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| Cameron defends against a UCLA player. (Chase Stevens/AP) |
The
Stanford women’s basketball team’s hopes for another Pac-12 tournament
championship were dashed with a 65-69 loss to UCLA on March 3 in Las Vegas.
Played
in front of 5,071 people, the game started well with Stanford leading by 9
points after the first quarter, 13 points at the half and 10 points after the
third quarter.
UCLA
immediately cut the lead in the fourth and edged ahead by a point with about
two minutes to go. Stanford kept trying to regain the lead, but couldn’t quite
make it. Several deliberate fouls in the closing seconds were made in hopes of
regaining possession, but the UCLA players made their free throws and kept Stanford
at bay.
It
was a bitter disappointment, especially since Stanford was the No. 1 seed in
the tournament and UCLA was No. 5. Moreover, this was Stanford’s second
straight game, UCLA’s third, including an overtime win in the first round.
Lower seeded teams advance
Even
more surprising were some of the other results with lower seeded teams
prevailing. Thus the championship game on March 5 found UCLA facing No. 7 seed
Washington State, which had upset No. 2 seed Utah and then No. 3 seed Colorado.
Against
UCLA, junior forward Cameron Brink posted a double-double to lead the team with
19 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Haley Jones also had a double-double
with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
No
other Cardinal scored double figures, but freshman guard Talana Lepolo had 8
points, as did senior forward Fran Belibi. Senior guard Hannah Jump, usually a
high scorer, had no points.
The
team had four 3’s: two from Talana and one each from junior guard Agnes
Emma-Nnopu and sophomore forward Brooke Demetre.
Conference honors five Stanford players
Although
the championship eluded Stanford, five Cardinal players earned Pac-12 season
honors.
Hannah
was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She follows in the footsteps of Lexie
Hull, ’22; Alanna Smith, ’19; Brittany McPhee, ’18; Chiney Ogwumike,’14; Kayla
Pedersen, ’11; and Jayne Appel, ’10.
Hannah
also was named to the All-Pac-12 Team, as were Cameron and Haley. In addition,
Cameron was named Defensive Player of the Year; and Talana and forward Lauren
Betts earned honorable mention on the All-Freshman Team.
| Talana, left, and Hannah celebrate a 3-pointer by Hannah. (David Becker/AP) |
Stanford begins tournament with win over Oregon
Making
its first appearance in the tournament, the team downed Oregon 76-65 on March 2
before a crowd of 4,245.
Oregon,
the tournament’s No. 9 seed, had earned the right to play No. 1 seed Stanford
by defeating No. 8 Washington the day before.
Stanford
opened the game on a 7-0 run before Oregon’s first score at the 6:30 mark. The
Cardinal held the lead for the rest of the game and outscored the Ducks in
every quarter except the fourth, when they had a 2-point advantage.
Three players in double figures
Even
though her playing time was limited by fouls, Cameron was in double figures
with 12 points by about halfway through the second quarter. She went on to lead
the team with 22 points plus11 rebounds, but – unusual for her – had no blocks.
Hannah
also was in double figures with 13 points, thanks to five-of-five free throws
and two of the team’s six 3’s.
Talana
made two 3’s on her way to 10 points, five assists, two steals and no turnovers.
Agnes
had two 3’s as part of her 8 points. Haley, with a team-high 13 rebounds, and
Fran, the Energizer bunny off the bench with 10 rebounds, had 8 points each.
Lauren, the only other Cardinal to score, had 7 points.
Stanford
dominated the stat sheet in almost every category, especially rebounds, with a
56-39 advantage.
With
its unexpected departure from the conference tournament, the team now awaits its
seeding for the NCAA tournament. Selections will be announced March 12 at 5
p.m. PDT on ESPN.
Assuming
a top four seed, Stanford will host the first two rounds March 17 and 19 or March
18 and 20.
The
last day of winter quarter classes is March 17. Spring quarter classes start
April 3.
