Next up, Trojans and Bruins

Erik Adams (The Stanford Daily) writes about the Cardinal's intent to extend their perfect season at home this weekend. “We defend Maples very well,” Jayne said. “Having the home crowd and sleeping in our own beds makes things easier, but it is mostly a matter of pride. We don’t want to let anyone come into our gym and take it from us.”

USC Trojans

I was pleased to discover that although the USC women are sometimes still referred to as The Women of Troy, more often they're simply The Trojans.

The Trojans often seem to play better than their win-loss record indicates. They are 6-5 in non-conference play, but they took Duke to overtime and three of their other losses were by just one or two points. They are 5-2 in the conference — defeated Oregon, OSU, Arizona, Washington and WSU; lost to ASU and UCLA.

The Trojans are being plagued by the injury demons again this season. This week's injury report is:

USC is without two McDonald's All-Americans once again following season-ending knee injuries sustained by both Jacki Gemelos (third ACL] and Stefanie Gilbreath (second ACL). Nadia Parker (traffic accident) and Hailey Dunham (hand) missed the first two games, but both returned to full competition on Nov. 24. Dunham suffered a foot injury on Jan. 11 vs. UCLA and has been sidelined for the past four games. Parker also sat out the Jan. 24 game vs. WSU with an ankle injury. Parker is likely to return and Dunham is questionable for action this week.

But they still have some very good players. They are #2 in the Pac-10 in points/game (75.3) and three-pointers per game (6.56); Stanford is #1 in these categories (77.9 and 6.74 respectively). They have four players who average double-digit scores:

• Senior guard Camille LeNoir, pictured on the right, is fully recovered from her hip injury. She leads the offense with 11.7 points and 3.6 assists per game.
• Freshman guard Brianna Gilbreath is close behind with 11.4 points per game. She makes almost half of her attempts (49.1%).
• Senior center Nadia Parker makes more than half of her attempts (52.2%) for an average of 11.3 points per game.
• Freshman guard Ashley Corral averages 10.3 points and 3.1 assists per game. She is the leading three-pointer shooter — 33.3% of 105 attempts.

On defense, the Trojans out-rebound their opponents, but only by 3.6. 6-3 center Nadia Parker leads the defense with 6.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. 6-2 guard Aarika Hughes averages 6.1 rebounds per game.

However, Alison Hong (Daily Trojan) reports that they have been working on defense. Coach Mark Trakh said, “I think they found a newfound love for defense after practice. After some intense sessions we rekindled our love for defense and our love for rebounding.”

USC's win-loss record (11-7 overall, 5-2 conference) places them 6th in the Pac-10, their RPI (66) places them 6th, and their strength of schedule (44) places them 7th. (See note at end.)

Here are their 2008-09 player statistics and their roster

UCLA Bruins

Star player Lindsey Pluimer graduated, ferocious defender Regina Rogers transferred to Washington, and coach Kathy Olivier transferred to UNLV.

This season the Bruins are young and talented and responding well to their new coach, Nikki Caldwell. They are off to their best start in many years. They are 9-2 in non-conference games and 5-2 in the conference — defeated OSU, USC, Arizona, Washington and WSU; lost to ASU and Oregon.

Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle) writes about the championship experience and perspective that Caldwell has brought from Knoxville to L.A. "The kids have taken ownership, they've bought into the system, we're making progress," said Caldwell.

They are a very athletic strong defensive team — #1 in the Pac-10 in rebounds/game (44.1) and steals/game (11.5). Their rebounding margin is +11.9, which is #2 in the Pac-10 and #4 in the nation (Stanford's is +12.3, which is #1 and #3 respectively). This strength is somewhat offset by their propensity for turnovers (20.4 per game). They have three big post players:

• 6-4 senior Chinyere Ibekwe, pictured on the right, averages 7.8 rebounds and 6.9 points per game.
• 6-4 sophomore Christina Nzekwe averages 5.1 rebounds and 7.0 points per game.
• 6-6 junior Moniquee Alexander averages 4.8 rebounds and 5.1 points per game.

Sophomore guard Doreena Campbell is their leading scorer with an average of 13.0 points and 3.8 assists per game and an impressive free throw percentage of .845. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after scoring 20 points and nine rebounds against USC.

Six other players average approximately seven points per game — sophomore forward Nina Earl (7.6), senior guard Tierra Henderson (7.3), junior guard Erica Tukiainen (7.2), sophomore guard Darxia Morris (7.1), and post players Nzekwe and Ibekwe.

The Bruins do not rely on the three-point shot. They average just 3.5 per game (#9 in the Pac-10).

UCLA's win-loss record (14-4 overall, 5-2 conference) places them 3rd in the Pac-10, their RPI (50) places them 4th, and their strength of schedule (90) places them 10th. (See note below.)

Here are their 2008-09 player statistics and their roster

Note: USC and UCLA are the only Pac-10 teams that haven't yet played Stanford and Cal. Regardless of the outcome of this weekend's games, their RPI and strength of schedule will improve significantly.