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:

• No. 13/14 UCLA Upsets No. 5 California, 70-58 from the Associated Press
• UCLA beats Cal to reach Pac-12 final by Michelle Smith (espnW)
• UCLA advances in Pac-12 women's tournament; USC done by Chris Foster (Los Angeles Times)
• The gang that couldn’t shoot straight by John Crumpacker (San Francisco Chronicle)
• UCLA runs all over No. 5 California in 70-58 victory by Jayda Evans (Seattle Times)

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:

• No. 4 Stanford rolls past No. 18 Colorado 61-47 from the Associated Press
• Pac-12 semi a tug-o-war by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Cardinal reaches another Pac-12 women's basketball final by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• CU Buffs come up short vs. Stanford in Pac-12 semifinals from the Daily Camera

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference video with Tara, Chiney and Mikaela,

Pac-12 Tournament, Round 2

Anticipation

• Cal, UCLA take the court on day two by Nate Parham (Swish Appeal)
• Cal women say goals still unfulfilled by John Crumpacker (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Ogwumike, Stanford look to defend Pac-12 title, earn No. 1 seed by Ashley Westhem (The Stanford Daily)
• UCLA has motivation to thrive in women's Pac-12 tournament by Gary Klein (Los Angeles Times)
• Women’s basketball to face Utah in Pac-12 quarterfinals by Kevin Bowman (Daily Bruin)
• Historic rally as UW women beat Oregon in Pac-12 tournament by Jayda Evans (Seattle Times)

California vs USC

Cal drained any drama out of this game early, opening with an 11-0 run and rolling on to an easy 78-59 victory.

It was a fast-paced sloppy game with lots of turnovers and fouls, the majority by the Trojans, who turned the ball over 16 times to the Bears' 14. The Trojans committed their 10th foul 12 minutes into the game, at which point they had scored eight points.

Both teams shot poorly, but the Bears grabbed rebounds and put them back. They scored 25 second-chance points on 22 O-boards and achieved a 36.8 shooting percentage.

Here are game reports:

• No. 5 Cal Runs Past USC, 78-59 by the Associated Press
• Cal women race past USC by John Crumpacker (San Francisco Chronicle)

And the box score and play-by-play

UCLA vs Utah

The Bruins and Utes fought a very tough defensive battle that seriously restricted access to the basket. The Bruin offense was a bit more successful. They hald a modest lead all through the first half to a score of 29-20.

Alyssia Brewer went to the locker room about halfway through the first half after suffering an apparently serious injury. She did not begin the second half, but re-entered the game three minutes later and played most of the rest of the game.

The game got more interesting in the second half as the offensive tide turned. The Ute shots began rolling into instead of out of the basket. Although the Bruins stepped up their defense, the Utes pulled up to a 35-35 tie at the ten-minute mark and kept it close for a few more minutes. Then they ran out of gas, and the Bruins won 54-43.

Here is a game report:

• No. 14 UCLA Rolls Past Utah, 54-43 by the Associated Press

And the box score and play-by-play

Stanford vs Washington State

The Cougars were, I'm sure, relieved to have June Daugherty back even though Mike Daugherty took her place as head coach while she mostly observed the game from behind the bench.

The Cougars played tough, but the Cardinal won 79-60 without too much trouble, thanks in large part to these notable contributions:

The first 20-20 double-double in Pac-12 tournament history from Chiney, who scored 23 points and grabbed 21 rebounds.

A career-best performance from beyond the arc by Sara, who sank five of eight three-pointers.

Three more three-pointers (of eight attempts) from Bonnie and two of two from Amber.

A career-best seven assists from Mikaela, to which she added eight points, six rebounds and just one turnover.

Here are game reports:

• Stanford Tops Washington State, 79-60 by the Associated Press
• Ogwumike keys Stanford in tourney opener by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Ogwumike has 20-20 vision in Stanford's win over Cougars from Palo Alto Online
• Daugherty returns but WSU women bow out by Chris Derrick (The Spokesman-Review)

And the box score and play-by-play

Colorado vs Washington

This game was well-described by a non-basketball-fan friend of mine who observed, "This is not fun to watch, because they're not very good at getting the ball in the basket."

The Huskies were tantalizingly close to an upset for most of the game, but they couldn't quite pull it off, and the Buffs finally won 70-59.

Here are game reports:

• No. 18 CU Buffs women defeat Washington 70-59 by Mark Moschetti (Associated Press)
• Jeffery Leads Buffs Into Pac-12 Semifinals by B.G. Brooks (CU Athletics)
• Cold-shooting Trumps Grit As UW Loses To CU by Greg Bell (UW Athletics)
• Huskies held down by Colorado in 70-59 loss by Jayda Evans (Seattle Times)

And the box score and play-by-play

Finis

The seeding held again today. The semi-finals tomorrow are:

UCLA vs California at 6:00 pm
Colorado vs Stanford at 8:30 pm

Pac-12 Tournament, Round 1

Here I am in Key Arena ready to tell you all about the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The arena is old, but comfortable. Only the lower bowl, which seats just under 10,000 is open. The tournament program is two 8½" x 11" sheets of paper – one with the bracket and the other with the 12 team rosters.

