second day of the Pacific Life PAC-12 Women’s Tournament at USC’s Galen Center.
coach Tara VanDerveer. “We took care of the ball and we had a lot of different people contribute, I Thought this was a very good game.”
first of their only two leads of the game on her three-pointer 10 seconds into the contest. Rodgers hit a layup with 18:10 left in the half to give the Huskies a 5-4 lead, but it was all Cardinal after that.
the second half, the Cardinal began an 18-5 run over the next seven minutes. Although the Huskies outscored the Cardinal 18-11 in the final seven minutes of
the game, they couldn’t overcome the momentum the Ogwumike sisters had generated in the second half.
a lot of tough shots and they were also really efficient on the offensive end.”
points and Toni Kokenis added eight key points in the first half.
stands at 78 consecutive victories in the PAC-12 stretching back to January 22, 2009.
Sun Devils Knock Off Wildcats in PAC-12 Tourney Tussle
By Tony Solorzano
Los Angeles – The third meeting between the Arizona schools ended the same way as the first two, as the Arizona State Sun Devils knocked off the Arizona Wildcats 68-57 to advance to the Semi-finals of the Pacific Life Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament Thursday afternoon at USC’s Galen Center.
The Sun Devils used a team approach as the 10 Sun Devils who played all scored and dominated the first half, going on a 15-3 run midway through the half to put their lead as much as 17 points with five minutes left.
“March Madness is really, really maddening,” joked Sun Devil Head Coach Joseph Anders. “To come out and play as well as we did in the first 20 minutes, knowing that it is March and every team is going to make a run, they got going a little bit more than we wanted them to in the second half, but at that particular point our team’s toughness as well as the fact that Arizona did play yesterday and we did not, we were the fresher ball club. We were able to sustain the things we needed to sustain and finish the ball game.”
Early in the second half, the Wildcats began to claw their way back into the game, sparked by six points from Candice Warthen, and four points by Daveilyn Whyte, making the score 43-37 with 11:33 left in the game. However, the Sun Devils would answer with an 11-1 run over the next four minutes to put the game out of reach and move on to the semis.
“I want to give a lot of credit to Arizona State and the job they did,” said Arizona Head Coach Niya Butts after the contest. “They came out and they played like they wanted to win the game and did what they needed to do to get the job done.”
Kimberly Brandon led the Sun Devils with 15 points, including five free throws. Kali Bennett added 10 points and four blocked shots. Whyte led all scorers with 17 points in the loss, while Candice Warthen added 11 and Reiko Thomas contributed 10 points in the second half.
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Golden Bears Bounce Buffs from PAC-12 Tourney
By Tony Solorzano
Los Angeles – Cal’s Talia Caldwell fell one rebound short of a double-double as the Golden Bears advanced to the semifinals of the Pacific Life PAC-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 68-59 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes Thursday afternoon at USC’s Galen Center.
The win put Cal into the semifinals for the sixth consecutive year, second only to Stanford’s 10-year streak. Cal Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb was especially grateful for the victory considering the month.
“I am really happy to get the win, there is nothing like wins in March,” Gottlieb said after the game. “We had three very tough wins against them (Colorado) this year and we are fortunate to come out with three wins.”
The Golden Bears never trailed in the game and started the contest with a 10-0 run. They held the upstart Buffaloes scoreless until Chucky Jeffery put the Buffs on the board with 16:20 left in the first half, sparking a brief 7-1 run over the following three minutes, cutting the lead to 11-7. However, the Golden Bears responded with a 16-4 run over the next eight minutes. The Buffs then closed out the half on a 16-8 run, thanks in part to three three-pointers at the end of the half to head into halftime with a 35-27 deficit.
In the second half, the Buffs came out and got the first four points in the half to cut the lead to four, with 18:27 left in the game. They would not get any closer for the remainder of the game. The Golden Bears began to slowly pull away, getting the lead up to as many as 11 but the Buffaloes stayed just within striking distance, getting key free throws to close the gap, but the Golden Bears would answer with points of their own, eventually wearing down the Buffaloes and prevailing with the victory.
“I liked our effort, I liked out fight and the fact that we didn’t quit at any point in the game,” said Colorado head coach Linda Lappe. “There was a point in the first half where we could have stopped playing and it could have been a blowout, we took enough pride in who we were and what we were doing and the fact that we were on the floor. We kept fighting and I give credit to our players.”
Junior guard Layshia Clarendon led the Golden Bears in scoring with 12 points, while Talia Caldwell and Lindsay Sherbert each added 11 points. Reshanda Gray contributed 10 in the win. Wilson led all scorers with 18 points in the loss, including her 11 in the first half. Chucky Jeffery added 16 points, the only Buffaloes in double figures.
The Golden Bears will face the Washington State Cougars Friday afternoon in the Second semifinal of the Women’s bracket, which now moves to the STAPLES Center for the rest of the tournament.
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