By JOE DAVIDSON, Sacramento Bee

Experience does pay. Even though these probable Hall of Famers -- all with at least 10 seasons in the NBA -- are closer to the ends than the beginnings of their careers, all should be factors as the season moves into the homestretch. Expect all seven to help their teams go deep into the playoffs.

-- SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, Boston Celtics

Rookie season: 1992-93

The thing about streaks is they tend to snowball. They start small, pick up steam and define programs, players, coaches.

The Connecticut women won their 90th consecutive game Tuesday night, beating Pacific, 85-42. U-Conn - as in U-Conn hardly believe how good they are - plays Thursday at Stanford, the last team to upend the Huskies.

BOISE, Idaho - In Chris Petersen's clutter-free office sits a nice-looking beige sofa tucked under a collection of replica NFL helmets. It looks pristine, hardly used. "I've thought about napping on it -- but only during the day," Petersen said with a frown. "I won't use it otherwise."

In the big scheme of things, Pacific-10 Conference football coaches haggle with this on-going inferiority perception. Goes something like: a cozy conference out west, where teams can score but don't defend, and yada, yada.

Heard that, defended it.