WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : USC Can End Stanford’s Title Streak

The USC women’s basketball team has a chance to win the Pacific 10 Conference title outright this weekend when it plays host to Oregon tonight at the Sports Arena and Oregon State on Saturday at the Lyon Center.

The Trojans can end Stanford’s five-year conference championship streak with a sweep. If they stumble against either team, they will need help from Washington State or Washington, who play at Stanford this weekend.

USC (21-3 overall and 14-2 in the Pac-10) has a one-game lead over the Cardinal (20-5, 13-3) going into the final weekend of conference play.

UCLA (15-10, 10-6), which plays host to Oregon State (16-9, 8-8) tonight and Oregon on Saturday, is battling the Beavers for fifth place and a probable at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

Surprising Oregon (18-7, 12-4) could tie for the Pac-10 title.

The Ducks, under first-year Coach Jody Runge, have won 11 of 13, losing twice to Stanford.

Saturday’s USC-Oregon State game, starting at 2 p.m., is a rematch between 6-5 Lisa Leslie and Oregon State’s 6-5 Kristina Lelas, from Croatia.

On Jan. 6 at Corvallis, Leslie struck Lelas on the mouth with a backhand punch that knocked her to the floor. Television replays showed Lelas had grabbed Leslie’s arm, precipitating the punch.