Having encountered hard times since rocketing near the top of the women’s college basketball national rankings earlier this season, UCLA and USC face a make-or-break weekend in the Bay Area.
Awaiting them both is perennial Pacific 12 Conference powerhouse Stanford, which owns first place at the season’s midpoint and has an opportunity to pull away from its Southern California opposition at Maples Pavilion.
With an 8–1 conference record, the Cardinal is one game ahead of Colorado (7–2), with larger cushions over the Bruins (5–3) and Trojans (4–4). Oregon State (6–3), Utah (5–4), and Washington State (4–4) are also in the mix.
Stanford will host USC at 7 p.m. Feb. 2, then entertain UCLA at 1 p.m. Feb. 4 in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN2. The Bruins will play at California at 7 p.m. Feb. 2, while the Trojans will visit the Golden Bears at noon Feb. 4.
With the conference schedule no longer calling for home-and-home matchups against every opponent, this weekend’s games mark the only meetings this season between the Southern California schools and their Bay Area rivals.
While the Cardinal has won 11 of its past 12 games, improved its overall record to 19–2, and climbed to fourth in this week’s Associated Press national poll, UCLA and USC have gone the other direction.
The Bruins, 16–3 overall, opened the season with 14 consecutive victories and ranked as high as second nationally. They have since dropped three of five games, including an unexpected 85–82 loss Jan. 28 to visiting Washington State.
There is also uncertainty surrounding standout center Lauren Betts, who missed both of last week’s games because of what the university called “an undisclosed medical reason.”
Betts has returned to team activities and is listed as “day-to-day” for this weekend’s games, a team spokesman said Jan. 31.
The Trojans, meanwhile, have lost three of their past four games. Speaking during a media session after the team’s most recent outing, a 62–59 home-court defeat against Washington on Jan. 28, Coach Lindsay Gottlieb cited complacency.
“I thought we came out and said, ‘Oh, we’re wearing USC on our jerseys, and therefore we’re going to win,’” she said. “You can’t win like that.”
Sparked by freshman sensation JuJu Watkins, who is averaging 25.8 points per game, the Trojans opened the season 10–0 and ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 for 10 consecutive weeks, with a high-water mark of No. 6.
Now, USC, which has fallen to 14–4 overall, is 15th in the latest Associated Press poll, while UCLA has dropped to seventh.
Notably, each team’s skid began with a loss to its crosstown rival. The Bruins prevailed 71–64 on Dec. 28 at Pauley Pavilion, but fell 73–65 in a Jan. 14 rematch at the Galen Center. Both marquee collisions drew raucous sellout crowds, and perhaps took an emotional toll on the teams.
Each has since lost at Utah, with the Trojans also falling at Colorado.
A potential regular-season Pac-12 championship, of course, is only part of the overall equation. UCLA and USC, as well as Stanford, also have the March 6–10 conference tournament in Las Vegas ahead and are virtual locks to gain NCAA Tournament berths. Bruins Coach Cori Close made it clear after the loss to Washington State that reaching the April 5–7 Final Four in Cleveland remains the team’s goal.
The Cardinal, whose only Pac-12 loss also came at Colorado, is riding a wave of momentum fueled by two significant developments.
A 65–56 victory over visiting Oregon State on Jan. 21 enabled longtime Coach Tara VanDerveer to surpass legendary former Duke men’s Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s previous record for career victories. Ms. VanDerveer has since pushed her total to 1,205.
More relevant to Stanford in the here and now has been the breakout play of junior forward Kiki Iriafen, a former star at Harvard-Westlake High School in Studio City.
After averaging 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in part-time duty last season, Iriafen leads the team with 19 points and is grabbing 10.9 rebounds per game this year. She has teamed with senior All-America candidate Cameron Brink, who is averaging 17.5 points and 11.4 rebounds, to give the Cardinal a devastating 1–2 inside punch.
Brink recorded her 43rd career double-double (points and rebounds) in a 96–64 victory Jan. 28 at Arizona, while Iriafen has had 10 such games this season.
“They are so skilled, and they complement each other very well,” Ms. VanDerveer told reporters after an 80–50 triumph Jan. 26 at Arizona State.
Brink and the 6-foot-7 Betts, who began her collegiate career at Stanford but transferred to UCLA after last season, are among 10 candidates for this year’s Lisa Leslie Award, which goes to the nation’s top center.
Betts appeared in 33 games off the bench for the Cardinal last season, averaging 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game. She leads the Bruins with averages of 15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds this season.
Guard Hannah Jump, a graduate student who has picked up her shooting from 3-point range after a slow start this season, is also a key threat for Stanford. Jump buried a combined seven of 11 attempts from beyond the arc against Arizona State and Arizona last week.
The Cardinal needs one victory to record a 23rd consecutive 20-win season, which would tie Baylor for the nation’s second-longest active streak. The Bears enter a Feb. 1 game against visiting Texas four wins away from a 21st consecutive such season. The only longer streak belongs to Connecticut, which was three victories short of a 31st consecutive 20-win season before a Jan. 31 game at Villanova.