11:55 am

Five minutes before game time, the arena is sparsely occupied by two bands, two gaggles of cheer leaders and about 250 fans — mostly, judging by color, Cougars and Huskies, with a sprinkling of Cardinal

The USC band just performed a stirring rendition of the national anthem.

The players are entering, one by one, through clouds of theater smoke along a spotlighted path, introduced by an over-amplified woman announcer.

USC 64 - Oregon State 53

Tipoff won by USC. Here we go!

This was not an interesting game. Both teams were slow, tentative and inept. OSU showed a bit more hustle on offense, and USC was a bit tighter on defense, but neither played very well.

The action picked up somewhat in the second half as the Beavers' shooting improved. They beat the Trojans on shots made (20-13), 3-pointers (10 of 23 to 1 of 8) and shooting percentage (36.4 to 29.2), but they lost on total points.

It wasn't a particularly rough or aggressive game, but the refs were calling it very tight, and the Beavers were called for 27 fouls (three of them fouled out). The Trojans made 35 of 46 free throws! Yes, they scored 55% of their total points at the free throw line.

Here's a game report.

2:30 pm

The attendance has decreased. A lot of the OSU fans stayed on, but two large groups of kids have departed, and there aren't many fans from Arizona or Utah.

Utah 66 - Arizona 48

This was markedly different from the first game – both teams played with much more energy and skill.

Utah controlled the tip and held a comfortable lead all the way. This was not due to any lack of effort by Arizona. It was due to Utah's having more and better shooters than Arizona.

On most Utah possessions, Arizona applied an effective full-court press before settling into their consistent 2-3 zone defense. Utah countered with fast, crisp passes around the perimeter and good shooting. 55% of their scoring came from beyond the arc with 12 of 23 3-pointers by five players.

In contrast, just under half of Arizona's scoring came from Davellyn Whyte, who scored 23 points. No other Wildcat scored in double digits.

The Wildcats out-rebounded the Utes 30 - 26, but hurt themselves with frequent turnovers (14 - 5)

Here's a game report.

5:55 pm

The evening session is about to start. Attendance has increased to maybe 1,500. About a third are WSU fans, and almost all the others are rooting for the Cougars too.

Mike Daugherty is coaching the Cougars tonight. June had acute appendicitis and was scheduled to have an appendectomy tonight and be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.

Washington State 48 - Arizona State 41

The first half was fast-paced, but unproductive. Good defense combined with poor shooting (27% for ASU, 22 % for WSU) produced an 8-6 score after ten minutes and 18-13 at the break, with ASU in the lead.

The Cougars improved their shooting to 48% in the second half and won the game. Cougar freshman Lia Galdeira put on an impressive, although sometimes undisciplined, shooting clinic. She made two of the only three 3-pointers of the game and scored a total of 17 points.

Here's a game report.

8:25 pm

There are about two dozen Duck fans. Purple prevails, but the attendance hasn't increased much for the home team game.

Washington 69 - Oregon 62

The Ducks were ahead 26-8 after nine minutes of play. They were shooting very well — 64% in all, 75% from beyond the arc! The Huskies were turning the ball over a lot and missing most of their shots.

The Huskies managed to slow the pace down a bit after that, made smarter shots and chipped away at the Ducks' lead. The score was 39-28 at the break.

The Huskies got their first lead (53-52) with eight minutes left to play and hung on for an eventual victory.

Here's a game report

Finis

The seeding held today. Numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8 go on to the second round tomorrow:

#2 California vs USC at 12:00
#3 UCLA vs Utah at 2:30
#1 Stanford vs Washington State at 6:00
#4 Colorado vs Washington at 8:30

Remember that the games are being televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

See FBC FanPix for a few photos from inside and outside day 1 of the tournament.

Chiney Ogwumike for National Player of the Year

Pac-12 Tournament Preview

Here are a few stories about the Pac-12 Tournament, which kicks off tomorrow:

• Cal or Stanford? Rivals expected to decide season series in Pac-12 finals by Sue Favor (Full Court)


• Stanford heads to Pac-12 tournament shorthanded by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)


• Husky women hoping for turnaround at Pac-12 tournament by Jayda Evans (Seattle Times)


• Pac-12 hopes move to Seattle will boost tournament by Brian Howell (Daily Camera)


• Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament Story Lines by Sarah Kezele (Pac-12 )

Pac-12 honors for Chiney, Jos, Amber, Tara

In a vote of the league's 12 head coaches, Chiney was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Year and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. She is the first player to sweep the Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Jos and Amber joined Chiney on the All-Pac-12 Team.

Tara was voted the John R. Wooden Coach of the Year for the third-straight year and the 13th time in her career.

More information here:
    Pac-12 announcement
    Stanford Athletics announcement

Pac-12 Media Awards

A panel of Pac-12 women’s basketball media members, both local and national, who cover the league voted the awards listed below. This is the fourth year of the Pac-12 media awards. They are in addition to the Conference awards voted on by the league coaches, which will be announced on Wednesday.

