Bruins blow past Arizona, will face No. 1 seed Stanford in semis
LAS VEGAS >> Emily Bessoir had 18 points and 13 rebounds for her first career double-double, Charisma Osborne also scored 18 points and No. 19 UCLA beat No. 21 Arizona 73-59 on Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament.
UCLA, a No. 5 seed, advances to today's 6 p.m. semifinal after handing Arizona its first three-game skid of the season. It will play top-seeded Stanford.
Londynn Jones made her only 3-pointer with 5:18 left in the third quarter to put UCLA ahead 47-35 and the Bruins led by double figures the rest of the way. Arizona made only two field goals in the third quarter — both in the opening three minutes.
Bessoir made two 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter and Gina Conti added another 3 to give UCLA a 17-point lead with 7:30 left. The Bruins didn't make another field goal but connected on 11 of 12 free throws to secure it.
Senior Camryn Brown added a career-high nine points with six rebounds and four assists for UCLA (248). Kiki Rice also scored nine points and dished out seven assists. The Bruins outrebounded Arizona 46-27 for a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Bessoir was coming off a 17-point,
UCLA's Gina Conti (10) and Emily Bessoir react after beating Arizona in the Pac-12quarterfinals Thursday.
five 3-pointer performance in an overtime victory over Arizona State in a tournament opener.
Shaina Pellington, Lauren Fields and Jade Loville each scored 10 points for Arizona (21-9). Cate Reese struggled from the floor, going 0 for 6 from the field, but she went 9 of 10 at the free-throw line and grabbed nine rebounds.
STANFORD 76, OREGON 65 >> Cameron Brink had 22 points and 11 rebounds as No. 6 Stanford overcame a lot of early misses and beat Oregon in another quarterfinal.
Stanford (28-4) made just three of 20 shots in the first quarter. Brink and the Cardinal found their rhythm after that and improved to 20-1 all-time
At Michelob ULTRA Arena Las Vegas Wednesday's late first round
Oregon St. 56, USC 48
Thursday's quarterfinals
UCLA 73, Arizona 59 Stanford 76, Oregon 65 Washington State 66, Utah 58 Colorado vs. Oregon State, late
Today's semifinals
UCLA vs. Stanford, 6p.m. Washington State vs. TBD, 8:30p.m.
in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
Brink posted her 14th double-double of the season, Hannah Jump added 13 points and Talana Lepolo had 10. Haley Jones scored eight points on 3-of-15 shooting but had 13 rebounds.
The Cardinal held off a third-quarter rally by Oregon (17-14) by using a 7-0 run to close the period. WASHINGTON STATE 66, UTAH 58 >> Bella Murekatete scored 19 points and Washington State upset No. 3 Utah.
The Cougars (21-10) led by three with 39.3 seconds left and had the ball, and rather than foul, the Utes (25-4) allowed Charlisse Leger-Walker to virtually dribble out the shot clock, make one pass, get the ball back, and drain a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to extend the lead to 64-58.