Brink, Cardinal claim Pac-12 title
Cameron Brink had a career-high 23 rebounds and 25 points as No 4 Stanford claimed the Pac-12 regularseason title with a 67-63 victory over No. 11 Oregon State in Corvallis on Thursday night.
Brink, a 6-foot-4 senior who leads the nation in blocked shots, was 11-for-15 from the field, pulled down eight offensive rebounds and had four assists and one block. Her rebound total was one shy of the school record set by Chiney Ogwumike in February 2013.
The Cardinal (25-4, 14-3) beat Oregon State (22-6, 11-6) for the 14th straight time and locked up the No. 1 seed in next week’s Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.
“I told the girls just the other day, we should be really proud of the regular season,” said Brink, who was on Stanford’s 2021 national championship team. “You can argue what’s harder to do, the (Pac-12) tournament or the regular season, but that was one of my biggest goals coming into this year. So I’m just really proud of us.”
Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer picked up her 1,211th career win. She became the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history on Jan. 21 with a home victory over Oregon State.
The Cardinal led by 11 points early in the third quarter, but Oregon State pushed Stanford to the finish line.
“This is a great win for us,” VanDerveer said. “It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty. We stayed with things and made some big plays.”
The Beavers played without leading scorer and rebounder Raegan Beers, who missed her fourth straight game after suffering a broken nose against UCLA on Feb. 16. The 6foot-4 sophomore is averaging 17.5 points and 10.7 rebounds, and Oregon State is 1-3 without her.
With Beers out, the Beavers turned to Talia von Oelhoffen and Timea Gardiner for most of their offense. Von Oelhoffen scored 27 points, including two on a bucket in the paint that cut the Cardinal lead to 64-62 with 1:06 left. Gardiner scored 15 points.
“Other people had to step up,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “Once (Beers) returns, we’re even better for it. I think this team’s taken a step forward even though we came up short.”
Stanford’s Talana Lepolo made two free throws with 19.9 seconds remaining to give Stanford a 66-62 advantage.
Von Oelhoffen made one of her two free-throw tries after drawing Brink’s fifth foul on a drive to the basket, cutting the lead to 66-63 with 7.2 seconds left.
Kiki Iriafen, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, made the second of two foul shots with five seconds remaining to give the Cardinal a four-point advantage, essentially sealing the win. Associated Press
CAL 62, OREGON 59
Ioanna Krimili made four free throws in the final 23 seconds — her only free throws of the game — to help the Bears (17-12, 7-10 Pac-12) get past the Ducks (11-19, 2-15) in Eugene.
Krimili finished with a game-high 21 points and was the only player to reach double figures for Cal.
The Bears were plus-21 on 3-pointers, making eight of their 25.
Oregon was 1-for-9 in its 12th straight loss.
SANTA CLARA 86 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 45
The Broncos continued their late-season tear, outscoring the Lions in every quarter and shooting 56.1% from the field to win their eighth straight game.
Olivia Pollerd scored a game-high 21 points for Santa Clara (23-7, 11-4 WCC), Lara Edmanson added 17 and Tess Heal posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists.
Alexis Mark scored 19 to lead the Lions (10-17, 5-10), who shot 29.1% from the field, including 3-for-25 on 3-pointers.
USF 78, ST. MARY’S 74 (OT)
In Moraga, Debora dos Santos had a double-double and the Dons finished overtime with an 8-1 run to beat the Gaels.
With St. Mary’s (12-17, 510 WCC) leading 73-70, USF’s Cami Fulcher tied the score with a 3-pointer with 1:40 to play in the extra period. A free throw with 52 seconds to go gave the Gaels the lead before Luana Leite — who had the assist on Fulcher’s trey — converted a three-point play with 25 seconds to go. Jasmine Gayles’ two free throws with eight seconds to go sealed the outcome.
Dos Santos scored a season-high 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for USF (13-15, 9-6).
St. Mary’s Zeryhia Aokuso matched her season high with 28 points.