Player of the Year: Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford

Defensive Players of the Year: Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford

Freshman of the Year: Jillian Alleyne, Oregon

Coach of the Year: Lindsay Gottlieb, California

All-Pac-12
Brittany Boyd, California
Gennifer Brandon, California
Alyssia Brewer, UCLA
Michelle Plouffe, UTAH;
Layshia Clarendon, California
Jazmine Davis, Washington
Lia Galdeira, Washington
Cassie Harberts, USC
Chucky Jeffery, Colorado
Kristi Kingma, Washington
Atonye Nyingifa, UCLA
Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford
Joslyn Tinkle, Stanford
Markel Walker, UCLA
Davellyn Whyte, Arizona

All-Defensive Team
(six members because of a tie for the fifth spot)
Brittany Boyd, California
Lia Galdeira, Washington
Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford
Eliza Pierre, California
Joslyn Tinkle, Stanford
Markel Walker, UCLA

All-Freshman Team
Jillian Alleyne, Oregon
Lia Galdeira, Washington
Arielle Roberson, Colorado
Talia Walton, Washington
Jamie Weisner, Oregon State

The complete announcement

Chiney makes her mark on court & in class

By Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle):

Imagine a college professor calling a student-athlete "a force for good."

Imagine that athlete embracing her course work as eagerly as she pursues a rebound. Another faculty member, who happens to be a former U.S. secretary of state, describes her as "much more directed and focused than I was at her age."

On a Stanford campus stocked with bright, engaging, talented people - from pianists to figure skaters to engineers - Chiney Ogwumike stands out for reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that she may be the best college basketball player in the land ...

Click here for the article and more photos.

Cardinal prevails in the Palouse

The Cardinal and the Cougs got off to a shaky start. They missed their first six shots before Carly Noyes found the basket. The Cardinal responded in typical Cardinal fashion in the next 1½ minutes — a layup by Chiney, then another one, then a steal by Mikaela and an assist to Jos, who sank a three-pointer — for a 7-2 Cardinal lead.

The Cougs played hard all the way, but the Cardinal never relinquished the lead and won 72-50.

Chiney set the Stanford single season record for rebounds today, as she grabbed 13 of them. She now has 381 for the season – five more than the record Nneka set in 2009-10. She also scored 28 points, an assist, two blocks and two steals.

The Cardinal practiced their three-point shooting again today. They launched 24 of them and made six – a couple of percentage points better than Thursday night. Bonnie and Sara each made two; Jos and Amber each made one; Taylor and Jasmine tried but didn't connect.

Jos was the only other Cardinal who scored in double digits. She had a total of 13 points and also tallied two assists, three rebounds and two blocks.

Mikaela played her favorite kind of game today as she tallied ten rebounds, three assists and two steals. She tried only two shots and missed both, but scored seven points on ... free throws! Her free throw percentage over the last seven games is 64% – a very nice improvement over her previous 35%.

Amber focussed on distributing the ball today. She dished out five assists with just one turnover. She took only a few shots and made only the three-pointer.

Sara's efforts mostly don't show up on the stat sheet. They did today — nine points, six rebounds and a block. You can always count on Sara for dogged defense. She spent a good deal of time on the floor today in scrums for possession of the ball.

In the only other Pac-12 action today, the Cal Bears kept their focus and whupped the Huskies 78-50. So Cal and Stanford finish the season as Pac-12 co-champions.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Ogwumike Leads No. 4 Stanford Past Washington State, 78-50 by Tim Booth (Associated Press)
• Women’s basketball clinches Pac-12 title by Tom Taylor (The Stanford Daily)
• Making history in Beasley by Wally Mersereau, FBC traveller
• Chiney Ogwumike breaks sister’s record by Ashley Atwell (Pac-12)

The box score and play-by-play,

And photos by Dean Hare (Associated Press):

Chiney blocks Carly Noyes' shot

Amber & Chiney hassle a Cougar

Chiney grabs one of her five O-boards

Mikaela grabs one of her ten rebounds

Possession to Mikaela

Mikaela & Sara steal a rebound

Jos keeps control

Erica on defense

Amber becoming good as gold

Wally Mersereau,consummate FBC traveller, has been watching Amber and observes that:

She is quietly getting better and better.

For the season, in her 30 minutes per game, she's making 47% of her shots, including 38.5% from beyond the arc. At the free throw line she's 79.2%. She's averaging 10.5 points per game, leads the team in steals with 47 and has 125 assists to 75 turnovers.

Most recently, in the last three games, her field goal shooting has been 7 of 9, 6 of 10 and 5 of 9 for a total of 18 of 28 – better than 60%. Many of these have been key shots. And they represent some of the most diversified scoring of any Stanford player.

Her ball handling is getting nifty too. In the last five games she's had 26 assists to 9 turnovers, almost a 3:1 ratio.

She's listening to the coaches, getting guidance in running the offense and passing it on to her teammates.

This is Amber's sophomore year. She's going to continue to get better and better.

Amber, the substance, is a gold-colored material. Amber, the player, is becoming good as gold.