Having finished their first round of Pacific-10 Conference competition with an 8-1 record, the Cardinal head into the second half of the conference season with matches against UCLA and Southern California this weekend.

The Cardinal defeated both teams easily a month ago, 91-68 and 77-56, respectively, but playing on the Los Angeles schools’ home courts this time could prove a different story.

“When you’ve beaten a team already in the season, I think it gives them a lot of extra motivation,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It’s just going to be a very challenging weekend for us. This is probably the toughest road trip we have, with two really tough games.”

UCLA (10-8, 5-4) presents an offensive threat to the Cardinal tomorrow night, having the No. 2 scoring offense in the Pac-10. Although Stanford is No. 1 in the conference, it has been relying mostly on the scoring efforts of three players: sophomore guard Candice Wiggins, junior center Brooke Smith and junior guard Krista Rappahahn, who accounted for more than two-thirds of Stanford’s total in three of the past four games.

The Bruins, on the other hand, have four players averaging over 10 points per game, including the No. 2 scorer in the conference, senior guard Lisa Willis, who averages 17.9 points.

“UCLA’s got some great perimeter players; there’s some great talent, so that’ll be a good game just because they’re capable of playing really well,” Smith said.

Posing an even greater threat, however, are the Women of Troy on Sunday. Previously unranked nationally, No. 23 USC (13-5, 7-2) is stepping up in the Pac-10 — right behind Stanford — and is on a five-game winning streak, which included a recent close 73-70 win over UCLA.

“USC’s going to be really determined to beat us at their place — same with UCLA — but this is especially a huge matchup for us because we’re one and two in the rankings,” Wiggins said.

Though its team is young, USC is riding on a wave of talent. Sophomore guard Camille LeNoir was named last week’s Pac-10 Player of the Week and junior guard Eshaya Murphy is No. 5 in conference scoring with an average 16.4 points per game.

“USC’s a very deep, very aggressive team and rebounds very well,” Smith said. The Cardinal’s own rebounding has been a main focus in this week’s practices, as has defense. This follows a close victory against No. 15 Arizona State, during which the Sun Devils exploited easy baskets en route to a halftime lead.

“Our transition defense is going to be really key against both USC and UCLA — that we don’t give them the easy shots we gave Arizona State in the first half,” VanDerveer said. “We really have to get matched up quickly and turn it around. Both teams have excellent point guards and excellent back courts that score and really push the tempo.”

With the motivation and home-court advantage of the LA schools, the Cardinal will have to come out fierce from the start — something they haven’t done in recent games. Against California and ASU this month, Stanford started softly. The Sun Devils even held the lead until the last 10 minutes when the Cardinal rallied to an 84-78 victory.

“I think it’s always been a problem for Stanford,” Wiggins said. “Everyone always perceives us as the nice team, or the nice girls from Stanford that aren’t going to push them around ... I think it’s all about getting that mentality — you really just have to have that ‘I’m-going-to-push-you-back’ mentality, and I think we’re working all the time on it.”

In an effort to improve and hopefully bring out the squad’s aggression, VanDerveer brought in male players to this week’s practice.

“They’re a reminder that the game can be played quicker, that we need to be more aggressive, and that we need to box people out,” VanDerveer said.

Reentering the fold this weekend is sophomore guard Cissy Pierce, who served a two-game suspension for missing practice last week. VanDerveer confirmed she is ready to play.

“Cissy’s really working hard in practice, and she’s really pushing us and showing that she really wants to be a part of the team — it’s great to have her back and playing hard for us,” Wiggins said.

Pierce’s presence and the recent return of junior center Kristen Newlin prepare the Cardinal to mount a potent attack in LA this weekend.

“If we are the aggressor, it’s not going to be about them,” Wiggins said. “It’s going to be about what we do on our team.”