PAC 12 WBB News

[visitingcock]

I don’t often buy into the allegations of bias or favoritism in WBB, but I do have to say that some of the West Coast players seem to be (rather inexplicably) left out of the conversation for major awards.

I’m not saying that I’d cast my vote for Cameron Brink as NPOY, but her numbers are terrific and she’s made an incredible sophomore leap. If we’re going to talk about the best player on good teams (Boston, Clark**, N. Smith), than I’m not sure why anyone would leave Stanford out of that conversation. It’s true that it’s a deep and talented team without a clear-cut star, but it seems like there’s some well-deserved recognition getting lost between time zones.

For what it’s worth, I’d also include Haley Jones (despite poor FG% this year she’s still incredibly impactful to team success), Te-Hina Paopao, and Cate Reese in this group of players we aren’t hearing enough about this year.

**Not sure I would label Iowa as a good team, but you know what I mean.

She tends to disappear in Big games:

Date	Opponent	PTS	MIN	FGM-FGA	3PM-3PA	FTM-FTA	REB	AST	BLK	STL	TO	PF
11/11/21	Morgan St.	10	17	4-6	0-0	2-3	5	0	3	1	0	0
11/14/21	Texas	7	21	2-3	0-1	3-6	5	0	3	1	2	2
11/16/21	Portland	21	20	7-10	0-0	7-11	1	1	1	2	2	4
11/21/21	Gonzaga	12	19	6-8	0-0	0-2	6	0	0	0	2	4
11/25/21	Indiana	21	33	10-24	0-1	1-6	22	5	5	0	5	2
11/26/21	South Fla.	23	35	10-17	0-1	3-8	11	2	4	0	3	4
11/27/21	Maryland	8	9	3-3	0-0	2-2	4	0	1	0	0	1
12/12/21	Pacific	25	23	12-16	0-0	1-3	11	3	4	0	1	1
12/15/21	UC Davis	11	22	5-12	0-0	1-4	10	0	1	1	1	3
12/18/21	Tennessee	4	8	1-3	0-0	2-2	2	0	0	0	1	5
12/21/21	South Carolina	3	17	1-7	0-0	1-1	4	2	2	1	1	3
01/07/22	Oregon	5	27	2-5	0-0	1-3	6	2	5	3	2	4
01/09/22	Gonzaga	14	24	5-11	0-0	4-4	16	1	5	0	2	1
01/14/22	Colorado	10	24	4-10	0-1	2-2	7	2	2	0	1	1
01/16/22	Utah	24	25	9-12	0-0	6-9	11	1	1	0	1	4
01/21/22	California	12	15	4-8	0-0	4-5	5	1	0	1	2	3
01/28/22	Arizona St.	11	16	4-6	0-1	3-3	7	1	1	0	0	3
01/30/22	Arizona	25	32	10-12	1-1	4-5	15	2	3	2	2	3
02/03/22	UCLA	17	23	7-10	1-2	2-4	8	1	2	1	1	3
02/06/22	Southern California	26	27	10-18	1-5	5-8	14	3	3	1	2	2
02/09/22	Oregon St.	12	18	4-6	0-0	4-4	2	3	1	0	1	3
02/11/22	Utah	10	22	5-7	0-1	0-2	7	0	6	2	3	3
02/13/22	Colorado	11	28	4-10	0-0	3-4	11	0	1	0	2	4

 

[TheFarmFan]

Well Brink carried us on her back in matchups against top ten teams Indiana and Arizona, so I'd say it depends on the opponent. She was not much of a factor on our SEC swing through Tenn and South Carolina, but (a) that was a while ago and (b) both she and Key were pretty absurdly fouled out of the game, so they kind of negated each other.

 

[azfan]

Az St Wash St is at Wash St otherwise that would be a fairly good chance of a win. I’d still favor Az St in Pullman but the Huskies have a great home record this year

The Cougs do have a really solid home record in conference only losing to the top three at home. That's going to be I think the toughest game on the road trip for sure and maybe the toughest game remaining on the schedule for the Sun d
Devils. The Bruins will be tough but given their lack of availability of a bench as well as having the game in Tempe make it a little more winnable.

So assuming the Sun Devils don't look past the Bears on Wednesday that Friday game is going to be critical for both teams.

 

[azfan]

This Week in WSU Women's Hoops: bracket bubbles, critical games and Senior Day

Great article on the Cougars. Some of the takeaways:

• The Cougars are 9-2 at home this season and have won 11 of their last 13 games at Beasley Coliseum dating back to last season.
• The Cougars will close the regular season on the road at Stanford (Feb. 24) and Cal (Feb. 26). The Pac-12 Tournament runs from March 2-6 in Las Vegas.
• The Leger-Walkers rank first and second in the Pac-12 in minutes played. Charlisse is averaging 36 per outing and Krystal 35.56.
• Ula Motgua has the highest 3-point-shooting percentage in the league at 47.8 percent.

