Stanford women throttle USC in Pac-12 quarterfinal
Ashten Prechtel had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 Stanford to a 92-53 victory over USC in a Pac-12 women’s quarterfinal on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Haley Jones and Hannah Jump each had 14 points, and Lacie Hull added 10 points for the top-seeded Cardinal (23-2, 19-2), who improved to 48-6 all-time in the Pac-12 Tournament and 18-1 in the quarterfinals. Stanford faces Oregon State today in the semifinals at the Mandalay Bay Event Center.
Alissa Pili led USC (11-12, 8-10) with nine points. “I loved our balance,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I think we’ve got weapons. We’ve got inside game and outside game. You know, I think it was fun to be able to spread it around.”
Stanford, which won its first regular-season conference title since 2014, also swept its regular-season series with USC by way of 80-60 and 86-59 routs, giving the Cardinal an average winning margin of 28.6 in the three games.
“That looks like a team that can vie for the national championship,” USC coach Mark Trakh said. “They’re deep. They’re long. They can shoot. They’ve got everything on that team.”
Stanford has now held 11 opponents to 53 points or fewer. The Cardinal ranked ninth in the nation in points allowed at 53.0 per game.
Stanford was dominant from the opening tip. USC missed its first eight shots and didn’t get its first field goal until the 4:37 mark, when Kyra White cut Stanford’s lead to 11-3. The Cardinal scored the next 10 points, extending their advantage to 21-3.
Stanford led 31-5 after scoring the first eight points of the second quarter.
BEAVERS KNOCK OUT NO. 19 DUCKS >> Freshman Talia von Oelhoffen had 19 points and Oregon State advanced in the Pac-12 Tournament with a 71-64 quarterfinal victory over No. 19 Oregon. Aleah Goodman added 13 points and seven assists for the Beavers (126), who will face top-seed Stanford.
Taylor Mikesell had 24 points for the Ducks (13-9), who had never before played their in-state rivals in the conference tournament. The fourth-seeded Ducks were the defending champions.
Oregon was without freshman Te-Hina Paopao, who was in a walking boot on her right foot on the sidelines during the game.
The Beavers had nine games cancelled because of coronavirus protocols and played the fewest games of any other team the conference.
Men
BIG 12 CHAMP BAYLOR BEATS OKLAHOMA STATE >> Jared Butler scored 22 points, and No. 3 Baylor, fresh off clinching its first Big 12 title on the road two days earlier, beat No. 17 Oklahoma State 81-70 in Waco, Texas, to end the Cowboys’ five-game winning streak.
The Bears (20-1, 12-1 Big 12) seem to have their legs back under them after a three-week stretch without any games because of COVID-19 issues in the program. Their fourth game in 10 days came after winning in overtime at No. 6 West Virginia on Tuesday night for the school’s first league title since 1950 in the Southwest Conference. Matthew Mayer and MaCio Teague both added 19 points for the Bears.
Big 12 leading scorer Cade Cunningham had 24 points for Oklahoma State (17-7, 10-7).
NO. 2 MICHIGAN WRAPS UP BIG TEN TITLE >> Franz Wagner scored 19 points, Hunter Dickinson added 14, and No. 2 Michigan wrapped up the Big Ten title with a 69-50 victory over rival Michigan State in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines (19-2, 14-2) had a chance to clinch the championship based on winning percentage with a victory in any of their final three games. They were blown out by No. 4 Illinois — the team chasing them — on Tuesday, but they rebounded with a gritty effort two nights later.
Michigan State (14-11, 8-11) will finish with a losing conference record for the first time since 1993. VILLANOVA LOSES GILLESPIE TO SEASON-ENDING KNEE INJURY >> Villanova guard Collin Gillespie has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Gillespie had an MRI that confirmed the tear Thursday after injuring the knee during the first half of Wednesday night’s game against Creighton. In 20 games this season, he has averaged 14 points, 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds.