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UA in 3-way tie for 1st

With Arizona's sweep of the Oregon schools and Stanford's upset of UCLA last weekend, the Wildcats, Bruins and Cardinal each boast a 7-2 conference record and share the Pacific 10 Conference lead.

Helping to knot the race for conference supremacy were Stanford's Bethany Donaphin and Lauren St. Clair, who led the Cardinal in their 83-68 defeat of the then-conference leading Bruins.

St. Clair was 5-for-5 from outside the three-point arc and Donaphin scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half to move Stanford to 6-2 in the Pac-10. After knocking off UCLA on Thursday night, the Cardinal avoided a let down when it defeated USC, 69-56.

Stanford's move up the conference standings and into the AP top-25 has been spearheaded by its three-point attack. The Cardinal lead the nation in three-point shooting (.439) and is nearing the Pac-10 single season record of .443, set by Oregon in 1988-89.

With Arizona State's 11 wins, they are still one win away from matching its victory total from last season as the Sun Devils lost to Oregon and Oregon State last weekend.

The Sun Devils dropped both games in their trip to Oregon, falling 64-51 to Oregon State on Friday and 66-55 to Oregon on Sunday.

The sweep in the Pacific Northwest drops ASU to sixth in the Pac-10, but their 11-8 record is more respectable than some may think. Five of their losses have come at the hands of teams ranked in the top 25, four of which have been on the road against ranked teams.

The Sun Devils attempt to get back in the conference race this weekend with two home games against the Washington schools, and if past history is any indication, the game against Washington should be a thriller.

The last two games in Tempe between the Huskies and Sun Devils have come down to buzzer-beater shots, with ASU coming out on top both times.

Oregon's 19-game home winning streak, the sixth-longest streak in the nation was snapped on Friday with a 73-66 loss to Arizona.

Behind the three teams deadlocked in first place, the Ducks stand alone in fourth with a 15-6 overall record, 6-3 in conference play.

Oregon's effort has been balanced through the first half of conference action. Oregon leads the Pac-10 in scoring defense (61.3 points per game) and field goal percentage allowed (.384) while they also boast the conference's leading scorer. Sophomore guard Shaquala Williams is averaging 18.4 ppg.