This week in Pac-12 women's basketball

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Perennial power and 14th-ranked Tennessee visits two of the Conference’s top teams this week as No. 15 STANFORD hosts the Lady Vols on Wednesday night on ESPNU before No. 7 OREGON STATE gets its turn on Saturday on the Pac-12 Network ... Pac-12 teams boast a 78.4 winning percentage in the non-conference season so far, finding success from long-range as well as employing stifling defense. Five Pac-12 teams have three-point field goal percentages ranked in the top-17 in the country, led by ARIZONA (2nd, 44.9) and OREGON (3rd, 43.8), with a sixth team ranking just outside the top-25. USC’s stifling defense that has limited opponents to under 48 points per game, is second-best in the nation and is one of four league squads to rank in the top-25 in the category. OSU’s 8.0 blocks per game leads the nation with three other Pac-12 teams ranking among the top 25 in blocks, as well ... The second-winningest coach in Conference history, ASU’s trip to the East Coast marked head coach Charli Turner Thorne’s 400th-career victory ... Five Pac-12 teams are ranked again this week in the Associated Press poll and eight in total are receiving votes in at least one of the two major polls ... UTAH’s Emily Potter was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Week while Cal’s Kristine Anigwe is the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season ... The beginning of next week kick off the final week of non-conference action with No. 11 Florida State visiting ASU (ESPNU), while No. 19 UCLA heads to No. 21 Cal for a clash that will not impact the league standings. The game will be on Pac-12 Bay Area.

THIS WEEK IN PAC-12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

RECORDS WATCH
OREGON’s Jillian Alleyne has been one of the Conference’s top rebounders since arriving on campus in 2012-13, leading the Pac-12 in rebounding the last two seasons. It is not surprising then that she ranks among the great Pac-12 rebounders of all time and is second only to former three-time All-American and 2014 John R. Wooden Award winner Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford).   

Alleyne’s total numbers are impressive, but her career average is as well. Having averaged at least 11.9 rpg every season, her career average of 14.5 rpg through three seasons would break the all-time record currently held by former UCLA standout Natalie Williams who maintained a 12.8 rpg in her career from 1991-94.

FRESHMEN PHENOMS
With Pac-12 coaches hauling in some of the nation’s top talents, the promise of potential that can make immediate impacts are beginning to show. Two of the nation’s top-scoring freshmen are in the Pac-12. CALIFORNIA’s Kristine Anigwe, who has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four times already this season, is the second-highest scoring freshman in the country, averaging 21.0 ppg, and ranks 21st among all players in the NCAA. WASHINGTON STATE’s Borislava Hristova ranks 36th in the country with a 19.4 ppg average also making her the fourth-highest scoring freshman in the country. The two impact players are two of just nine underclassmen in the country to rank in the top 36 in scoring.

Also making an impact this season is OREGON’s Maite Cazorla. Leading the Pac-12 in assists per game at 6.5 apg, she owns the highest assists average among freshman in the country and ranks 14th among all players. No other freshman is in the top 27 in the country in the category.

COACHING MILESTONES
ARIZONA STATE head coach Charli Turner Thorne is the latest Pac-12 mentor to reach a coaching milestone. On Dec. 14 against Hartford, Turner Thorne picked up her 400th-career victory. Turner Thorne has been roaming the sidelines for 22 seasons, 19 of them in Tempe.

Both COLORADO coach Linda Lappe and OREGON coach Kelly Graves reached coaching milestones over the Thanksgiving break. Lappe, in her sixth season at her alma mater, picked up Division I win No. 100 on Nov. 27 in a win over Massachusetts, while Graves, who is in his second season in Eugene but has logged 19 seasons on a Division I sideline, picked up his 400th-career victory the following day on Nov. 28.

Other coaches approaching century milestones are ARIZONA’s Niya Butts needs four victories to No. 100 in eight years as a head coach; OREGON STATE head coach Scott Rueck is two victories short of 100 Division I victories; and USC’s Cynthia Cooper needs four to get to No. 200.

WASHINGTON STATE head coach June Daugherty has been a head coach for 27 years and won career-No. 400 last season, but is approaching her 100th victory at WSU, needing just two more wins.