Cal women edge UW in opener
Asha Thomas scored 12 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and Cal rallied to win its first-round game of the Pac-12 Tournament 71- 68 on Thursday .
Washington’s Amber Melgoza, who scored 30 points, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end a game that saw seven lead changes and ten ties.
“I don’t think we were our best all around, but I thought we were together,” said Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “I thought we were gritty. I thought we got stops when we needed them, and big buckets when we needed them. (Thomas) was tremendous in the clutch, but I thought it was an all-around team performance.
The fifth-seeded Golden Bears (21- 9), who won at Washington 83- 67 on Sunday, play fourth-seeded and ninth-ranked UCLA in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Jaelyn Brown and Mikayla Cowling scored 14 points each for Cal. STANFORD » The secondseeded Cardinal (20-9) open play at the Pac-12 tournament tonight at 6 p. m. against USC.
The seventh-seeded Trojans advanced with a 4744 win over Washington State in the first round on Wednesday.
Minyon Moore scored 16 points and Aliyah Mazyck scored 14 for the Trojans (19-10). COLORADO 66, UTAH 56 » Kennedy Leonard scored 15 points, one of four double- digit scorers, as the No. 9 seeded Buffaloes rolled past the No 8 seeded Utes to earn a shot at top-seeded Oregon today at 11:30 a.m.
WCC tournament
PEPPERDINE 74, SANTA
CLARA63 » Senior Kyla Martin scored a career-high 20 points, but the No. 9 seeded Broncos’ season ended in the first round at Las Vegas.
The eighth-seeded Waves (10-19) used the long ball, knocking down 10 3-pointers, including five from Kim Jacobs.
Despite trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, the Broncos (9-21) cut the deficit to 49- 46 to start the fourth quarter and were within four after two free throws from Morgan McGwire at the 3:16 mark, but a 7- 0 run from Pepperdine extended the lead to 68-57 and iced the game.
McGwire, a senior, scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. SAINT MARY’S » The second- seeded Gaels (20- 9) will open the tournament today at 2 p.m. against Pacific. The No. 7 seeded Tigers (14-16) defeated 10thseeded Portland 85- 60 on Thursday. USF89, LOYOLA MARY MOUNT 76 » Anna Seilund had 28 points and Shannon Powell added 24 as the No. 5 seeded Dons ( 16-14) advance to Monday’s semifinal against the winner of today’s Gonzaga/ Pepperdine game.
Men
NO. 19ARIZONA75, STANFORD 67 » Reid Travis scored 23 points, but the Cardinal (1614, 10-7 Pac-12) hopes of a top-four finish and a firstround bye next week in the Pac-12 tournament took a big hit on an emotional night in Tucson, Arizona.
With coach Sean Miller back on the job and Allonzo Trier reinstated, the Wildcats clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 title with the win.
The Cardinal kept the deficit to single digits most of the second half and were down 69- 64 after Daejon Davis’ dunk with 1:04 to play. Trier made four from the line and Deandre Ayton two to finally put the game away.
Dusan Ristic scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half, and Trier, reinstated by the NCAA after a twogame suspension, added 18 points for the Wildcats (237, 13- 4 Pac-12).
Arizona has won or shared the conference regular season title five times since 2010-11 and beat Stanford for the 17th straight time. The Wildcats can clinch the title outright by beating Cal on Saturday night or if USC loses to UCLA.
Miller returned after a one-game absence, getting a loud welcome from the McKale Center throng as he entered the arena, waving to the fans as his players smiled and clapped.
Earlier in the day, Miller read a statement to reporters vehemently denying he had approved payment to Ayton, or any player, in his time at Arizona. The university’s president said an examination of the facts found no evidence of Miller wrongdoing and the school was standing by its coach. ARIZONA STATE 84, CAL 53 » The Bears missed all 18 of their 3-point attempts in suffering their 22nd loss of the season, breaking a tie with the 1978-79 team for the most losses in Cal’s 111 seasons as a program.
Cal (8-22, 2-15 Pac-12) has lost six in a row and 14 of the past 15 heading into Saturday’s regular- season finale at No. 19 Arizona.
Don Coleman had 16 points for the Bears, who trailed by 10 at halftime but never got closer.
Arizona State (20-9, 8-9 Pac-12) still has a solid NCAA Tournament resume thanks to a strong nonconference season. But the margin for error has slimmed up over the past two weeks with losses to No. 19 Arizona, Oregon and Oregon State. WASHINGTON STATE 78, OREGON 76 » Malachi Flynn scored 28 points with eight rebounds and five assists as the Cougars (12-17, 4-13 Pac-12) handed a crushing loss to the Ducks (19-11, 9-8 Pac-12).
The loss puts the Ducks in a bad position heading into Pac-12 tournament play — effectively knocking them lower in tournament seeding by also affecting their chances of making the NCAA tournament after competing in the Final Four last season.
The victory doesn’t affect the Cougars’ seeding in the Pac-12 tournament, but it keeps WSU from finishing last in the conference.