March 10, 2013

Pac-12 Tournament, Semi-finals

UCLA 70, California 58

The point differential doesn't begin to reflect the Bears' meltdown against the Bruins' total domination of this semifinal match.

As the teams were warming up, the Bears looked loose and ready for a good game. They were joking with each other, laughing and playing games with shooting practice.

An hour later, they faced a team that took control at the tipoff and never relinquished it. If the Bruins game plan was to shut off the Bears' offense, they executed it to near perfection.

The Bears shot 20% in the first half, missed all eleven of their shots from beyond the arc, and were behind by 21 points at the break.

Here are game reports:

The box score and play-by-play,

And a gallery of photos by Elaine Thompson (Associated Press).

Stanford 61, Colorado 47

14-point differential: Easy game? Roll over? Not by a long shot!

The Buffs fought hard and well. The score was tied ten times, the lead changed five times, and the point differential was never greater than four in the first 27 minutes of this game.

Then Chiney made a free throw, Mikaela scored a jumper — up by seven! – and the Cardinal increased their lead slowly but surely and dashed the Buffs' hope for the second turnover of the day.

Chiney got her double-double (25 points and 19 rebounds) plus an assist, three blocks and a steal.

But Amber gets my game ball today. She played the point for 36 minutes, always accompanied down the court by the persistent defense of one of the Wilson twins, and turned the ball over only once. She scored 13 points, an assist, two rebounds, two blocks and four steals. She was quick and effective on defense — forcing held balls and recovering loose ones.

Here are game reports:

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference video with Tara, Chiney and Mikaela,

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