Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals roundup: Defense, breakout Buffs and top performers
Sun Devil defense shuts down Washington State
#2 Arizona State 67, #7 Washington State 48
Arizona State (26-4, 15-3) put away Washington State (17-13, 7-11) in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament Friday afternoon, 67-48. The nationally ranked Sun Devils stifled Washington State with excellent defense.
“Arizona State is as tenacious as advertised,” said WSU head coach June Daugherty. “They get after you defensively for all 40. They just go to a whole different level once their defense is going.”
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, yet the Sun Devils eked out a 19-16 halftime lead after shooting 27.6 percent from the floor compared to Washington State’s 27.3 percent.
It was a different story in the second half for ASU and they improved their field goal percentage to 70.8 percent while the Cougars only improved to 42.9 percent.
The Sun Devils held prolific junior guard Lia Galdeira in check. She averages 19.4 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per contest. ASU senior guard Promise Amukamara’s defense stifled Galdeira’s production and the Cougar sensation finished with just 12 points and four rebounds.
“The plan was to have Promise shut her down,” said ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne. “Promise just does an amazing job of making them work for every touch, making them work for anything and everything they do.”
ASU takes on #3 Stanford Saturday in the first game of the tournament semifinals.
Top performers
Arizona State
- Sophie Brunner 14 points, 5 rebounds
- Quinn Dornstauder 12 points, 6 rebounds
- Promise Amukamara 11 points, 3 assists
- Kelsey Moos 8 points, 7 rebounds
- Peace Amukamara 5 points, 6 rebounds
Washington State
- Tia Presley 16 points, 3 rebounds, 7 steals
- Lia Galdeira 12 points, 4 rebounds
Stanford survives a feisty UCLA
#3 Stanford 67, #6 UCLA 62
Stanford (22-9, 13-5) survived an upset-minded UCLA 67-62 after an exciting second half battle. The Cardinal’s experience showed as the Bruins’ youngsters could not complete an inbounds play in the last seconds of the game to upend the No. 3 seed.
UCLA (13-18, 8-10) redshirt freshman forward Paulina Hersler had an opportunity to tie it up but her attempted three-pointer fell short and Stanford sophomore guard Lili Thompson rebounded the ball and connected on free throws on the other end of the court to seal the victory for her team.
“We were trying to get three looks at the three-point shot,” said UCLA head coach Close . “(Nirra Fields) coming off all the way to the three, (Kari Korver) coming off the stagger and then Hersler off the last screen on a flair. That was the goal. That didn’t happen.”
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer praised the leadership of her team in coming out on top.
“I think the leadership that (Amber Orrange and Lili Thompson) showed out there was one of the main reasons why we won.”
Stanford’s next opponent will be a tough nut to crack for the Cardinal. Arizona State swept the regular season series between the two teams.
Top Performers
Stanford
- Amber Orrange 18 points, 3 rebounds
- Lili Thompson 14 points, 6 rebounds
- Erica McCall 10 points, 8 rebounds
- Kaylee Johnson 8 points, 7 rebounds
UCLA
- Jordin Canada 15 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists
- Kari Korver 12 points, 5 rebounds
- Kacy Swain 10 points, 11 rebounds
Colorado stuns AP No. 8 Oregon State
#9 Colorado 68, #1 Oregon State 65
In the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Colorado (15-16, 6-12) came out locked, loaded and possessed to stun Oregon State (26-4, 16-2) in the second round. From the opening tip to the last second, the Buffs were focused and never backed down even when faced with a deficit by a few points.
“It definitely helps to start strong, but we were really focused coming into the game,” said leading scorer, senior guard Lexy Kresl. “We just came out with a lot of intensity, and that just came from being confident and knowing that we could win this game.”
Oregon State, known as an excellent three-point shooting team, had a horrible night from the three-point line shooting 6-of-31 (19.4 percent).
We wanted to take away (Jamie) Weisner and (Sydney) Wiese’s threes,” said head coach Linda Lappe about keeping OSU from making treys. “We thought that was a huge key for us, not letting them get open shots. Felt like they got a few too many attempts in the first half. We wanted to do a better job with them in the second half. And then I felt like a lot of their other players also had open threes that you kind of bank on them not knocking down.”
The victory snaps a 17-game losing streak against ranked teams for Colorado. They face #4 seed Cal Saturday night in only their second-ever appearance in the tournament semifinal.
“We’re playing our best basketball and we have for a few weeks now,” said Lappe. “I’m just really, really happy for our entire team and our university. It’s all about surviving and we survived. Now we get to move forward.”
Top Performers
Colorado
- Lexy Kresl 19 points 4 assists
- Jamee Swan 18 points, 13 rebounds
- Jen Reese 13 points
Oregon State
- Ruth Hamblin 14 points, 8 rebounds
- Deven Hunter 10 points, 9 rebounds
- Jamie Weisner 11 points, 4 rebounds
- Sydney Wiese 11 points, 3 rebounds
- Ali Gibson 10 points, 4 rebounds
Cal steps up defensive effort to defeat Washington
#4 Cal 69, #5 Washington 53
Cal (22-8, 13-5) raised the bar to soundly defeat Washington (23-9, 11-7) in the last game of the second day of the tournament. The Bears did “a great job on the defensive end” said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb about her team’s win. She also praised the leadership of her seniors, starting point guard Brittany Boyd and center Reshanda Gray.
“Really, really can’t say enough about these two. They’re just winners and leaders. I thought Boyd set the tone tonight, and Reshanda’s such a beast in the paint. We’re just going to take this one, enjoy it for five seconds and work on the next one.”
Washington head coach Mike Neighbors chimed in as well on the performance of Boyd and the overall effort of the Bears.
“I thought Cal was really good tonight. I thought they were playing great basketball for the right time of the year. Boyd really had them focused. I think they really executed it. Took us out of what we wanted to do a little bit.”
The Bears face Colorado next, a team they defeated 75-59 on January 5 in Berkeley.
Top Performers
Cal
- Brittany Boyd 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists
- Mercedes Jefflo 16 points
- Reshanda Gray 13 points, 9 rebounds
- Courtney Range 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assits
Washington
- Jazmine Davis 21 points, 4 assists
- Kelsey Plum 15 points, 3 rebounds