ASU is one of just three teams WSU coach Kamie Ethridge hasn't beaten since coming to WSU in 2018. ASU holds an 11-game win streak against the Cougars. There's a likelihood the streak ends on Friday although I have my fingers crossed that CTT comes up with an approach to neutralize the sisters.

 

[Plebe]

I'm somewhat amazed that the Pac-12 has only 3 teams who are locks for the NCAA tournament. After that there's a veritable morass of 6 teams on or near the bubble.

Oregon definitely "took one [or two] for the team" by losing to Arizona State and Oregon State, possibly moving the Devils and the Ducks to the top of the bubble pile. ASU, in particular, vaulted from highly unlikely to make the tournament to possible/probable with its wins over Oregon and Arizona (and came dangerously close to completing the Territorial Cup sweep in Tucson).

After ASU and OSU, there are 4 bubble teams whose best wins have come against ... other bubble teams.

Creme has Utah as an 8 seed, but other than an inexplicably high NET ranking in the low 20s, I see scant resume support for a seeding that high. Their best wins are over fellow Pac-12 bubble teams Colorado, ASU and WSU.

Colorado, after earning notoriety as the last undefeated team in D-1 thanks to a soft and home-heavy nonconference schedule, has similarly done nothing special except beat fellow-bubblers Utah, Marquette and UCLA.

Washington State has wins over bubble teams Gonzaga, Colorado, Oregon State and UCLA.

Even UCLA, which has looked fairly train-wreckish for most of the season, has appeared among Creme's first teams out, despite having only one win over a bubble team (Washington State) ... and that's pretty much it.

There's a strong likelihood that one or two of these teams will get in as a direct result of the expansion from 64 to 68 teams. (The four teams that would've been the "first four out" will now be the "last four in".)

 

[cancontent]

I'm somewhat amazed that the Pac-12 has only 3 teams who are locks for the NCAA tournament. After that there's a veritable morass of 6 teams on or near the bubble.

Oregon definitely "took one [or two] for the team" by losing to Arizona State and Oregon State, possibly moving the Devils and the Ducks to the top of the bubble pile. ASU, in particular, vaulted from highly unlikely to make the tournament to possible/probable with its wins over Oregon and Arizona (and came dangerously close to completing the Territorial Cup sweep in Tucson).

After ASU and OSU, there are 4 bubble teams whose best wins have come against ... other bubble teams.

Creme has Utah as an 8 seed, but other than an inexplicably high NET ranking in the low 20s, I see scant resume support for a seeding that high. Their best wins are over fellow Pac-12 bubble teams Colorado, ASU and WSU.

Colorado, after earning notoriety as the last undefeated team in D-1 thanks to a soft and home-heavy nonconference schedule, has similarly done nothing special except beat fellow-bubblers Utah, Marquette and UCLA.

Washington State has wins over bubble teams Gonzaga, Colorado, Oregon State and UCLA.

Even UCLA, which has looked fairly train-wreckish for most of the season, has appeared among Creme's first teams out, despite having only one win over a bubble team (Washington State) ... and that's pretty much it.

There's a strong likelihood that one or two of these teams will get in thanks to the expansion from 64 to 68 teams.

This is like the second year in a row where their season has been a struggle. Hoping their luck will change soon, especially with respect the injuries they've had to endure.

 

[Lorcan]

I’m surprised that ASU-Cal today was cancelled. No reason provided.

 

[Plebe]

I’m surprised that ASU-Cal today was cancelled. No reason provided.

I'm seeing that Cal is instead playing Cal State Los Angeles (a D-II school) today. This would suggest it was some issue on ASU's end. Weird that they're giving no reason.

 

[Basket]

You mean Cougars?

Nope I think Az is more active and playing better ball right now. I pull for the Cougs but in their recent wins they’ve played down to the competition. Cougs don’t look impressive but glad to see them at least win ugly

 

[azfan]

I'm seeing that Cal is instead playing Cal State Los Angeles (a D-II school) today. This would suggest it was some issue on ASU's end. Weird that they're giving no reason.

In the post game show after the second U of A game CTT reiterated the challenge of playing four straight road games nine days which I believe is only happened a handful of times. I'm wondering if while it might have been a mutual consent thing it was prompted by ASU.

 

[azfan]

Nope I think Az is more active and playing better ball right now. I pull for the Cougs but in their recent wins they’ve played down to the competition. Cougs don’t look impressive but glad to see them at least win ugly

Fingers crossed that they lose ugly this Friday against the Sun Devils.

 

[PAC-12HoopFan]

I'm somewhat amazed that the Pac-12 has only 3 teams who are locks for the NCAA tournament. After that there's a veritable morass of 6 teams on or near the bubble.

Oregon definitely "took one [or two] for the team" by losing to Arizona State and Oregon State, possibly moving the Devils and the Ducks to the top of the bubble pile. ASU, in particular, vaulted from highly unlikely to make the tournament to possible/probable with its wins over Oregon and Arizona (and came dangerously close to completing the Territorial Cup sweep in Tucson).

Plebe,

Please tell me that you didn't refer to the Oregon State squad as the Ducks above? Those are fighting words in and around the Willamette Valley.

 

[LoTrader]

I'm somewhat amazed that the Pac-12 has only 3 teams who are locks for the NCAA tournament. After that there's a veritable morass of 6 teams on or near the bubble.

Oregon definitely "took one [or two] for the team" by losing to Arizona State and Oregon State, possibly moving the Devils and the Ducks to the top of the bubble pile. ASU, in particular, vaulted from highly unlikely to make the tournament to possible/probable with its wins over Oregon and Arizona (and came dangerously close to completing the Territorial Cup sweep in Tucson).

After ASU and OSU, there are 4 bubble teams whose best wins have come against ... other bubble teams.

Creme has Utah as an 8 seed, but other than an inexplicably high NET ranking in the low 20s, I see scant resume support for a seeding that high. Their best wins are over fellow Pac-12 bubble teams Colorado, ASU and WSU.

Colorado, after earning notoriety as the last undefeated team in D-1 thanks to a soft and home-heavy nonconference schedule, has similarly done nothing special except beat fellow-bubblers Utah, Marquette and UCLA.

Washington State has wins over bubble teams Gonzaga, Colorado, Oregon State and UCLA.

Even UCLA, which has looked fairly train-wreckish for most of the season, has appeared among Creme's first teams out, despite having only one win over a bubble team (Washington State) ... and that's pretty much it.

There's a strong likelihood that one or two of these teams will get in as a direct result of the expansion from 64 to 68 teams. (The four teams that would've been the "first four out" will now be the "last four in".)

I'll give my 2 cents on Oregon State after this weekend. I'll be at both the Stanford and Cal games. OSU made a very important change in their lineup vs UO last weekend, playing 6' Emily Codding at PG. This took Talia vO from PG responsibilities and has freed her up to score/rebound/defend at a very high level. OSU looked so much more fluid on offense as a result. We'll see how it all works out this weekend.

 

[DefenseBB]

This Week in WSU Women's Hoops: bracket bubbles, critical games and Senior Day

Great article on the Cougars. Some of the takeaways:

• The Cougars are 9-2 at home this season and have won 11 of their last 13 games at Beasley Coliseum dating back to last season.
• The Cougars will close the regular season on the road at Stanford (Feb. 24) and Cal (Feb. 26). The Pac-12 Tournament runs from March 2-6 in Las Vegas.
• The Leger-Walkers rank first and second in the Pac-12 in minutes played. Charlisse is averaging 36 per outing and Krystal 35.56.
• Ula Motgua has the highest 3-point-shooting percentage in the league at 47.8 percent.

ASU is one of just three teams WSU coach Kamie Ethridge hasn't beaten since coming to WSU in 2018. ASU holds an 11-game win streak against the Cougars. There's a likelihood the streak ends on Friday although I have my fingers crossed that CTT comes up with an approach to neutralize the sisters.

I was down on ASU for much of the season but CTT has them playing much better and I have them as favorites this weekend over both Wash schools. I simply am not sold on WSU at all and will watch both their games this weekend to see if I can muster any support for the Cougs (doubt it). I am slowly coming around on ASU and Utah. My guess is Stanford is a lock for Reg and Tourny titles, AZ and UO will battle for 2nd and both host opening rounds. Utah is in, ASU is a bubble team as is OSU others are outside looking in. Too many injuries or a soft schedule doom the remaining lot.

 

[Plebe]

Plebe,

Please tell me that you didn't refer to the Oregon State squad as the Ducks above? Those are fighting words in and around the Willamette Valley.

LOL. Ducks, beavers, walruses ... all those water-oriented mascots all get jumbled in my head. Didn't have my coffee in me this morning!

My apologies.

 

[jchusky]

Pac 12 will be the best conference in wbb next season, Arz, Stanford, and Oregon aren't going anywhere. We wil see the dominance of Ucla with their starstudded recruiting class with Kiki Rice dominating. I expect Usc to also be a much better team.

 

[HuskyMJ]

Pac 12 will be the best conference in wbb next season, Arz, Stanford, and Oregon aren't going anywhere. We wil see the dominance of Ucla with their starstudded recruiting class with Kiki Rice dominating. I expect Usc to also be a much better team.

When was the last time UCLA dominated the Pac 12? Where are the recent banners? We've seen freshmen #1 class at UCLA before so that's the difference between the people who know to wait and see and others who just think the #1 ranking means they are headed for the promise land.

 

[Figurehead]

I'll give my 2 cents on Oregon State after this weekend. I'll be at both the Stanford and Cal games. OSU made a very important change in their lineup vs UO last weekend, playing 6' Emily Codding at PG. This took Talia vO from PG responsibilities and has freed her up to score/rebound/defend at a very high level. OSU looked so much more fluid on offense as a result. We'll see how it all works out this weekend.

okay

 

[mudcat]

Pac 12 will be the best conference in wbb next season, Arz, Stanford, and Oregon aren't going anywhere. We wil see the dominance of Ucla with their starstudded recruiting class with Kiki Rice dominating. I expect Usc to also be a much better team.

ESPN has the Pac-12 with four of the top 5 recruiting classes for 2022. It will be interesting seeing how that affects the rankings in 2023-24.

 

[Figurehead]

Sounds like there is some chicken ( stuff) dealings that have been going on in the pac-12 this year in womens basketball. Now another team had just made that list. I would hand out the forfeit out .

Graves was careful to comment on it and it thankfully it does not effect Oregon. See 6:50 mark in video below.

WATCH: Kelly Graves pleased with team's effort in 'really good win' over UCLA

WATCH: Kelly Graves pleased with team's effort in "really good win" over UCLA

247sports.com

 

[Figurehead]

I was down on ASU for much of the season but CTT has them playing much better and I have them as favorites this weekend over both Wash schools. I simply am not sold on WSU at all and will watch both their games this weekend to see if I can muster any support for the Cougs (doubt it). I am slowly coming around on ASU and Utah. My guess is Stanford is a lock for Reg and Tourny titles, AZ and UO will battle for 2nd and both host opening rounds. Utah is in, ASU is a bubble team as is OSU others are outside looking in. Too many injuries or a soft schedule doom the remaining lot.

They were just slapped with a forfeit from the Pac-12 office. ASU and Coach CTT

 

[dabears17]

They were just slapped with a forfeit from the Pac-12 office. ASU and Coach CTT

Link to statement from Pac-12

Pac-12 statement on Arizona State at California women's basketball game

SAN FRANCISCO – Arizona State women's basketball did not travel to Berkeley for its game at California on Wednesday, Feb. 16 and the game was subsequently canceled. The game is a forfeit for Arizona State in the Conference standings and a league win for California. Per NCAA policy, there will be...

pac-12.com

 

[jonson]

In the post game show after the second U of A game CTT reiterated the challenge of playing four straight road games nine days which I believe is only happened a handful of times. I'm wondering if while it might have been a mutual consent thing it was prompted by ASU.

This month, Oregon has played away games on Feb. 4, 6, 9, 11, (and arrived only a couple of hours before game time at Arizona on the 4th), with home games on Feb. 1, 13, and 16. That's 4 straight away games in 8 days, and 7 total over 16 (or 8 over 18, if you add a Jan. 30th home game). So I don't think CTT has a lot to complain about.

 

[azfan]

I was down on ASU for much of the season but CTT has them playing much better and I have them as favorites this weekend over both Wash schools. I simply am not sold on WSU at all and will watch both their games this weekend to see if I can muster any support for the Cougs (doubt it). I am slowly coming around on ASU and Utah. My guess is Stanford is a lock for Reg and Tourny titles, AZ and UO will battle for 2nd and both host opening rounds. Utah is in, ASU is a bubble team as is OSU others are outside looking in. Too many injuries or a soft schedule doom the remaining lot.

The Friday match up at WSU is key for both teams. A Sun Devil loss should pave the way for the Sun Devils to move up from a playing game. A Cougs' win should have a similar impact although the best they may hope for is a playing game.

CTT indicated in her weekly show that the team is really coming together and overcoming injuries and a lost January due to covid. If CTT's squad can dictate the pace of the game and not get too excited I like our chances.

