USC Prize: Placement in Mideast Regional : NCAA women: Stanford stays in West after finishing second to Trojans in Pac-10.

Cheryl Miller and the USC women’s basketball team were handed their reward Sunday for winning the Pacific 10 Conference championship: assignment to the NCAA tournament’s Mideast Regional.

The Trojans, who on Saturday ended a five-year Stanford grip on the conference title, were nevertheless sent out of the West Region in the first 64-team women’s NCAA tournament. Stanford, which finished second in the Pac-10, stayed in the West and is expected to said into the March 24-26 West Regional at Palo Alto.

USC (23-3) ended the regular season with a 16-2 conference record and was ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll. Stanford (22-5, 15-3) was ranked 11th and could qualify for the Final Four without having to go to the airport.

Its first- and second-round games would also be played at Stanford.

USC, provided it wins two home games, -- must travel 1,300 miles to the University of Arkansas, where the Trojans could be joined by top-ranked Tennessee, No. 7 Louisiana Tech and No. 8 Virginia.

Surprisingly, there were no howls of outrage at Heritage Hall when the pairings were announced. In fact, Miller’s players burst into cheers.

“We can beat Stanford on any neutral court, but beating them up there is the hardest thing we’ve had to do since I’ve been here,” said senior Lisa Leslie.

USC defeated Stanford at the Lyon Center, 94-82, but lost at Maples Pavilion, 80-50.

A trip to Fayetteville, Ark., is contingent on the Trojans first winning two games at the Sports Arena. USC plays Portland (17-11) Wednesday night at 7:30. The winner plays George Washington (22-7) or Alabama-Birmingham (23-5) on Saturday.

If USC wins, it would play again at the Sports Arena.

It should not have made any difference to Miller where the NCAA sent her team, since she predicted moments after the 80-50 loss at Stanford that USC would win the rest of its games.

But the idea of a conference champion being sent on the road while the runner-up plays host to its own regional rankled just a bit.

“We won the championship . . . my eyebrows are raised,” Miller said. “I’d like to have been in the (selection) committee room, and know who threw us in the Mideast.

“One good thing: I’ve been to Fayetteville. There are absolutely no distractions there.”

Asked later why Stanford and USC were kept apart in the tournament, NCAA women’s basketball committee chairman Linda Bruno spoke of fairness.

“The committee felt strongly that if a conference had two strong teams, it was best to try and separate them,” she said.

“Stanford is hosting that regional on its home floor. We felt the fairest thing, the best-balanced thing, was not to put USC there.”

Stanford, winner of two of the last four NCAA tournaments, figures as a heavy favorite over Wisconsin Green Bay (18-10) Wednesday night at Stanford. The winner will play Montana (24-4) or Nevada Las Vegas (23-6).

Five Pac-10 teams were handed postseason berths on Sunday. Washington (20-7) will play host to Boise State (23-5), Oregon (19-8) will play host to Santa Clara (21-6) and Oregon State (17-10) will play at Alabama (22-6) in first-round games Wednesday night.

Stanford, Oregon and Washington are all in the West Regional, Oregon State in the Midwest.

UCLA seemed tournament-bound until All-American Natalie Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury at Stanford Feb. 26. UCLA lost that game and its final three and finished 15-12 overall, 10-8 in the Pac-10.

Portland, USC’s first-round opponent, came out of nowhere to win the West Coast Conference tournament title at Santa Clara. The Pilots finished 7-7 in the WCC, but have won eight of their last 10, including the last four.

On Thursday, Coach Jim Sollars’ team upset No. 1-seeded Santa Clara, 64-58, and on Friday shocked Gonzaga in the championship game, 73-65.

Portland’s best player, offensively and defensively, is Amy Claboe, a 6-2 junior who is averaging 15.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She was named most valuable player in the conference tournament.

Also in the NCAA field is Western Athletic Conference winner San Diego State, which completed its best regular season at 25-4, 13-1 in the WAC. On Saturday at Salt Lake City, the Aztecs beat Colorado State, 51-47, in the WAC tournament title game.

Coach Beth Burns’ team, which plays host to Hawaii (25-4) Wednesday in a first-round game, has won 19 of its last 20.

Sites of the four four-team March 24-26 regional tournaments: Piscataway, N.J. (East), Fayetteville (Mideast), Austin, Tex. (Midwest) and Palo Alto (West).

The national semifinals and final will be April 2-3 at Richmond, Va.