Predicting the Pac 10 Race

This year even more than previous could be the “have’s” and the “have-not’s”. Stanford is ranked # 2 and Cal is # 11, while ASU hovers at the # 25 level. Here’s my prediction for the final standings of the Pac 10:

10. Washington State (3-9, 0-1 with no quality wins). Good 3 point shooting by leading scorer Katie Appleton and a decent post in 6-3 Heather Molzen, but that’s about it. June has no Seniors and an incoming recruiting class that is getting better and better, but any Pac 10 wins this season will be a surprise, or because they turn off the heat in their Gym (which has happened).

Friday lost to Stanford, Sunday at Cal


9. Oregon State (7-4). It’s hard to fault Coach Wagner for playing an extremely weak pre-season schedule. She needs to build confidence in a team that has not had success for several years. OSU is led by SR Ashley Allen at 20.7 points per game. It’s the 2nd year in a row that a Sr from OSU has lead the conference in scoring. The only frosh contributing much is 5-11 Talisa Rhea, scoring 11 points per game. 6-2 Jr Tiffany Ducker has returned from a year off to average 9 points and nearly 7 rebounds.

Saturday, Oregon


8. Oregon (6-5, with a win over UCSB). Taylor Lilly is scoring just over 11 points per game, but her 3 point shooting is down 20% to 32%. Nothing here to get excited about.

Saturday at Oregon State

7. Arizona (6-5, with a win over New Mexico). Ashley Whisonant is leading the team in scoring at 14.6. Amina Njonkou has really stepped up, averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds while Frosh Ify Ibekwe has been a pleasant surprise averaging 11 points and almost 8 rebounds per game. Would be starters Hobson and Arnold have only played one game between them.

Friday lost to USC, Sunday, UCLA.

6. Washington (5-8, 0-1). Frosh Katelan Redmon leads the team in scoring at almost 13 per game, and she’s the 2nd leading rebounder on the team. Soph Sami Whitcomb is 2nd in scoring at over 11 per game, while the leading rebounder is 5-5 Jr Point Guard Emily Florence. They’ve had some injury problems and are very young. My guess is they will improve quite a bit as the season moves along.
Friday lost to cal, Sunday at Stanford.

5. USC (8-4, 1-0). Losing two starters before the season started has held back USC and makes it difficult for them to challenge for the top three. Center Nadia Parker is the leader scorer and rebounder at 11 and 6. Camille LeNoir has made a comeback after missing last season to average over 11 points per game. Morghan Medlock started off the conference season Friday night with a huge game against Arizona.

Friday, beat Arizona, Sunday at ASU.

4. UCLA (5-7, 0-1). While Sr Lindsey Pluimer leads the team in both scoring, 14, and rebounding, 7.5 per game, the next four leading scorers are Frosh. UCLA has played a tough schedule, almost won some big games and they have also lost some games they should have won.

Friday lost at ASU, Sunday at Arizona

3. ASU (7-5, 1-0). A hard team to figure, they lost all their tough pre-season games, and lost their top outside scoring treat, Danielle Orsillo for the season. They now play more of a power game with fine games recently from their two transfers, Lauren Lacey and Sybil Dotsy.

Friday beat UCLA, Sunday –USC

2. Cal (10-2 1-0). They have the # 11 ranking despite Hampton missing 9 of their first 12 games. Ashley Walker has really stepped up for the Bears, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. Soph Rama N’diaye has shown great improvement, averaging 10 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Friday beat Washington, Sunday, WSU

1. Who else, the # 2 team in the Nation, our Stanford Cardinal.

Friday beat WSU, Sunday, Washington