With wins, UA gets a leg up on Pac-10

While there are quite a few basketball games yet to be played, Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini insisted a win is a win.

"A win in January is just as good as a win in March," she said after Monday's defeat of Stanford, which propelled Arizona (10-3 overall, 4-1 Pac-10) to the top spot in the Pac-10.

Each team still has more than a dozen games before the Pac-10 season concludes, March 7.

And after a quick glance of the top four teams' schedules, it seems Stanford and Washington have the easiest road toward challenging UA for the Pac-10 title.

After trips south to play the Los Angeles schools then east to play ASU, Stanford will host five of its seven games in February before concluding the season at Oregon and Oregon State.

Washington's big test comes Jan. 24 when the Huskies travel to Maples Pavilion to play the Cardinal. Other than that game, UW plays eight of its next 11 games at home. Their only remaining road trips are at California, Oregon and Oregon State.

Meanwhile, UCLA still has to play at Washington, Stanford and Arizona.

UA's one-point thriller over the Cardinal marked the third time it has beaten teams thought to contend for the top conference mark and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Bonvicini said the early wins will give the Wildcats confidence in their ability to make intelligent decisions in the clutch through the rest of the season.

"When we play together and play smart, we're a very good basketball team," she said. "No one can stop us when we play together."

Senior forward Adia Barnes added that as long as the Wildcats keep playing smart, "we definitely are going to contend for the Pac-10 title."

On Saturday, UA destroyed Washington - a team that was undefeated at 10-0 and ranked seventh in the country before a last second loss Thursday at ASU - by 31 points. The loss dropped the Huskies (10-2, 1-2) down to a three-way tie for sixth place.

The win at UCLA (8-5, 3-1) was perhaps the most important in terms of the standings because the Jan. 2 contest was played at Pauley Pavilion.

The Wildcats also beat Southern Cal that weekend to complete their second consecutive sweep of the Los Angeles schools on the road.

Arizona's only conference blemish so far came when Tricia Lamb, a Washington State guard, heaved a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cougars a 64-61 victory at McKale Center Thursday.

Bonvicini was noticeably upset after the WSU game, noting the urgency in winning home conference games.

"I was really disappointed in the way we played," she said after the game. "It's nothing against Washington State, but this is our home court and you can't play that way on your home court."

Arizona travels to Seattle for a rematch against Washington Feb. 5. At the end of the month, the Wildcats face what is sure to be a fierce battle at Stanford (6-5, 3-1). Then, UCLA comes to Tucson March 7 in the conference finale.

But first, the Wildcats have to take care of ASU in Tempe. They will get that chance Saturday before heading north to play Oregon Jan. 22 and Oregon State Jan. 24.

After hosting California at the end of the month, Arizona plays Kansas as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Challenge. Stanford and Texas Tech also face each other that weekend.

Women's Pac-10 Conference Basketball Standings

           CONFERENCE OVERALL
           	
TEAM 		    W   L   PCT.   	W   L   PCT.

ARIZONA             4   1   .800       10   3   .769
UCLA                3   1   .750        8   5   .615
STANFORD            3   1   .750        6   5   .545
OREGON              2   2   .500        6   6   .500
ARIZONA ST          2   2   .500        6   7   .462
WASHINGTON    	    1   2   .333       10   2   .833
WSU                 1   2   .333        7   5   .583
CALIFORNIA          1   2   .333        5   8   .385
OREGON ST           1   3   .250        6   7   .462
USC                 1   3   .250        6   7   .462