No. 3 Utah beats No. 8 Stanford to share 1st Pac-12 title
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gianna Kneepkens scored 28 points to lead No. 8 Utah to an 84-78 victory over No. 3 Stanford on Saturday that gave the Utes a share of their first regular-season Pac-12 Conference title.
Alissa Pili finished with 14 points and Kennedy McQueen had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and six steals for Utah (25-3, 15-3), which shares the conference title with Stanford.
Hannah Jump led Stanford (27-4, 15-3) with 24 points. Cameron Brink had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Cardinal, while Haley Jones added nine points and eight rebounds.
Utah led the entire second half, but Stanford pulled within one at 73-72 after Brink and Jones combined to make four straight baskets. Kneepkens knocked down a 3-pointer to keep the Cardinal from erasing the deficit completely.
The Utes then forced three straight turnovers in the final minute to secure the win.
“We caught them offguard a little bit with how we were defending,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. “21 turnovers is not normal for them. Conversely, we only had 10. I think that's where the game was won.”
“They were more aggressive, and our turnovers were bad,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “Our lack of execution (hurt us). They were the better team.”
No. 4 UCONN 72, DEPAUL 69
CHICAGO (AP) — Aaliyah Edwards scored 16 points, including two clutch baskets down the stretch, and UConn edged DePaul to clinch at least a share of the Big East regular season championship.
DePaul (15-15, 8-11 Big East) led by as much seven in the second half and was nursing a fourpoint lead late in the fourth of a tight, physical, contest, but Edwards and Lou Lopez Sénéchal scored to tie it at 65 with 3:10 left.
Then Edwards scored off a turnover with 2:40 to go to put the Huskies ahead. Nika Mühl nailed 3-pointer from the corner with 1:13 to go for a 70-65 UConn (26-5, 17-2) lead.
Anaya Peoples hit two free throws and then layup with 17 seconds left to pull the Blue Demons to within one. DePaul star Aneesah Morrow raced down the court in the final seconds with a chance to win it, but was forced into a turnover with nine seconds left.
Muhl, who finished 13 points, sank a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice it. Peoples missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Huskies forward Dorka Juhász scored 13 points and pulled in eight rebounds despite suffering an ankle injury with 1:12 left in the first quarter. She scored 10 of UConn's first 17 points before getting hurt, then returned in the second quarter after receiving treatment.
No. 19 TEXAS 67, No. 13 OKLAHOMA 45
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Shaylee Gonzales scored 19 points and Texas snapped a first-place tie with Oklahoma in the Big 12, beating the Sooners,
Rori Harmon had 14 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and DeYona Gaston scored 12 points with 11 rebounds, her second double-double this season for the Longhorns (22-7, 13-3). Taylor Jones had five of Texas' 10 blocks to go with 10 points. Shay Holle added 11 points, all in the pivotal third quarter.
Liz Scott scored 13 points with nine rebounds for the Sooners (22-5, 12-4), who had a six-game win streak snapped.
OREGON STATE 78, No. 14 ARIZONA 70
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Raegan Beers had 24 points and 13 rebounds, fellow freshman Adlee Blacklock scored 22, and Oregon State upset Arizona, snapping the Beavers' nine-game losing streak.
After trailing 60-45 through three quarters, Arizona (21-8, 11-7 Pac12) scored the first seven points of the fourth period to get within 60-52 with 8:49 remaining. Soon after, Beers converted a threepoint play and added two more free throws to put the Beavers (12-17, 4-14) back up by 13.
Madison Conner drained three 3-pointers in a 14-3 run that got the Wildcats within 72-68 with 1:03 remaining. Beers then hit two free throws, OSU's Jelena Mitrovic blocked a layup and Paris Clark missed two free throws for Arizona. After the second miss, former Wildcat Bendu Yeaney and Esmery Martinez were tied up on the rebound, with possession going to Oregon State. The Beavers made 4 of 6 from the line to close it out.
No. 17 UCLA 70, WASHINGTON 62
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charisma Osborne scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to lift UCLA to a win over Washington.
KiKi Rice added 15 points for the Bruins (22-8, 11-7 Pac-12 Conference), who pulled away by making 9 of 15 shots. Londynn Jones had 10 points as all 10 players scored for UCLA.
Haley Van Dyke scored 12 points for the Huskies (15-13, 7-11).
The Bruins scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 40-34 lead. Later, Rice made two free throws to make it 48-39. The lead was seven heading into the fourth quarter.
The Huskies pulled within 57-53 midway through the final quarter on a Ladine 3. Osborne then hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and had nine points in an 11-2 run for a 13-point lead with less than two minutes to play.
No. 21 COLORADO 95, CALIFORNIA 69
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Aaronette Vonleh scored 25 points shooting 11 for 14 and Colorado closed the Pac-12 regular season by beating Cal to end a two-game losing streak.
Frida Formann scored 19 points, Jaylyn Sherrod 16 and Quay Miller grabbed 11 rebounds for Colorado (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12), which won both games against the Bears this season.
Jayda Curry scored 23 points for Cal (13-16, 4-14) and made all 11 of her foul shots. The sophomore made her first and only 3-pointer of the game with 57 seconds left to keep her streak of games with a 3-point make alive at 51.
She finished 1 for 4.
No. 18 GONZAGA 58, BYU 51 PROVO, Utah (AP) — Yvonne Ejim scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 18 Gonzaga secured the West Coast Conference regular season title on Saturday with a 58-51 win over BYU.
Ejim's three-point play put Gonzaga up 50-45 with 2:51 to play and the Bulldogs made 8 of 10 free throws in the final 79 seconds.
Gonzaga (27-3, 17-1 West Coast Conference) entered the game one game up on Portland, which had its Thursday game at BYU postponed until Monday because weather kept the Pilots from getting to Provo, Utah.
The WCC tournament begins Thursday in Las Vegas but Gonzaga won't play until a week from Monday in the semifinals.
Ejim was 8-of-11 shooting but it was a struggle for the rest of the Bulldogs as they finished 20 of 55 (36%). The top 3-point shooting team in the country at 42.6%, Gonzaga was 2 of 15 from distance. Brynn Maxwell, who leads the nation at 51.2%, failed to hit a 3 for the first time this season.
But the top shooting team in the country was almost on point from the foul line, making 16 of 21, going 12 of 15 in the fourth quarter.