The UCLA women’s basketball team might have gotten help
from a pair of unlikely sources. While UCLA (17-10, 12-6 Pac-10)
helped further its NCAA Tournament candidacy with a road sweep of
the Oregon schools, two of its biggest competitors for the precious
few postseason spots stumbled and might not have time to get back
to full speed. Washington (18-9, 11-7) and USC (17-10, 11-7) had
been in the thrust of a three-team dogfight for the coveted No. 3
place finish in the conference standings. What may seem like an
arbitrary placement actually figures to decide who will be dancing
in March and who will be watching at home. As the fourth and
fifth-place teams in the conference, respectively, Washington and
USC will face each other in the first round of the Pac-10
Tournament in San Jose on Saturday night while UCLA will play
sixth-place California (18-10, 10-8). All four of the team’s
are on the bubble, and the upcoming games will be a war of
attrition. “It now looks like whoever wins the Washington-USC
game will get into the tournament and the other will probably be
left out,” UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said. “For Cal to
make it, they would probably have to beat us and then win another
game, too.” Olivier’s opinion is swayed by the fact
that Washington recently was swept in the Bay Area by No. 13
Stanford and Cal. It’s hard for any team to get an at-large
bid having lost its last three games. It would be even less likely
considering Cal has a weak Rating Percentage Index ranking of 59.
While not always a household name, the RPI has long been a deciding
factor in strength of a team based on quality wins and schedule
difficulty. USC, meanwhile, has been a mediocre 4-5 in it last 9
games and its RPI is 56. Even though the Trojans have the same
overall record as the Bruins and have beat them twice, the NCAA
selection committee tends to reward teams that finish the season on
a high note. In that vein, UCLA controls its own destiny after
winning five of its last six to really strengthen its NCAA
Tournament candidacy. Additionally, the team has an RPI ranking of
40 because of a daunting nonconference schedule. “Getting our
first sweep on the road (in Oregon) this year is nice to have on
our resume,” Olivier said. “We were really the only
team in the Pac-10 to strengthen our place. Everyone stayed the
same or were hurt.”
WILLIS HONORED: UCLA senior guard Lisa Willis
has been named the U.S. Bank Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Player
of the Week for Feb. 20-26. Willis averaged 20.5 points and 11
rebounds against the Oregon schools, and had a career-high 14
rebounds in the win over the Ducks. It was the sixth time this
season that a Bruin has been named Pac-10 player of the week, and
all the honors were garnered by Willis and junior guard Noelle
Quinn. Each player has won the award three times this year.