Pac-12 Tournament, Round 2

Anticipation

• Stanford women open defense of Pac-12 tourney title by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Cal women’s basketball enters Pac-12 tournament as No. 2 seed, faces WSU by Taylor Brink (The Daily Californian)
• Card heads into Pac-12 Tournament as No. 1 seed by Ashley Westhem (The Stanford Daily)

If the Cardinal wins today, there will be a chalk talk at 3:30 and a sendoff with the band at 3:45 at the team hotel (the Westin Seattle) and a no-host gathering at 4:00 at the Tap House Grill. Click here for a map of both locations and the Key Arena.

#1 Stanford vs #9 Colorado

The Cardinal couldn't cope with the Buff's aggressive defense in the first half. Chiney was stifled, and no-one else managed to step up.

The Cardinal made just one 3-pointer and missed most of its free throws. Chiney ended the half with five points and two fouls.

The Cardinal defense lost Brittany Wilson several times and she sank three treys. The Cardinal was out-scored 23-21 and out-rebounded 25-20.

The sun came out after the break. Chiney sank a trey! Then Lili stepped up BIG with a spectacular drive to the basket, a 3-pointer, a fall-back jumper and the ensuing free throw ‐ eleven points in a couple of minutes.

The Cardinal upped its defensive fierce factor. Alex and Lili attached themselves to the Wilson twins. Mikaela grabbed a bunch of rebounds.

Bonnie sank three treys, all the Cardinal remembered how to shoot free throws, and we won 69-54.

Here are game reports:

• Stanford pulls away from CU in second half, the Pac-12 game recap
• Second-Half Surge Sinks Colorado , the Stanford Athletics game recap
• Cardinal’s Second-Half Surge Sends Buffs Home , the Colorado Athletics game recap
• No. 4 Stanford outlasts Colorado in Pac-12 tourney by Ryan Thorburn (Daily Camera)
• Chiney Ogwumike helps Stanford rally past Colorado by Adam Jude (Seattle Times)
• After slow start, Cardinal crush CU in quarterfinals 69-54 by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)

And the box score and play-by-play

#4 Arizona State vs #5 USC

Amy, Kate and Tempie are scouting the Cardinal's next opponent.

The Trojans and the Sun Devils were pretty well matched.

The Devils held a slight lead through most of the first half, but the Trojans closed in for a 23-23 tie at the break.

The Trojans tightened their defense and shot better (or perhaps, luckier) in the second half. They took the lead and slowly, but steadily, increased it to six points.

The game got exciting in the last five minutes as the Devils increased the tempo and began to close the gap. With two minutes left to play, they tied it up at 57-57 on a 3-pointer by Katie Hempen. The Trojans scored again, then Hempen launched another trey that spun in and out of the basket. In the final minute, the Devils had three possessions and couldn't score; the Trojans had two 1-1 opportunities and couldn't hit either.

So the Trojans won 59-57, and get to play the Cardinal tomorrow in the first semifinal.

Here are game reports:

• Trojans survive Sun Devils to 'Fight on' to semis, the Pac-12 game recap
• Sun Devil WBB Upset by USC in Pac-12 Tournament , the ASU Athletics game recap
• USC Women Stay The Course To Pac-12 Semifinals, the USC Athletics game recap

And the box score and play-by-play

#2 California vs #7 Washington State

The Bears are so good and so strong and so rough, and the refs were "lettin' 'em play". A victory for the Bears seemed a foregone conclusion.

But the Cougars kept bringing the ball down, making their plays, finding the basket — not with showy threes or dazzling drives to the basket — but with little jumpers and layups — plop, plop, plop.

All of a sudden, there were eight minutes left to play and the Cougars were ahead by 15. Reshanda Gray went to the bench for a while with four fouls. At 5:48 to go, Brittany Boyd fouled out and the Cougar fans (we included) went wild.

In the last minute, the Cougars made enough of their free throws to offset a couple of Cal baskets and won 91-83.

A glorious upset for June Daugherty and her Cougs!

Here are game reports:

• Galdeira, Presley lift Washington State over Cal, the Pac-12 game recap
• Bears Fall to No. 7 Seed Washington State in Pac-12 Tournament, the Cal Athletics game recap
• Cougars Knock Off No. 20 Cal, Advance To Semifinals, the WSU Athletics game recap

And the box score and play-by-play

#3 Oregon State vs #11 Utah

After upsetting Washington last night, the Utes had only half a game left in them. Unfortunately that was not the first half of their game against a fresh Oregon State team, when they shot only 12% and scored only 13 points, the lowest first-half score in tournament history.

In the second half they matched the Beaver's pace but couldn't close the gap. The Beavers can't take too much pride in the win because even a tired Ute defense held them to a slow 50 points, for a final score of 50-35.

Here are game reports:

• Oregon State races past Utah to semifinals, the Pac-12 game recap
• Utah Women's Basketball Falls to Oregon State in Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals, the Utah Athletics game recap
• Beavs Coast By Utes And Into Semis, the OSU Athletics game recap

And the box score and play-by-play

Finis

This is Wally Mersereau's report: Another long day

Here are some photos by Dave Cortesi.

Two more upsets — the semifinals tomorrow are:

#1 Stanford vs #5 USC at 6:00 pm
#3 Oregon State vs #7 Washington State at 8:30 pm