Pac-12 Tournament, Quarterfinals

Anticipation

• Women’s basketball beats Arizona to advance in Pac-12 tournament by Annie Bardet (Daily Bruin)
• Cardinal begin Pac-12 tournament with talent to win despite No. 3 seed, by Ashley Westhem (The Stanford Daily)
• Why the Stanford women have fallen off their perch in Pac-12 hoops by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• McPhee’s time finally arrives for Stanford women’s team by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)

Preview: Day two of the 2015 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament

#2 Arizona State 67, #7 Washington State 48

There's a lively crowd in the Key Arena this morning — about 100 fans in the WSU section, 50 in the ASU section, two full sections of very excited kids, and the two big reserved sections are about half full.

Promise Amukamura swished a three to begin the action. From then, the scoring progressed slowly against stifling defense by both teams, with lots of turnovers and missed shots. The Cougars didn't score until eight minutes into the game. After ten minutes, the score was ASU 9, WSU 5.

Five minutes into the game, WSU's Lia Galdeira went down, clutching her knee, and left the court. But she returned four minutes later with the knee taped and played the rest of the game.

The Cougars kept drawing fouls, but couldn't make their free throws. With the score still in the teens, they missed eight of ten. At the break, the score was 19-16 in favor of the Sun Devils. Each team had made only 27% of its shots.

The battle continued after the break, but soon tilted in ASU's direction. The Cougars' shooting improved a bit – to 36% for the game – but the Sun Devil bigs (Brunner, Moos and Dornstader) kept getting past the Cougar defense and laying in basket after basket.

The Sun Devils had built up a 44-31 lead midway thru the half and went on to win 67-48.

Here are game reports:

• ASU's smothering defense halts WSU in Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, the Pac-12 game recap
• No. 9 Sun Devil WBB Advances to Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals, the ASU Athletics game recap
• Cougars Fall To No. 9 Arizona State In Quarterfinal Round, the WSU Athletics game recap

And the box score and play-by-play

#3 Stanford 67, #6 UCLA 62

The Cardinal were full of energy and enthusiasm this afternoon, and so were the Bruins.

The Bruins played a very different game from yesterday when they committed 20 fouls and gave their opponent 25 free throws. Today, they played with control as well as skill and had the Cardinal on the ropes right down to the last 20 seconds.

The Cardinal played a solid first half, highlighted by nine points and several tenacious rebounds by Erica McCall. Lili added nine points on a 3-pointer, two jumpers and two free throws. They were ahead by 11 points with 1½ minutes left in the first half. Then the Bruins went on a mini run and cut the lead to five, 33-28.

The Cardinal held on to the lead against repeated threats from the Bruins and again increased it to 12 points just before the 12-minute media timeout on a steal by Amber under the Bruin basket, followed by an Amber-to-Lili-to-Amber-to-Bri layup that brought the Cardinal bench and fans to their feet.

The Bruins then went on another mini run and tied the game at 56-56 with just under five minutes left to play. Amber took care of that with a 3-pointer, after which Kaylee sank a layup on an assist from Taylor. Then the Bruins threw the ball away and it was looking good for the Cardinal.

But the Cardinal failed to score on their next three possessions, the Bruins made two free throws, and the score was 61-58 with 1:45 left to play.

Kaylee was fouled and, as all Cardinal fans held their breath, sank two free throws. Then the Bruins struck twice, the score was 63-62 with 20.7 seconds left, and it got really exciting.

There was a big kerfuffle on the inbound. The teams retired to their benches as the referees reviewed the play at length , discussed it at length, reviewed it again, discussed it again, and gave the possession to Stanford!

Bonnie was fouled and made her both free throws. The Bruins missed a desperation 3-pointer. Lili grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made both her free throws. Stanford 67, UCLA 62!

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Stanford holds on to advance to Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals, the Pac-12 game recap
• Another Chance at ASU, the Stanford Athletics game recap
• Stanford Withstands Late Bruin Rally for 67-62 Victory, the UCLA Athletics game recap
• No. 19 Stanford women hold off UCLA for 67-62 victory, the Associated Press game recap
• Women’s basketball falls to Stanford 67-62 in Pac-12 tournament by Annie Bardet (The Daily Bruin)
• Orrange helps Stanford hold off UCLA for Pac-12 tourney win by Mike Vernon (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Bruins beaten, ASU awaits by Alexa Philippou (The Stanford Daily)
• Brittany McPhee scoring in bunches with more playing time at Stanford by Bob Sims (SeaTac News)

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference audio, with Tara, Amber and Lili,

A video interview of Tara, "We really made some big plays",

And the game highlights video,

#1 Oregon State 65 #9 Colorado 68

The Buffs got off to a hot start when Lexi Kresl scored 11 points in the first two minutes, including 3 threes. Colorado held a lead until the 2-minute mark when OSU tied the score, and the half ended with OSU ahead 33-30.

The Beavers worked their way back to tie the game at the 14-minute point, but they couldn't put the Buffs away. Colorado held and then took a slender lead and held it to the final seconds. The Beavers' patented 3-point attack failed this night, with several tries clanking off the rim. In the final minute the OSU defense broke down and twice allowed easy Colorado layups that sealed a major upset and left a large contingent of orange-clad fans very disappointed.

Here are game reports:

• Colorado topples top-seeded Oregon State in Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals, the Pac-12 game recap
• Beavers Drop to Buffs, the OSU Athletics game recap
• Buffs Stun No. 1 Seed Beavers, Advance To Semis, the Colorado Athletics game recap
• Colorado stuns No. 8 Oregon State 68-65 in Pac-12 quarters, the Associated Press game recap

And the box score and play-by-play

#4 Cal 69, #5 Washington 53

Cal's defense was overwhelming a very tired-looking Washington squad, although the Huskies were still hanging in there 23-32, when we left at the half — eight games in four days is just a bit too much.

The final score was Cal 69, Washington 53.

Here are game reports:

• California stifles Washington to advance to Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals, the Pac-12 game recap
• Cal Advances To Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals With 69-53 Win, the Cal Athletics game recap
• Cal Eliminates Huskies From Pac-12 Tournament, the Washington Athletics game recap

And the box score and play-by-play

Finis

The Semifinals tomorrow are:

#3 Stanford vs #2 ASU at 6:00 pm
#4 Cal vs #9 Colorado at 8:30 pm

Pac-12 Networks is offering free access to the semi-final game broadcasts plus halftime and postgame coverage on Pac-12.com and their Pac-12 Now app.

Before the Stanford game, 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.