Pac-Tending 11-21-07

"Most women's basketball coaches will tell you if you come to a game, you'll get hooked on it. In some ways, it's just a matter of getting people to a game the first couple of times."

- Big 12 Conference associate commissioner Dru Hancock, promoting increased attendance at women's hoop games in conjunction with the NCAA's "Pack The House" promotion.

It is playoff time at the Creek and the "conference of champions" lived up to their billing as the NCAA cross country titles were won by the Oregon men [their first title in 30 years] and the Stanford women [their third consecutive crown]. In women's soccer, the NCAA tournament began and all four invited Pac-10 teams won their first round matches. Three of the four advanced past the second round and all four might have advanced had Stanford and California faced each other in the second round.

Also, all-conference selections were made in women's soccer and conference champion UCLA had two of the selections as player of the year and coach of the year went to the Bruins' Lauren Cheney and Jillian Ellis, respectively. Stanford's Christen Press was named as the freshman of the year.

Meanwhile, at NCAA HQ, the NCAA released a new promotion called, "Pack The House", aimed at increasing the attendance figures at women's basketball games. Every Division I program may pre-select a game between January 1 and February 17 that they would like to be eligible for this promotion – with the goal being to eclipse the previous year's single-game attendance record. One school of each conference [plus an independent] will be selected as "Pack The House" champions depending on attendance criteria and how creative they were in marketing the game – the NCAA will then donate $500 to a non-profit organization of the school's choice.

Oregon State

In football, the Beavers beat WSU, 52-17, to improve to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

California

In football, the Bears lost to Washington, 37-23, to fall to 6-5 overall and 3-5 in conference play.

Arizona State

In men's hoop, the Sun Devils lost their season opener to Illinois, 77-54.

Arizona

In football, the Wildcats defeated Oregon, 34-24, to improve to 5-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Senior linebacker Spencer Larsen and defensive back Antoine Cason were named as the conference's players of the week for defense and special teams, respectively.

USC

In volleyball, senior outside hitter Asia Kaczor was named as the conference's player of the week.

Washington

In football, Washington defeated California, 37-23 to improve to 4-7 overall and 2-6 in conference play. Senior running back Louis Rankin was named as the conference's player of the week.

In men's hoop, junior forward Jon Brockman was named as the conference's player of the week.

In women's hoop, freshman guard Candice Nichols has left the team and will transfer.

UCLA

In football, quarterback Ben Olson may be able to play, if needed, in an "emergency" situation in this week's game against Oregon.

Stanford

In women's hoop, sophomore center Jayne Appel was named as the conference's player of the week.

WSU

In football, the Cougars lost to Oregon State, 52-17, to fall to 4-7 overall and 2-6 in conference play.

In men's hoop, 9th-ranked Wazzu defeated Idaho to remain undefeated on the year at 3-0. Guards Marcus Capers, Nick Witherill, Klay Thompson, Michael Harthun and forward James Watson all signed letters of intent with WSU.

In soccer, five Cougar athletes were named to the Pac-10 all-conference teams with sophomore Kiersten Dallstream being named to the first team.

In women's hoop, Wazzu defeated Eastern Washington to improve to 1-2 overall on the year. The Cougars signed guards Katie Grad, April Cook, Danielle Lenoir and Jazmine Perkins along with forwards Rosie Tarnowski and Lexie Pettersen and center Jessica Oestreicher to letters of intent.

In volleyball, WSU was swept by USC and UCLA to fall to 9-21 overall and 0-16 in conference play.

Oregon

In football, the Ducks lost to Arizona, 34-24, to fall to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play. Quarterback Dennis Dixon is out for the year with a knee injury.

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