Next up: the Pac-10 championship

Bay Area sports columnists write about tonight's championship game between Stanford and Cal:

• Stanford has date with Cal by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• Stanford, Cal to meet in Pac-10 women's final by Jon Wilner (Mercury News)
  
  
• Women enjoy time in spotlight by Cam Inman (Contra Costa Times)
  
  
• It's No. 1 vs. No. 2 for the Pac-10 tourney crown by John Reid (Palo Alto Daily News)
  
  
• It's Stanford-Cal in Pac-10 women's hoop finals by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
  
  

Pac-10 Tournament, Semifinal

Some of the nicest things about today's game:

• The Cardinal beat the Bruins by 35 points!
• Jillian played for five minutes, and took up right where she left off eight games ago -- four points, a rebound, an assist, a block and two steals!
• Although Candice had an "off day" with just 13 points, the 21 field goals she attempted set a new Stanford career record of 831, exceeding the previous record of 828 set by Jeanne Ruark Hoff (1978-83)!
• Candice's "off day" included seven rebounds and six steals!
• JJ glided through the opposition like the proverbial hot knife through butter. She had six assists again (with just one turnover) and scored 12 points, including two of five 3-ptrs!
• All of our starters got to rest at least 13 minutes, but Cal had a really tough down-to-the-buzzer game against Arizona State. Their five starters played an average of 34.8 minutes.

Here is more:

• A report of the Stanford/UCLA game by Jon Wilner (Mercury News)
  
  
• Another report of the Stanford/UCLA game with many quotes from the post-game interviews by Sue Bair (The Bootleg)
  
  
• A report of the Cal/ASU game by Ted Lee (Bear Insider)
  
  
• Photos from Stanford Photo
  
  
• The AP game recap and the box score from Stanford Athletics
  
  

Pac-10 Tournament, Quarterfinal

Kayla and Jayne carried much of the load in the Cardinal's first game of the Pac-10 Tournament against Oregon State. It wasn't a huge load - although the Beavers played hard all the way, they really weren't a match for the Cardinal.

Kayla scored the game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds. Jayne scored 19 points. hitting 100% of her eight field goals, ten rebounds and four blocks.

Their efforts and the 67 minutes contributed by the bench gave the starters a chance to rest up in preparation for the next two games.

Pac-10 women's tourney a small draw by Mark Purdy (Mercury News)

Smooth Start to the Pac-10 Tournament by Sue Bair (The Bootleg)

Stanford cruises on inside track by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)

Stanford women win 16th in a row by Mark Emmons (Mercury News)

The AP game recap and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

Tournament Expectations

Dick Rockne, in his Pac-10 column, predicts that the Tournament will be a coronation for the Cardinal. They have the players ... the momentum ... and the heritage.



But everyone's in this to win. Here are predictions from the San Francisco Chronicle and articles about each team's expectations:

• Stanford: Comes in with a 15-game win streak and probably will end up as a No. 2 NCAA seed, no matter what.
  The Stanford Daily: Candice and her teammates are looking forward to the last stretch of the season.
  Palo Alto Daily: Stanford knows Cal and Arizona State would love another shot to knock the Cardinal from its perch.
• Cal: Can solidify a No. 3 seed with a strong showing; could be a No. 2 if it wins title.
  Mercury News: Cal is playing for recognition. For national impact. And for the future of its program.
• Arizona State: Certain to make the NCAAs, but could improve its seeding.
  Web Devil: The Sun Devils are viewing this weekend as their one last chance to impress the NCAA Selection Committee before the brackets are revealed on March 17.
• USC: Leading scorer and rebounder Nadia Parker is out for the season, and nothing less than a title will get Women of Troy into the NCAAs.
  Daily Trojan: Mark Trakh said about UCLA's possible "out-to-get-us" motive. "We don't care what they're out for. We're out there to win the game."
• UCLA: Young and unpredictable, the Bruins could come up big if they are unpredictably good.
  Daily Bruin: "We get beat (by USC) twice, and now we’re playing them in the first round. If anyone isn’t excited about that, they shouldn’t be in a UCLA uniform,” Olivier said.
• Washington: Stayed off the Friday night schedule by beating Cal and capable of the unexpected.
  Seattle P-I: What the Huskies must do to win the first quarterfinal game of the tournament is effectively handle ASU's pressure defense.
• Oregon: Looking to wind up on a good note, which would mean one win and a second-round game against Cal.
  The Register-Guard: If the Ducks want to play later in the weekend, they’d do well to forget that the possibility even exists.
• Oregon State: Have lost 9 of 10. Should be a short stay.
  Corvallis Gazette-Times: “It (playing Stanford in the quarter-finals) would be a great opportunity to play the best, which I’m excited about,” LaVonda Wagner said.
• Arizona: Could make it to Day 2. Joan Bonvicini's job could depend on it.
  Tucson Citizen: Will the Arizona women's basketball team follow its familiar pattern (losing to Stanford in the second round) in the Pac-10 Tournament?
• Washington State: Only team never to have won a Pac-10 tournament game. That run will probably continue.

