Nnemkadi Ogwumike

Based strictly on the margin of defeat, UCLA's women's basketball team narrowed the gap with Stanford on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. Ninth-ranked UCLA's 67-53 loss to the third-ranked Cardinal was not as bad as the 26-point blowout suffered by the Bruins last month. But with the Pacific 10 Conference and NCAA tournaments looming in March, Sunday's result was another reminder that the Bruins have a long way to go before they can join the nation's elite. "When you want to play with the big dogs, your big dogs have to show up," UCLA Coach Nikki Caldwell said after watching Stanford pull away in the second half.

MEN Pacific 73, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 63: Demetrece Young scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Pacific (9-5, 2-0 Big West). Joe Ford had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, along with four blocks and a steal. Lorenzo Keeler scored 18 points to lead the Mustangs (4-9, 1-1). at UC Santa Barbara 68, UC Davis 47: James Nunnally scored 17 points and keyed a late charge to lift the Gauchos (7-6, 2-1 Big West) over the Aggies (6-9, 2-1)

Rk. Team Rec. Result Next 1. CONNECTICUT 12-0 d. Seton Hall, 91-24 South Florida, Monday Huskies earn their 51st consecutive victory in Big East opener. 2. STANFORD 11-1 d. California, 79-58 at USC, Friday Nnemkadi Ogwumike has 24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. 3. NOTRE DAME 12-0 Did not play at Purdue, Monday 4. TENNESSEE 11-1 Did not play No. 14 Oklahoma, today 5. BAYLOR 13-1 d. Texas State, 99-18 at Oklahoma State, Sat. Brittney Griner dunks twice and scores 26 points for Bears.

Only six spots separate Stanford and UCLA in the women's college basketball polls. But is ninth-ranked UCLA really closing the gap with the third-ranked and perennially powerful Cardinal? UCLA, under third-year Coach Nikki Caldwell, gets another chance to measure its progress Sunday when it plays host to Stanford at Pauley Pavilion. "I told our players, 'We're a team right now that that has an opportunity in front of us to make something great happen,' " Caldwell said Saturday.

Less than eight years ago, Joanne Boyle was in a hospital bed in North Carolina, worried she might be "a vegetable" after a brain hemorrhage left the Duke assistant coach unable to speak or walk at 38. On Monday, she guided the California basketball team she has coached for four seasons into the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 with a 99-73 second-round victory over Virginia at the Galen Center. "I'm so excited. I'm so proud of my team," Boyle said.

One more game, and Connecticut has the perfect finish. All those others who would stand in their way? They're not even close. Renee Montgomery scored 26 points, Maya Moore had 24, and unbeaten Connecticut cruised to its first title game in five years with an 83-64 victory over Stanford on Sunday night. The outcome never in doubt, Connecticut overwhelmed Stanford, crushing the latest challenger to the Huskies' bid for a third undefeated season and sixth national championship.

Southern wisdoms come naturally to Nikki Caldwell, a native of Oak Ridge, Tenn. — population 27,000. A real smooth one rolled off her tongue Sunday, as it relates to Stanford. It's a line the UCLA women's basketball coach learned when she was playing and coaching at Tennessee: "If you're gonna get Stanford, you're gonna get them early, [as] in December." This being March, that meant it was too late for the Bruins, and it was, as the thoroughly dominant No. 2-ranked Stanford team pounded No. 23 UCLA, 70-46, in the State Farm Pacific 10 women's tournament championship at the Galen Center.

USC and 12th-ranked California played 40 intense minutes on Saturday night at the Galen Center. But the outcome of the Pacific 10 Conference women's basketball tournament semifinal was not decided until officials met for more than 10 minutes at midcourt to review the final three-tenths of a second.

In the off-season, the USC women's players spent a lot of time running, on orders from first-year Coach Michael Cooper. On Friday, against an Oregon team that never stops running, it paid off. The third-seeded Trojans got caught up in sixth-seeded Ducks' fastbreak offense Friday, but beat the Ducks at their own game, winning 80-76, at the Galen Center to advance to Saturday's semifinal round of the State Farm Pac-10 women's tournament. "All that running, you know it's going to pay off in the end, so it motivates us to get through practice," Trojans forward Christina Marinacci said.