Quinn Injury Makes Bruin Road Rougher

Six of the next eight games are on the road and the trip starts tonight against Stanford in Palo Alto, where UCLA’s women’s basketball team has not won since 1999.

“It’s our time to be tested,” Bruin Coach Kathy Olivier said.

And that was before the Bruins learned they would be without leading scorer and rebounder Noelle Quinn because of a knee injury.

Quinn, averaging 16.9 points and 7.1 rebounds, tore cartilage in her left knee in Sunday’s loss to Arizona, underwent surgery Wednesday and will be out six weeks.

But even if UCLA had Quinn, fifth-ranked Stanford, 15-2 overall and 6-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, would be a formidable challenge for UCLA (11-5, 5-2). The Bruins have lost 13 of their last 14 games against the Cardinal, 11 in succession.

“A lot of the games have been close,” Olivier said. “Like last year, we had a chance to beat them at the buzzer and [then lost] in overtime. But most of the close games have been at home. At Maples [Pavilion] they’ve pretty much owned us.”

Some of the Bruins are clearly tired of losing to Stanford.

“I’ve never beaten them since I’ve been here,” junior guard Nikki Blue said. “But we have been playing good basketball this whole year. We have been in a funk these last two games. But I think our defensive pressure can bother them. And we have to remain poised the whole time.”

Still, not having Quinn requires a big adjustment for UCLA.

“She’s one of the first people I look for on the court,” Blue said. “She’s my right hand. We might not be able to fill her shoes, but we have people that will try their best to.”

Stanford is the litmus test for all Pac-10 contenders. The Cardinal has won four consecutive regular-season conference championships, sharing last year’s title with Arizona, and two of the three postseason Pac-10 tournaments.

Their losses this season were on the road, at Tennessee and Oregon. Eight players are 6 feet or taller and they have eight juniors and seniors.

To top it off, the Cardinal has one of the nation’s best freshmen, Candice Wiggins.

“Our team is aware of who we’re going to play. We just know we have to perform,” Olivier said.

Stanford was figuring on tonight’s game being for first place in the conference. But UCLA’s two losses last weekend knocked them into a third-place tie with Oregon.

Instead it’s upstart USC sharing the Pac-10 penthouse with the Cardinal. They will meet Saturday. USC plays California tonight.

USC is 12-4 and 6-1 under first-year Coach Mark Trakh and presents a different puzzle to the Cardinal. Besides being big and athletic, the Trojans are young -- only two seniors -- and don’t have a dominant player.

“We’ve had other teams with more talent,” senior forward Rachael Woodward said. “But this one has great team chemistry. That’s what everyone keeps talking about.”