Stanford FBC: Stories of the Season: Pac-12 Tournament; Quarterfinals

Anticipation

Stanford women enter Pac-12 tournament on a roll,by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
McCall is leading by example for Stanford women's hoops, by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
Huskies roll past Colorado on opening day of Pac-12 women’s tournament at KeyArena, by Adam Jude (Seattle Times)
State Press women's basketball roundtable: Pac-12 Tournament preview, Logan Newman and Ryan Clarke (Arizona State Press)
Cal women’s basketball advances to next round of Pac-12 Tournament with 66-63 win against Utah, by Kapil Kashyap (Daily Californian)
Beavers focused on Pac-12 tournament, by Steve Gress (Corvallis Gazette-Times)
USC beats WSU, faces OSU in second round, by Julia Poe (Daily Trojan)
Women’s basketball optimistic about position in Pac-12 tournament, by Reed MacDonald (Daily Bruin)
Arizona upsets Oregon in opening round of Pac-12 tournament, by Ryan Kelapire (Daily Wildcat)

ASU had beaten Cal in two prior meetings this season, so the result of this game was quite unexpected.

Cal took a slim lead in the first quarter and held it to the half, when they led 32-27. The story at that point was the extraordinary efficiency of the post players — at the half, Kristine Anigwe, Penina Davidson and Courtney Range were collectively 11-13.

Cal opened the game up in the third quarter and stayed ahead by more than ten points to the end.

In the end two factors stood out— ASU was 2-20 in three-point shots, while Cal ended with a jaw-dropping 69% field-goal percentage.

In the end, Anigwe had 24 points on 10-11 shooting (and 11 rebounds); Davidson had 17 points on 7-8 shooting; and Asha Thomas had 16 points on 6-7 shooting. That accuracy was more than enough to compensate for 26 turnovers and lots of fouls — both Anigwe and Davidson fouled out in the final minute, leaving Cal with just enough players to finish the game.

Here are game reports:

California stuns Arizona State 75-64 in quarterfinals, the Associated Press game recap
No. 10 Sun Devil WBB Upset by Cal in Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinal, the Arizona State Athletics game recap
No. 10 Cal Upsets No. 2 ASU In Pac-12 Quarters, the Cal Athletics game recap

The game highlights: Cal rolls past Arizona State into ... semifinals

And the box score and play-by-play.

#3 UCLA 72, #11 Arizona 51

Arizona had lost by wide margins to UCLA twice already, and this game followed that pattern.

UCLA simply outplayed the Wildcats at both ends of the floor, but particularly on the defensive end where they held Arizona players to near 20% shooting through most of the game. (Toward the end when UCLA had mostly subs on the floor, Arizona raised its percentage a bit.)

The UCLA lead passed 30 points in the third quarter before both sides basically reverted to "friendly scrimmage" mode for the last period.

UCLA was able to rest their starters and will be ready for Cal tomorrow. The two teams have played each other twice this season. Cal won the pre-conference game 108-104 in double overtime. UCLA won the conference game 75-56.

Here are game reports:

Billings leads No. 12 UCLA past Arizona, 72-51, the Associated Press game recap
UCLA Advances to Pac-12 Semifinals, the UCLA Athletics game recap
Cats Fall to Bruins in Pac-12 Tournament, the Arizona Athletics game recap

The game highlights: UCLA women blow past Arizona in Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals

And the box score and play-by-play.

#1 Oregon State 63, #8 USC 53

OSU had handled USC quite easily in two prior meetings. The first two minutes of this game looked like the beginning of a blowout: Jamie Weisner jumper; Ruth Hamblin layup; Weisner jumper; Hamblin layup — and Coach Cooper called a timeout. The timeout didn't help much, and the first quarter ended with OSU up 22-12.

In the second quarter the Trojans came to life. They began to score, and their defense became a serious impediment to the Beavers' free flow of scoring, to the point that OSU was held scoreless for several minutes. A 9-2 run by USC ended the half at 36-31.

In the second half USC came within three points a couple of times, and the game seemed like a constant struggle for OSU. But each time the Trojans got close, one of OSU's big three of Weisner, Wiese or Hamblin would come through.

Jamie Weisner especially seemed to be in exactly the right place at every critical moment, nabbing key rebounds, hitting crucial 3-point shots. She ended the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. That, with Hamblin's 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Sydney Wiese's 17 points, made the OSU victory possible.

Here are game reports:

Oregon State turns back USC in quarterfinals, the Associated Press game recap
Beavers top USC to advance to semis, the Oregon State Athletics game recap
USC Women Put Up A Fight But Fall To Top-Seeded Oregon State In Pac-12 Quarterfinals, the USC Athletics game recap

The game highlights: No. 7 Oregon State women's basketball tops USC for 13th-straight win

And the box score and play-by-play.

#4 Stanford 65, #5 Washington 73

Stanford started slowly, and that spelled doom. The score was tied seven minutes into the first quarter, then three quick three-pointers by Talia Walton, then Alexus Atchley, then Kelsey Plum put Stanford in a hole from which they essentially never climbed out.

Washington added to the lead in the second quarter and Stanford played catch-up the rest of the game, sometimes creeping up and then falling back again.

The Huskies played a 2-3 zone defense the entire game and the Cardinal couldn't do much with it, despite hitting 10 of 28 three-point attempts (four by Karlie, four by Lili, and two by Bird).

At the defensive end, Stanford couldn't contain Kelsey Plum, who scored 29 points in all, and became UW 's leading all-time scorer in the process; while Talia Walton and Katie Collier sometimes seemed unstoppable in the post.

In the final minutes the Cardinal closed the deficit to three points, but couldn't hold it there, and the game ran out.

Marta provided the Cardinal highlight of the game by setting the Pac-12 Tournament single-game record for assists with 13 (the previous record was 11 by Nikki Blue, UCLA vs Cal, in 2006).

Here are game reports: