Pac 12 quarterfinals 3/2

[nwhoopfan]

Anigwe fouls out about 30 seconds later.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tied at 69 w/ 2 minutes left, UCLA shooting FTs.

 

[nwhoopfan]

UCLA is missing FTs but getting second chance points. Now up 72-69.

 

[nwhoopfan]

74-69 UCLA w/ 37.5 sec left. Cal needing a miracle at this point.

 

[jonson]

Uhh....wow. They've had a good season. That's quite a stretch though. They've been relevant for about 5 minutes historically speaking. Stanford has been THE program out West for most of the last 25 years or so. Oregon St. has been vastly superior to Oregon in recent years, until this year. Oregon finished 1 1/2 games ahead of Stanford and 2 games ahead of UCLA and Oregon St. in the conference standings this year, so that's not even close to dominating the league.

I think the point was about style of play (offensively), not domination. But Oregon should be better next year, and quite strong the year after as well. The real test longevity-wise, imo, will come after that. Also, if I'm not mistaken, this is Oregon's third Pac1 10/12 WBB title, which ties them with OSU over the same period, with only Stanford having (a lot) more. They were actually a fairly strong program in the late 90s and into this century with two Pac 10 titles in a row (one shared in 1998-99 and one outright in 1999-2000). UO then fired the WBB coach (Jody Runge) due to player complaints about abusive behavior (sort of a forerunner of what seems much more common today) and there were two bad coaching appointments in a row--actually one bad appointment based on nostalgia (Bev Smith, who hold most of the WBB records at Oregon) and one disastrous appointment (have blocked out his name) based on the whim of an interim athletic director who only paid attention to football, men's basketball, and his bone-headed desire to restart baseball. Graves is a different story,

 

[nwhoopfan]

Okay, well when you compare someone to UConn, that implies a lot. To me you can't invoke that about a program that doesn't have a long history of dominance and doesn't play shut down defense routinely. Being a high scoring and efficient offense does not make them the UConn of the West. They are primed to be really good for the next 2 years. They'll miss Cazorla when she graduates. The real test will be after Ionescu and Hebard move on, can they maintain continuity after that? We will see.

 

[nwhoopfan]

77-74 UCLA final. Cal hits a 3 at the buzzer.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Stanford up 18-4 over USC nearing the end of Q1.

 

[nwhoopfan]

USC whittled away at the lead but Stanford just drilled a halfcourt buzzer beater. 21-9 after 1Q.

 

[nwhoopfan]

USC cannot shoot. 4-18. Stanford isn't capitalizing enough though, 25-14.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Maya Dodson looked like she had tons of potential at the beginning of the year. She just hasn't developed much so far. Kianna Williams really made strides this year by comparison.

28-16 Cardinal last media TO before halftime.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Trakh just gambled and lost. Simon was sitting for quite a while w/ 2 fouls. He brought her back in w/ about 2 1/2 minutes left. She almost immediately picked up foul #3. Good job coach.

 

[nwhoopfan]

USC plays ugly basketball, but they are hanging around 32-24.

 

[nwhoopfan]

34-24 at halftime.

 

[nwhoopfan]

USC got the lead to 7 or 8 several times, but Stanford always pushed it back to 11 or 12. Just got another buzzer beating 3 at the end of the quarter, up 52-39.

I really do not understand how USC plays more physical than anyone else in the Pac 12, fouls constantly, yet somehow gets so many breaks from the refs. It's mind boggling.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Refs trying awfully hard to make this close. About 5-0 in the foul department in the first 3 minutes of Q4.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Pac 12 reffing incompetence on full display again. USC can doing anything to Stanford players w/ no whistle, on the other end USC is going to the line every possession. This is utterly ridiculous.

 

[nwhoopfan]

USC had 3 straight possessions where they could've got the lead under 6, but they didn't take advantage. Stanford got an and-1, now drawing some fouls finally. 62-53 w/ 2:58 left.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Simon finally got foul #4. Two USC players were fouling a Stanford player for about 5 seconds before they finally blew the whistle. Now they are at the monitor reviewing and might hit Stanford w/ a T. If they would actually call the foul when it occurred there would be nothing to review. Incompetence.

 

[nwhoopfan]

This is so stupid. Simon was holding Kaylee Johnson's arm w/ both hands. Johnson was merely trying to get her arm free and Simon draws the unsporsmanlike against Johnson and fouls her out?! I hate refs, I don't like Simon much, I don't like the way USC plays. Games like this suck. The refs let it get out of hand w/ the physicality. Odd that often happens when USC is on the floor.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Simon fouls out. See ya.

 

[nwhoopfan]

69-59 Stanford final. I think I'm gonna set Pac 12 solidarity aside and not pull for USC to get into the Tourney. I just can't root for that team.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Arizona St. leading Oregon St. 26-21 at the half. I quit after the first quarter, ASU was up 12-7. OSU quickly grabbed the lead and led almost the entire 2nd quarter, but apparently gave up an 8-0 run in the last 2 minutes.

 

[triaddukefan]

I would watch... but after sitting and watching 4 games today.... im tired Attending conference tournaments are fun...... looks like the Pac 12 has a great location for theirs

 

[nwhoopfan]

Too nervous to watch the game, but tracking the box score. ASU went up 9 immediately to start Q3, then OSU battled back. The scoring really picked up. Teams traded buckets back and forth. 46-44 OSU after 3Q. Ekmark really got it going in Q3 for ASU, so did Goodman for OSU. Looks like ASU is absolutely determined to not let Gulich beat them this time, she only has 3 FGA. The guards are picking it up for the Beavers though. McWilliams has 14, Goodman 12 and Pivec 11. Ekmark has 14 and Ryan 10 for ASU. Both teams started knocking down 3's in the 3rd also.