Pac-10 Women's Basketball Championship Report: Stanford vs. California

By Kecia Bailey: SPM CA Writer
Posted Tuesday, March 11, 2008

SAN JOSE, Calif. – From the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, the cover letter and resume were neatly typed and emailed to the selection committee for the women’s NCAA basketball tournament. The four-day conference tournament was the audition the Stanford Cardinal wanted to showcase why they should be a #1 seed in the upcoming tournament. Stanford put the finishing touches on a dominating weekend Monday night by beating its cross-bay rival California Golden Bears in a convincing 56-35 fashion to take the school’s second straight conference tournament title; its fifth in seven years.

But Stanford was not the only team hoping to audition for the next stage. Cal also had its sights on making the case to the NCAA tournament selection committee that they were deserving of a #2 seed having fought their way through tough weekend games against Oregon and Arizona State. After losing the first two rounds of “The Battle of the Bay,” Cal was hoping to reverse its fortune and make its own statement as the two teams met for the third time this season.

"The thing about Candice is the bigger the game, the better she plays."

The Cardinal had methodically come out after the opening tip and played aggressively offensively and defensively. Similar to its quarterfinal and semi-final games, Stanford again raced off to a hot start -- Monday night’s championship game was no different.

The Cardinal got on the board first, behind a three-point shot from sophomore guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, then a 3-pointer by senior guard Candice Wiggins and a mid-range jumper from freshman forward Kayla Pedersen. Conversely, Cal missed its first six shots from the floor. By the time Devanei Hampton sank Cal’s first shot with 15:52 to go, her team was down 8-2.

Following up a self-described tough shooting day on Sunday, going 6-21 and 0-6 from the perimeter against UCLA, Wiggins atoned in Monday’s tournament finale.

“The thing about Candice is the bigger the game, the better she plays,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said.

And play big she did.

With Stanford up 11-6, the three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year Wiggins checked back into the game with 10:35 remaining in the first half and went on her own personal 13-0 run to extend the lead to 24-6. Wiggins would finish the half with 19 points and Stanford with a 36-15 lead. Their halftime lead in the championship game was nearly identical to the leads they took into the half against Oregon State on Saturday (34-18) and UCLA on Sunday (34-16).

Cal tried to get in a rhythm by establishing junior forward Devanei Hampton in the paint, the Golden Bears pounded the ball inside to give Hampton an opportunity to work -- but Stanford sent double- and triple-teams at her all night. VanDerveer said afterwards that part of their game plan was to keep Hampton and junior forward Ashley Walker from getting hot.

Sophomore center Jayne Appel said, “We just never left Devanei alone … constantly -- we always had two people coming, or on the way or there already.” Pedersen drew the defensive assignment on Walker and added, ”I take pride in my defense and really wanted to stop Ashley Walker and help out Jayne with Devanei.”

The combination of Stanford’s defense and not getting shots to fall left Hampton with a frustrating 1-12 for three points; Walker was scoreless at the half.

Hampton said of the double- and triple-teams, “It was expected. I’m not going to stop shooting. My team needs me to shoot; some went in some didn’t.”

Overall the Golden Bears shot a frigid 19 percent from the floor going 6-31 in the first half.

The two teams battled each other in the second half to a 20-20 tie, an outcome more befitting a battle between the two top teams in the conference.

Junior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson said Cal took more of an opportunity to be aggressive in the second half. “We decided, 'Hey, we can make shots,' and became a little bit more aggressive.” However it resembled more of a moral victory since the 21-point deficit from the first half still remained. The final horn sounded to end the Pac-10 season and the Cardinal bench broke out in celebration.

After the game Cal struggled to explain their first-half offensive shortcomings. “I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do to put us in position to score, and it just didn’t happen,” head coach Joanne Boyle said. “Nothing fell for us.”

In a fitting send-off for the conference’s career scoring leader, Wiggins, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, leading all scorers in her Pac-10 finale with 30 points. Pedersen joined Wiggins in double-figures with 13 and Appel had a game high 14 rebounds.

Cal was led by Gray-Lawson and freshman forward Kelsey Adrian, each of whom finished with six points.

Both teams will take a much needed respite and wait for the call from the NCAA tournament selection committee. Stanford’s Maples Pavilion is a host site for first- and second-round games, and it what seemingly sounds like an awkward wish from a coach of a bitter rival, Cal hopes to spend a weekend in Palo Alto too.

“Obviously we’d love to be here just for the fan support,” Boyle said.

Stanford hopes to host games as a #1 seed. “We’ve done a lot this year that we haven’t done in years past to deserve a number one seed … but obviously that’s my own biased opinion, “ Wiggins said.

Tournament Wrap-Up Notes:

Jayne Appel, who on Saturday broke a tournament record for field goal percentage, broke another record for blocked shots, swatting twelve in Stanford’s three games.

Cal’s Devanei Hampton set a tournament record for field goal attempts with 57 over three games.

Pac-10 All Tournament Team:

Jayne Appel - Sophomore C Stanford

Devanei Hampton - Junior C/F Cal

Taylor Lilley - Sophomore G Oregon

Kayla Pedersen - Freshman F Stanford

Dymond Simon - Sophomore G Arizona State

Most Outstanding Player:

Candice Wiggins - Senior G Stanford

(Tying former Cardinal and current Sacramento Monarch Nicole Powell for a record third tournament Most Outstanding Player award)