PAC-10 Women's Basketball Semi-Finals Report

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

California's Devanei Hampton shoots over Arizona State's Sybil Dosty. Photo by George Young.

Game 1: California Has a Devil of a Time But Advances To First Conference Championship Game

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The #2 California Golden Bears and #3 Arizona State Sun Devils met for the right to advance to Monday night’s championship game in the 2008 Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament at HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Golden Bears held off the Sun Devils with a 65-61 win in the first semifinal.

Both teams boast great post tandems and inside games. In Sunday’s contest however, Cal’s duo of juniors Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker had the early advantage over their counterparts from Arizona State, junior forwards Sybil Dosty and Lauren Lacey.

Dosty and Lacey were contained for much of the game as Cal’s defense made it difficult for them to get touches and make comfortable shots. At the half, the Sun Devil posts had been held to two points on 1-7 shooting, and three rebounds. Cal’s duo of Hampton and Walker combined for 11 points and 15 rebounds in the half.

Cal struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 29 percent to Arizona State’s 48 percent. Arizona State still finished the half at a 34-33 advantage behind a strong shooting day and Cal’s struggles from both the floor and the free-throw line. The Golden Bears outrebounded the Sun Devils by 13, which aided in their 12-0 advantage in second change points.

Cal found its offense and opened the second half with an 8-0 run to race out to a 41-34 lead. They would eventually build a 16-point lead with 5:23 remaining in the game.

Arizona State made a late charge behind the torrid shooting of sophomore guard Dymond Simon. Simon scored 12 points in the game’s final five minutes to get her team to within three with 19 seconds left. Cal would hold defensively and close the game out 65-61.

Simon led all scorers with 22 points. Arizona State’s junior guard Briann January (15 points) and senior guard Jill Noe (11 points) also scored in double figures.

Hampton pulled down a game-high and season-high 16 rebounds and notched a double-double, adding 19 points. Walker also completed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Natasha Vital added 14 points.

Cal advances to the championship game of the conference tournament for the first time in school history.

Game 2: Stanford Romps Over UCLA And Into Championship Game

UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier summed up the irony, saying, “What a difference a day makes.”

Less than 24 hours after her #5 Bruins upset their cross-town rival USC by 21 points, they were on the wrong end of a lopsided meeting in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament. Stanford won the game 78-45 to advance to the title game.

Senior guard Candice Wiggins struggled offensively much of the game, missing her first eight shots in the first half and finishing with 6-for-21 shooting. If a team could ever do without offense from a three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, the Cardinal proved other players around Wiggins are very capable of picking up the scoring load. Stanford got 10 points apiece in the first half from sophomore guard JJ Hones and sophomore center Jayne Appel to take a 34-16 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the Cardinal set a tone from the outset by attacking aggressively on offensive and applying defensive pressure to control UCLA's attack.

Stanford went on a 21-4 run after intermission to put UCLA in a hole and the Cardinal never looked back. The lead grew to 42 points with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.

As was the case in their quarterfinal game, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer made the decision to rest her starters and let her reserves finish the game with an eye to her team having an opportunity to play its third game in as many days. Every Cardinal player scored in the game.

Despite shooting 6-for-21 in the game, Wiggins remained a strong force defensively, notching a game-high six steals and corralled seven rebounds to help stifle the Bruin offense. The aggressive Cardinal defense forced 23 Bruin turnovers and logged 15 steals.

The game also marked the return of Stanford’s junior guard Jillian Harmon who had missed the Cardinal’s previous seven games with a stress reaction in her foot. Harmon played five minutes and finished with four points, one rebound, one assist and two steals.

Jayne Appel led all scorers with 14 points. Hones finished with 12 points, Wiggins with 13 and freshman forward Jeanette Pohlen had 10 to round out the rest of the Cardinal double-digit scorers.

UCLA was led by senior forward Lindsey Pluimer's nine points.

With the win, defending tournament champion Stanford advances to the championship game for the seventh time in as many years and will look to win its fifth tournament crown. The game will be televised on Monday, March 10 at 7:30pm by Fox Sports Net.

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