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Double dribble: Women

When Dawn Staley took over Temple in 2000, it drew national attention. Staley was a first-time head coach, still a member of the WNBA Charlotte Sting and was inheriting a program that had little success.

Staley promised she would be able to handle it all. She's making good on that vow. Staley is the starting point guard for the Sting and was a member of the 2004 USA gold medal-winning basketball team. Oh, yeah, and she has turned the Owls into winners.

She has led Temple to two NCAA Tournament appearances and was last season's Atlantic-10 coach of the year. For the first time in school history, Temple is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25; the Owls debuted at No. 24 this week.

"This is a reward for all of the players that have come through Temple," Staley said. "The girls have worked so hard for this, and they have finally gotten to see their hard work develop into something tangible. This is a huge step toward our goal of becoming a national powerhouse."

Staley is only the 20th person to coach a ranked team and play for one. She was a three-time All-American at Virginia (1989-92), and the Cavaliers made three trips to the Final Four during her tenure. But these days, the focus is clearly on her team.

The Owls sit atop the Atlantic 10 East at 8-0 and are 16-3, riding a 13-game winning streak, fourth longest in the country and breaking a Temple record from the 1923-24 season when it went 12-0.

Temple is led by junior Candice Dupree, who is averaging 16.4 points and 9.5 rebounds.

5 - Ranked teams from the ACC and Big 12 in the Associated Press poll, the most of any conference.

20 - Years since Iowa and Ohio State made women's basketball history by filling a 15,500-seat venue with 22,157 fans Feb. 3, 1985. The Buckeyes defeated Iowa State 56-47. The total remains the 10th highest in Big Ten history, although the official paid attendance was 14,821; it is also more than 5,000 more than the league's official top attendance mark of 17,142 when Wisconsin played at Minnesota on Jan. 20, 2002.

21 - Career-high points on 71 percent shooting for Arizona freshman guard Jessica Arnold in a win over Oregon State.

79 - Rebounds by Dayton Sunday against Detroit, an Atlantic-10 record.

14,980 - Fans who attended the Utah at New Mexico game on Jan. 22, a 61-55 win for the Lobos, the first Mountain West Conference loss of the season for Utah.

Stanford freshman guard Candice Wiggins is quickly making a name for herself. The Pac-10 player of the week is on fire. In wins over UCLA and USC last week, she averaged 21 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 48 minutes. She also shot a stunning 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line. She leads Stanford with 17.4 points per game. Wiggins is the daughter of the late Alan Wiggins, who was a member of the 1984 San Diego Padres World Series team and set the club's single-season record with 70 stolen bases (which topped his record of 66 the year before). He ranks third all time in Padres history with 171 career stolen bases.

SUNDAY: No. 1 Duke at No. 25 North Carolina State, 1 p.m., Sun Sports. A loss would knock the Blue Devils out of the top spot, but this ACC rivalry is always a battle.

Auburn at No. 2 LSU, 3 p.m., Sun Sports. LSU has a shot at regaining the No. 1 ranking.

No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 9 UConn, 7 p.m. ESPN2. A must-win for Notre Dame to stay near the top of the Big East standings. UConn has won 112 straight at home against conference opponents.

MONDAY: No. 19 Georgia at No. 5 Tennessee, 7 p.m. ESPN2.

"The attention she's gotten is well deserved. She handles the media press the same way she handles the full-court press, very maturely. She understands the big picture, that this is a team sport. She's extremely complimentary about her teammates and how well they are doing and how everything she does on the court is made possible by the other people she's playing with. She's really an exceptional young lady who is really enjoying playing basketball at Stanford with her friends."

Stanford coach Tara VanderVeer on freshman guard Candice Wiggins.