Eastern Washington (3-9) is at Gonzaga on Saturday night before starting Big Sky Conference play next week. … The Bulldogs (7-5) play at Utah Valley State on Monday. Junior guard Sasha Polischuk has left the team. … Idaho (1-10) is at Pacific on Sunday and begins Western Athletic Conference play next week. … When Weber State won its fifth straight with a 63-58 overtime decision at UC-Irvine, sophomore point guard Tonya Schnibbe (Univeristy) contributed seven points, a career-high nine rebounds, four steals and five assists.
“Portland State sophomore Claire Faucher (Yakima) leads the nation in assists at 9.1. … Former Idaho All-American Leilani Mitchell who is finishing her career at Utah, is seventh in assists at 7.2 with a game of 18, a school- and Mountain West- record. … The WCC, 57-39 in non-league games, is one of only three conferences to have all teams rated 183 or higher in the RPI.
“St. Mary’s freshman Louella Tomlinson blocked seven shots against Fresno State, giving her a WCC best 68, tops in the nation and already a school record. … NAU’s 79-27 loss at Green Bay recently was the school’s worst in 17 years. … Idaho State’s Natalie Doma leads the Big Sky in scoring (23.1, fourth in the nation) and rebounding (12.1). … Junior point guard Mandy Morales, the reigning Big Sky MVP, has been out of the Montana lineup for at least four games with a leg injury.