Pac-10 Honors

Tara Vanderveer, Coach of the Year


Candice Wiggins, Player of the Year


Kayla Pedersen, Freshman of the Year


Briann January, Defensive Player of the Year

All Pac-10 First Team
Jayne Appel
Devanei Hampton
Lindsey Pluimer
Ashley Walker
Candice Wiggins

The complete announcement

Jillian Report

Jillian is anxious to play, and we're all eager to see her back on the court. She is doing all she can to prepare for her return, which may happen this weekend, as reported by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)

The Pac-10 Tournament

A hoop junkie's dream: Nine games in four days!

You will be there, won't you? It's not too late to get tickets. The Stanford section has been sold out for a long time, but you can still buy tickets from Ticketmaster.

Or you can try to buy tickets from one of the schools whose section is adjacent to Stanford's. Stanford has sections 128, 101 and 102. Arizona (ticket office: 560-621-2287 or 800-452-2287) has section 127 and Washington (ticket office: 206-543-2200) has section 103.

If nine basketball games isn't enough for you, you can also attend some special events sponsored by the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI):

• Ladies Night Out
• Dads and Daughters Day
• Dream Weavers - Extraordinary Women in Non-Traditional Careers

The semifinal and championship games on Sunday and Monday will be televised by Fox Sports. The games on Friday and Saturday will be video-streamed. (Don't Click to play yet; it may hang up your browser.)

A big day for the Cardinal

Yesterday was a big day for the Cardinal and their fans:

• Candice broke Lisa Leslie's Pac-10 career scoring record.
  
  Tara spoke for all of us, “That's a tremendous accomplishment and it could not happen to a better person, a better basketball player, a better leader.” (Read more ... )
  
  
• The Cardinal clinched the Pac-10 season title.
  
  Stanford outplayed Washington State in every possible way: they shot effectively, rebounded well and held the Cougar offense in check throughout the game. (Read more ... )
  
  
• Cal's loss to Washington gave us sole possession of the title.
  
  The hallmark of Cal's impressive run through the Pac-10 this season has been the Bears' ability to stay steady and composed. With the exception of two losses to Stanford, they had been unflinching in their ability to finish, even on days when they didn't bring their best to the floor.But on Sunday in Seattle, the Bears finally flinched and it cost them a share of the conference title they wanted so desperately. (Read more ... )
  
  
• Cy-Fair won the University Interscholastic League 5A State Championship
  
  Big finish for Ogwumike: If you think I'm exaggerating, you haven't seen Nneka Ogwumike play. She's 6-2. She's also quick, smart and instinctive. On both ends of the floor. She's headed for Stanford, and you haven't heard the last of her. (Read more ... )

Among the 675 people in attendance at Pullman was a photographer for the Associated Press.

The title passes

"Most Career Points in Pac-10 Women's Basketball"

Lisa Leslie has held the title for 14 years, but now it belongs to Candice.

An article published before this weekend's games anticipated the event:

Candice Wiggins has looked up to Lisa Leslie ever since she was a kid, watching her hero star in the Olympics and help build the WNBA. By the end of this weekend, Wiggins could be looking down at Leslie on the Pac-10 career scoring list. (More ... )

Here are the first accounts of Candice's achievement:

• Wiggins Becomes Pac-10 Scoring Leader in Win Against WSU from Associated Press
• Wiggins gets scoring record, Stanford a title by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)

That title? It's ours alone! The Washingon Huskies beat the Cal Bears a few minutes ago.

Oh yes, the game, here is the box score and play=by-play.

JJ solves rebounding problem

Stanford catches fire after halftime by Tim Booth (Associated Press)

JJ came up with a quick way to silence coach Tara's halftime speech about Stanford's lack of rebounding: Don't miss.

Stanford routs UW women by Dick Rockne (Seattle P-I)

Two games for the price of one, but just one result.

Huskies women fall to Cardinal by Terry Wood (Seattle Times)

It was nice while it lasted for the Huskies ... reality set in during the second half.