KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona's Shawntinice Polk puts up a shot over Cal's Olga Volkova during the Wildcats' 77-59 win over the Golden Bears. Polk came up just short of a quadruple-double.

UA 77 ð CAL 59

Arizona State assist puts Arizona ahead of Stanford in Pac-10

One week after a frustrating loss at Arizona State, the Wildcat women's hoops team became Sun Devil fans.

"I think this was the first time in history that an Arizona program was cheering for ASU," junior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler said.

After the Devils clobbered Stanford in Tempe, the Wildcats (18-5, 10-2 Pacific 10 Conference) routed California 77-59 in McKale Center to take sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 for the first time this season.

"Normally we don't ask for help up the freeway, but I appreciate that," head coach Joan Bonvicini said.

After a 21-point, 19-rebound performance in Arizona's Thursday night win over Stanford, sophomore center Shawntinice Polk came two assists and two blocks shy of a quadruple-double Saturday. Polk finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds against the Golden Bears (9-13, 2-11), whom the Wildcats beat for the 18th straight time.

"My main thing is assists. I like giving the ball to my open teammates, especially if (the other team is) going to crack down on me," Polk said. "That's the big thing - to get a 'W' and to have assists."

The ASU-Stanford game ended an hour before Arizona's tip-off, allowing the Wildcats to know they would be playing for first against Cal.

"We definitely wanted them to win," Wheeler said. "It was just 'Go ASU' all the way."

"What I said to the team before the game was, 'Obviously, we're in first place, but don't think about where you want to be at the end. You have to live in the moment and it's about now, and let's take care of business,'" Bonvicini said.

Arizona trailed Cal 17-16 before ending the first half on a 22-8 run to take a 38-25 lead into the break.

"It was great that we went on a run, but we knew they were going to come out in the second half really aggressive," Wheeler said.

A Wheeler jumper gave the Wildcats a 23-point advantage eight minutes into the second half, but Cal went on a 16-3 run to close the gap to 59-49 less than four minutes later.

"It was really nip and tuck early, and then finally we were able to pull away a little bit. But it's never comfortable with them because they play so hard," Bonvicini said.

The Bears never got closer than 10, as the Wildcats hit five 3-pointers in the last seven minutes. Wheeler and senior guard Aimee Grzyb hit a pair of treys in the final stretch.

Arizona matched a season high with eight threes on 17 attempts.

"I really like the fact that our guards are stepping up now and hitting some threes," Bonvicini said. "It really opens up so much for our team."

Grzyb scored a team-high 16 points and Wheeler added 15 points and four assists.

"Just knowing we're in first, that's wonderful. But we have a lot of games left, and we need to focus on that," Wheeler said.

Four of Arizona's six remaining regular-season games are away from McKale. The Wildcats travel to Los Angeles to face UCLA Thursday and Southern California Sunday.

"The way the Pac-10 title is going to be won is on the road," Bonvicini said. "We're going to really have to play well in L.A.

"I like the pressure. I'd much rather be in that situation and get people after us than having to climb from behind."

Arizona won its 25th consecutive home game Saturday, the second longest active streak in the country.

"I definitely think we need to just go on the road and really stay focused - and take McKale with us if we must - and beat UCLA and USC," Wheeler said.