No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Cal challenge Sun Devils in Pac-10 showdowns

1/16/2008 4:43 PM

By ANDREW BAGNATO
AP Sports Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Knocked out of the Top 25 in December, Arizona State has a chance to assert itself as a Pac-10 contender this weekend.

No. 8 California visits the surging Sun Devils on Thursday night. On Sunday afternoon, seventh-ranked Stanford comes to town.

Although the coaches say it's too early to call these games critical, they will set the stage for the stretch run and affect seeding in the Pac-10 tournament.

``I think everybody wants to gain momentum and take over some ground and create a little bit of a buffer and all that,'' California coach Joanne Boyle said from Berkeley. ``I don't think about it as though this is the end all, be all this weekend - it's going to make or break somebody's season. It's still too early in the conference for that.''

The game between the Golden Bears (15-2, 6-0 Pac-10) and the Sun Devils (11-5, 5-0) matches the only unbeaten teams in Pac-10 play. Cal is off to its best conference start, but the Bears have had a hard time in the desert recently. Their last win at Wells Fargo Arena came in 1999.

Stanford (14-3, 4-2) is tied for third with UCLA.

The Sun Devils opened the season at No. 12 but fell out of the rankings after a series of early defeats. They are first among others receiving votes this week.

Four of ASU's five losses have been to ranked teams - then-No. 8 North Carolina, then-No.10 Oklahoma, then-No. 18 Auburn and then-No. 19 Texas. The other loss came at Texas Tech.

After losing to the Longhorns at home, the Sun Devils have opened conference play with five wins in a row.

``We played some of the top teams in the country, and it's definitely made us tougher,'' coach Charli Turner Thorne said. ``I don't feel like they think there's anything they can't do.''

Although they lost guard Danielle Orsillo to a season-ending knee injury, the Sun Devils are mostly healthy after a string of injuries in November and December.

``They really have their rhythm now, and I think they're playing really good basketball,'' Boyle said. ``I think they're a very dangerous team.''

Cal's only losses have come at then-No. 13 Baylor and then-No. 6 Rutgers. The Golden Bears' 56-51 loss to Rutgers on Dec. 10 sparked a seven-game win streak, and Boyle said the defeat created a sense of confidence among the players.

``I think that really solidified in the kids' minds that we're really legitimate Top 10,'' she said.

But Boyle is concerned that the Golden Bears don't play consistently across 40 minutes. She met with the players on Monday to talk about the increased scrutiny and expectations that come with a lofty ranking.

``It's not that we're trying to be hard on them or anything, but the expectations that we all have wanted have now been raised,'' Boyle said. ``The bar has been raised, and that's what we've wanted to do, and more responsibility comes with that. And so it's putting together long stretches and good halves and not just one half or 30 minutes.''

Cal is led by junior forward Ashley Walker, who leads the Pac-10 in rebounding at 10.0 per game and is third in scoring at 17.2 points per game.

The Sun Devils can't relax after they play Cal. Three days later, they'll play host to Stanford, which has become a nemesis for Turner Thorne since she revived ASU's long-dormant program. Turner Thorne, a Stanford graduate, is 4-21 against her alma mater since coming to Arizona State.

Last year, the Sun Devils went 0-3 against the Cardinal. One of the losses came in overtime and another in the Pac-10 tourney final.

The Sun Devils can't explain why they've struggled against Stanford.

``I don't think it's mental,'' Sun Devils senior guard Reagan Pariseau said. ``It's not a question of talent.''

Stanford shored up its talent when it signed freshman forward Kayla Pederson, a McDonald's All-American who grew up in Fountain Hills, Ariz., not far from Arizona State.

Pedersen has started all 17 games and leads Stanford with 8.5 rebounds per game. She's also averaging 11.5 points per game, third-best on the team.

``We depend on her,'' Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. ``Going down to Arizona, I think she'll be very excited to be playing in front of her family and her friends.''

Stanford appeared vulnerable in a rare sweep by UCLA and USC in Los Angeles two weeks ago. But the Cardinal rebounded and whipped Oregon and Oregon State by a combined 70 points last weekend.

``I feel like our team is listening better and we have people's attention,'' VanDerveer said from Palo Alto. ``I thought our team did an excellent job this last weekend in terms of their energy and their improvement. I feel like we're going in the right direction, and I'm very happy.''