Stanford’s dangerous trip to L.A.
Jan 5th, 2010
There had been a suspicion that the Los Angeles schools might pose the biggest threat to Stanford’s march to another Pac-10 title, and USC and UCLA gave that suspicion some support by winning their first two conference games.
Michael Cooper was coaching Lisa Leslie a little more than than three months ago; now he has Leslie's alma mater competing for a Pac-10 title -- Associate Press photo by Lucy Nicholson
It wasn’t so much that USC and UCLA both beat then-No. 19 Arizona State, which was picked to finish second, but that the Trojans and Bruins did it on the Sun Devils’ home court.
It means Stanford will have its most difficult Pac-10 road trip of the season this weekend when it play at USC on Friday and UCLA on Sunday. The Cardinal already knew the dangers of playing in Los Angeles. Two years ago, Stanford got swept on the road by UCLA and USC for their only Pac-10 losses in a season in which the Cardinal went 35-4 and got to the NCAA championship game. The Cardinal also lost at UCLA in 2006 and was beaten by the Trojans at USC in 2003 and again in 2004.
Oregon’s 2-0 Pac-10 start under new coach Paul Westhead is also intriguing, but less telling because it played its first two games at home against teams not expected to finish high in the Pac-10 standings – Washington and Washington State.
So the Pac-10 is left with only one team in the top 25 as Cal and Arizona State have both dropped out after being ranked in preseason. The Sun Devils, in fact, have lost four of their last five, although all four were to good teams.
UCLA and USC are virtually the same teams they were last year with one significant addition to each. At USC, the newcomer is coach Michael Cooper, who came straight from Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA to the Trojans, who now have three wins over ranked teams this season. They beat Arizona State even though their top scorer, Ashley Corral, went 1-for-10 from the field and had five turnovers.
UCLA has made one major addition, too, and that’s Markel Walker, who looks like the best freshman in the Pac-10. She had a mediocre game in the Bruins’ victory over Arizona, but had 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting and seven rebounds in UCLA’s convincing 74-56 victory at Arizona State.
If Stanford comes through its trip through Los Angeles unscathed, the possibility of an unbeaten Pac-10 season gathers credibility.