PAC-10 Women's Basketball Quarter-Final Report

By Kecia Bailey: SPM CA Writer
Posted Sunday, March 9, 2008

Game One: Arizona State Withstands Washington Charge in Quarterfinal

SAN JOSE, CA - #3 Arizona State Sun Devils and #6 Washington Huskies squared off in the first quarterfinal of the 2008 Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Sun Devils defeated the Huskies 83-64.

Arizona State was able to establish their inside game early, getting eight points a piece in the first half by junior forwards Sybil Dosty and Lauren Lacey, fueling a 23-7 run that allowed the Sun Devils to close the half with a 43-22 lead. The Sun Devils’ defensive pressure forced Washington into 12 first-half turnovers and held the Huskies leading scorers, freshman guard Katelan Redmon and sophomore guard Sami Whitcomb to a combined eight points at the half.

Arizona State extended its lead to 22 points early in the second half. Despite losing senior point guard Emily Florence to foul trouble, Washington made late surges to twice cut Arizona State’s lead to nine points with under six minutes left in the game, getting 12 second half points from Redmon and 10 from sophomore forward Laura McLellan. The Huskies would not get any closer as Arizona State's senior guard Reagan Pariseau hit two clutch 3-pointers each time to hold them at bay.

With a balanced scoring attack, Arizona State saw five players finish in double figures: Dosty (with a game-high 17), junior guard Briann January (13), Lacey (12), Pariseau (12), and senior guard Jill Noe (10).

Washington was led by freshman forward Katelan Redmon’s 15. Laura McLellan added 14 and Sami Whitcomb 11.

Arizona State advances to face #2 seed California Golden Bears in the tournament’s first semi-final on Sunday, March 9 at noon PDT. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Net.

Game Two: California Survives Swarming Duck Attack

In the second quarterfinal game of the 2008 Pac-10 Women’s Basketball tournament, the #2 seed California Golden Bears met the #8 seed Oregon Ducks. Cal held on to defeat the Ducks 67-60.

California, behind a strong first half by junior forward Devanei Hampton, wrestled early control over the game, going on an 18-2 run over nearly a 9 minute span at the outset. After a basket by freshman forward Nicole Canepa, Oregon answered Cal’s opening run with a 15-1 run of its own to cut the deficit to 5. Cal would close the quarter outscoring Oregon 12-7 to take a 5 point lead into the half. Hampton scored 11 of Cal’s 31 first half points on 5-8 shooting.

Cal used its inside dominance to build on its lead in the second half as the Golden Bears continued to pound the ball inside to Hampton and junior forward Ashley Walker. Oregon, however, continued to relentlessly whittle down Cal’s lead behind hot shooting from sophomore guard Taylor Lilley. The Ducks twice got to within 3 points late in the second half. Lilley’s 5 straight points with less than 30 seconds remaining gave the Ducks a final chance. But Cal’s junior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson closed out the game going 4-4 from the free throw line to preserve the win.

Oregon’s Lilley tied her season high with 24 points to lead all scorers, and freshman forward Nicole Canepa notched a double-double finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Cal had four players score in double figures, Walker and Hampton with 15 points apiece and Gray-Lawson and sophomore guard Natasha Vital each chipped in 14 points.

Cal will face 3rd seeded Arizona State in the tournament’s first semi-final on Sunday March 9th at 12pm PDT, the game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

Game 3: Stanford Cruises to Semi-Finals Over Oregon State

#1 seeded Stanford Cardinal met the #8 seed Oregon State Beavers in the third quarterfinal of the 2008 Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Cardinal advanced to the semifinals with a 64-41 victory.

Oregon State’s senior guard Ashley Allen scored the game’s first points after the opening tip but Stanford’s senior guard and Pac-10 Player of the Year Candice Wiggins quickly followed up with a layup and it was all Cardinal the rest of the way. Stanford closed the half with a 34-18 lead behind the scoring of Wiggins (8), freshman forward Kayla Pedersen (12), sophomore center Jayne Appel (11) and sophomore guard J.J. Hones (3).

After her team built a comfortable second half cushion, Stanford coach VanDerveer was able to give her starting lineup a rest in anticipation of the quick turnaround for their semi-final game on Sunday. Despite the short night, the three Cardinal starters finished the night scoring in double digits. Pedersen had a game high 22 points and Wiggins added 11. Jayne Appel finished with a double-double scoring 19 points and by pulling down a game high 10 rebounds. Appel broke a Pac-10 tournament record for field goal percentage shooting a perfect 8-8 from the floor in the game.

Oregon State was led by junior guard Brittney Davis’ 18 points.

Stanford will face 5th seeded UCLA in the tournament’s second semi-final on Sunday March 9th at 2:30pm PDT, the game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

Game 4: Bruins Upset Women of Troy to Advance to Semi-Final

#4 seeded USC Women of Troy faced the #5 seeded UCLA Bruins in a cross town rivalry renewed in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Proving that the third time is the charm, the Bruins pulled off the first upset of the tournament by defeating USC 73-52 in the nightcap.

The Women of Troy came into the tournament without their leading scorer and rebounder Nadia Parker, who was lost for the season last weekend in a game against Arizona.

UCLA’s defensive effort proved effective at the outset, forcing USC into 13 first half turnovers and a tournament record tying 29 for the game. UCLA would score 31 points off the turnovers. Behind defense and hot shooting, the Bruins went into the locker room with a 35-24 lead.

USC came out of the break on fire, scoring the first 6 points after halftime to cut the Bruins’ lead to 35-30. That was a close as the Women of Troy would get as UCLA was able maintain their lead and coast to a 73-52 final score behind 63% shooting in the second half.

The Bruins were led by freshman guard Darxia Morris’ game high 19 points. Freshman guard Doreena Campbell (13) and senior forward Lindsey Pluimer (11) also finished in double figures.

Junior guard Camille LeNoir scored 13 points to lead the Women of Troy.

UCLA will face #1 seeded Stanford in the tournament’s second semi-final on Sunday March 9th at 2:30pm PDT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.