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Women's Pac-10 Notes

The UA women's basketball team was elated after beating Arizona State on Saturday, but that wasn't what caused the Wildcat coaching staff to jump around, yelling, "Oh, my god" in excitement. It was the news of Oregon and UCLA losing that did.

While the Wildcats were rebounding from being swept in Los Angeles, USC had just beaten Oregon, and Oregon State had beaten UCLA, further complicating matters within the Pacific 10 Conference race.

At weekend's end, Stanford sat atop the standings with Oregon and Arizona keeping pace just one game behind.

Stanford downed Washington State 78-73 and Washington 76-46, giving the Cardinal control of their own destiny, as they only have to win out to emerge as conference champions.

The Cardinal's wins last weekend placed them back in the AP poll this week at No. 25, but according to history, that notoriety isn't something that Stanford may want. They are 16-2 when unranked in the AP poll, and just 2-4 when included in the top-25 this year.

Leading the conference is something the Cardinal is quite familiar with. Though they didn't win the Pac-10 last season, Stanford has been champions in nine of the last 14 seasons.

Oregon State has won 10 of their last 13 contests and its wins against USC and No. 22 UCLA mark their first sweep of the Los Angeles schools since 1996. The win against UCLA marked the Beaver's first victory against a top 25 opponent since the 1994-95 season.

Beaver senior center Sissel Pierce was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after averaging 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocked shots and 1.5 assists per game, while shooting 68 percent from the field (17-for-25) against the Bruins and Trojans.

Oregon State's recent streak has placed them fourth in the Pac-10 and makes them an outside contender for the conference title and a bid for the NCAA Tournament.

As UCLA senior forward Maylana Martin's stock keeps rising for the Naismith Player of the Year Award, her team's stock keeps plummeting.

In the Bruins' 72-52 loss to Oregon State, Martin scored a career-high 39 points, the highest point total by any player in the conference this season. Martin shot 17-for-22 (.773) in the same week she was named as a finalist for the award.

Her team, however, is not fairing as well.

After beginning the season ranked fourth in the nation, and being picked by many preseason publications to reach the Final Four, UCLA has dropped out of both polls and, considering their record (15-9 overall, 9-5 Pac-10), they are on the verge of missing the tournament altogether.

The road ahead for the Bruins doesn't get much easier, as their next chance to get back in the Pac-10 race comes on Thursday when they face Stanford at home.