On the other hand the sisters can get explosive and ASU still has a tendency to leave three-point shooters open. I think the cancellation of the Cal game is really going to help ASU with both recovery and some practice time allowing the team to focus on what they need to do defensively.

 

[azfan]

Link to statement from Pac-12

Pac-12 statement on Arizona State at California women's basketball game

SAN FRANCISCO – Arizona State women's basketball did not travel to Berkeley for its game at California on Wednesday, Feb. 16 and the game was subsequently canceled. The game is a forfeit for Arizona State in the Conference standings and a league win for California. Per NCAA policy, there will be...

pac-12.com

Interesting. I know CTT weighed a win against the Bears versus rest, recovery and practice for Washington State University. Sure hope this doesn't come back to bite ASU in the butt come tournament time. Depending on seeding for the Pac-12 tournament if ASU is one and done we may look back and wish we had that W.

In my view this makes the Friday game against the Cougs a must win for ASU. AND the Sun Devils better not drop the ball against Washington, SoCal, or UCLA.

 

[azfan]

This month, Oregon has played away games on Feb. 4, 6, 9, 11, (and arrived only a couple of hours before game time at Arizona on the 4th), with home games on Feb. 1, 13, and 16. That's 4 straight away games in 8 days, and 7 total over 16 (or 8 over 18, if you add a Jan. 30th home game). So I don't think CTT has a lot to complain about.

I don't think she was complaining I think she was observing. Four games in 9 days is relatively rare in women's basketball I believe it's only happened a handful of times. Clearly that travel had an impact on the Ducks quack quack. Her calculus of the impact on the team led her to accept that forfeit against the Bears.

I'm sure a number of considerations went into her calculation. One may be the impact on Maggie Besslink. She was absent from the last two games and I think even 20 minutes or less from her per game is imperative for us to be successful down the stretch. I would love to know why she made this decision and hopefully she'll give some indication in the pregame with Jeff Munn before the big game on Friday.

As to coaches complaining don't they always do that? Whether it's complaining or observing rather depends on your perspective doesn't it?

In any event the Ducks overcame The Sweep in Arizona and took care of business against UCLA. Perhaps CTT looked at the impact on Grave's team from that stretch of games and use that as the basis for her decision to forfeit Cal.

Yesterday at 1:30 I grew frustrated as I couldn't find the pregame show on the radio. Then when two came and went with no broadcast I was getting very agitated. Took me a minute to even consider cancellation so of course I turned to the Boneyard to find out what had happened.

 

[azfan]

Statement on Sun Devil WBB’s canceled game at Cal - Arizona State University Athletics

The Pac-12 Conference announced the Sun Devil women's basketball team's makeup game at Cal, originally scheduled to be played today (Wed., Feb. 16) before being

thesundevils.com

Cancellation due to travel issues

 

[Basket]

I was down on ASU for much of the season but CTT has them playing much better and I have them as favorites this weekend over both Wash schools. I simply am not sold on WSU at all and will watch both their games this weekend to see if I can muster any support for the Cougs (doubt it). I am slowly coming around on ASU and Utah. My guess is Stanford is a lock for Reg and Tourny titles, AZ and UO will battle for 2nd and both host opening rounds. Utah is in, ASU is a bubble team as is OSU others are outside looking in. Too many injuries or a soft schedule doom the remaining lot.

Agree. Utah and Az St look like better clubs than Cougs. Love them Cougs and have no idea why. Maybe because they are perennial underdogs. Liked following Chanelle Molina and kept following the team after she graduated

 

[azfan]

Details of Oregon State women’s basketball coach Scott Rueck’s updated 10-year contract

The 12th-year OSU coach will make more than $1 million per year during the 2025-26 season.

www.oregonlive.com

Details of Scott's extension. Wonder what CTT thinks..... 30% more than she currently earns.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Details of Oregon State women’s basketball coach Scott Rueck’s updated 10-year contract

The 12th-year OSU coach will make more than $1 million per year during the 2025-26 season.

www.oregonlive.com

Details of Scott's extension. Wonder what CTT thinks..... 30% more than she currently earns.

In fairness, I think Rueck would say that in the past decade since he started at OSU, including a disastrous first-year rebuild-from-scratch, he's delivered at least 30% more post-season wins (14 vs. 8 NCAA tournament wins), at least 30% more PAC-12 titles (3 regular season and 1 conference vs. 1 regular season), and at least 30% more conference wins (119 vs. 92).

All that said, as they say in investment land, past performance is not a prediction of future returns. But since when has any coach's renewed contract been based on anything other than their recent past performance, rather than predicted future? If it weren't, then, David Shaw, our football coach, should be in jail for contract fraud!