No. 2 Stanford roars back to defeat Cal, advances to semis

Huskies spoil Pac-12 title hopes for rival No. 18 Wash. State

PULLMAN, WASH.>> Koren Johnson scored 23 points, Keion Brooks Jr. added 22 and Washington knocked off No. 18 Washington State 74-68 in the final Pac-12 Conference matchup between the cross-state rivals.

Johnson nailed a corner 3-pointer with 1:21 left that proved to be the final blow, putting the Huskies up 68-61.

Washington State (238, 14-6) failed to get stops at critical moments and shot 4 of 24 from 3-point range.

The Cougars were hoping for their first conference title since 1941. To get it, they needed a win and one Arizona loss in its final two games — or two Arizona losses.

LAS VEGAS>> Kiki Iriafen had 28 points and 18 rebounds and No. 2 Stanford rallied to beat California 71-57 in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal.

Stanford will face No. 13 Oregon State in a semifinal game on Friday.

The Cardinal (27-4), who fell behind by nine in the first half, erased a 3628 halftime deficit by scoring the first eight points of the third quarter. Leading by two points after three quarters, Stanford scored the first nine points in the fourth quarter and used a 19-4 run to widen its lead to 17 points.

NO. 5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 65, ARIZONA 62>> Juju Watkins scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds and No. 5 Southern California defeated Arizona 65-62 in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game in Los Vegas.

USC (24-5) held off the pesky Wildcats, who led by four with 3:28 left in the third quarter and made it a one-possession game with 10 seconds left.

But after Helena Pueyo’s 3-pointer made it 63-60, USC’S Kaitlyn Davis scored on a layup to push the Trojans’ lead to five and put the game out of reach.

NO. 24 LOUISVILLE 58, BOSTON COLLEGE 55>> Nyla Harris had 14 points and nine rebounds and Louisville

advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

Louisville (24-8), a No. 5 seed, will face 14th-ranked Notre Dame on Friday.

The teams split the regular-season series, most recently a 74-58 victory for Notre Dame on March 3 to claim the fourth seed and a double bye.

Teya Sidberry scored 22 points, reaching 20plus points for the second straight game, for Boston College (14-19).

NO. 25 FAIRFIELD 63, SAINT PETER’S 46>> Emina Selimovic scored 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting and Fairfield extended its program-record win streak to 25 games on Thursday in Jersey City, N.J.

The Stags (27-1, 19-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) are ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in program history and their win streak is the second-longest active run in the country behind No. 1 South Carolina’s 29 in row.

Fatmata Janneh had 13 points and three steals, and Rachel Kuhl added 12 points for the Peacocks (721, 4-15).