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Ducks grab top spot in Pac-10

Oregon's hopes of becoming Pacific 10 Conference champions and earning a high seed in the NCAA Tournament became a little more likely last weekend.

The Ducks moved into the top spot by sweeping the Washington schools and receiving help from UCLA and USC, both of which upset Arizona.

Oregon downed Washington State 73-68 on Thursday and needed a lay-up by Angelina Wolvert with 11 seconds remaining to secure a 70-69 win against Washington on Sunday. Wolvert's basket completed a 12-2 Oregon run over the last 4:19, in which time the Ducks came back from a 67-58 deficit.

Putting their first place standing to a test, Oregon will hope that the Los Angeles schools don't resume their role as spoilers when they visit Eugene, Ore. this weekend.

Sophomore guard Shaquala Williams led Oregon through the weekend, averaging 19 points in the two affairs and placing her in fourth among the conference leading scorers with 17.2 points per game.

The nod for Pac-10 Player of the Week last weekend went to USC's sophomore guard Tiffany Elmore, who contributed 11 points to the Trojans' 80-68 upset of Arizona and another 16 in their win against Arizona State.

USC is riding a three-game winning streak for the first time this season and the Trojans' 11 wins this season easily surpass last season's 7-20 record.

At 11-11 overall, 6-6 Pac-10, the Trojans are still holding on to their minute chance of making the NCAA Tournament, as they would likely need to win their final six games to contend for an at-large bid.

As the regular season winds down and the NCAA Tournament looms nearer, more speculation is being made on who is getting in and what teams are going where.

UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said that she pays attention to the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, but believes the RPI computerized rankings are what will determine bracket placing.

The Rating Percentage Index (RPI) is derived from three factors - Division I winning percentage (25%), schedule strength (50%) and opponent's schedule strength (25%). Games against non-Division I opponents are not used in calculating the RPI.

In the Feb. 21 release of the RPI, UCLA was ranked at No. 25, Stanford at No. 29, Arizona at No. 31 and Oregon at No. 42.

As a conference, the Pac-10 ranks seventh of all Division I conferences. The SEC, Big East and ACC hold the top three spots.