Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament Day 2 Recap
The 2022 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament is down to its final four teams. Offensive production was at a minimum to start the day but slowly kicked into high gear as the night went on.
Colorado Stuns Arizona 45-43 in Defensive Slugfest
As evident by the final score, neither team could find the mark offensively in this game. Early on, Arizona used its defense, including three blocks and a pair of steals, to hold a slight lead. It was a big development for the Wildcats, who were without starting forward Cate Reese.
Lauren Ware was a big boost in her place, cleaning up the defensive glass and scoring in the paint. She had nine points and two blocks as she helped Arizona build a 19-11 lead with 6:05 left in the first half, but the Buffaloes locked down on defense after a timeout and held the Wildcats without a field goal for the remainder of the half.
Colorado outscored Arizona 13-3 to steal a 24-22 lead at halftime. After both teams combined to shoot 2-20 from downtown in the first half, Mya Hollingshed decided to turn it up from long range in the third quarter for the second straight game. She splashed a pair of triples and made her presence felt on the defensive end as well.
Since Bendu Yeaney's layup with 6:05 left in the first half, Arizona made just one of its next 17 field goal attempts but still played tough enough defense to enter the fourth quarter down by seven.
In the fourth, the Wildcats bulldozed the Buffaloes with a 13-3 run, capitalizing on five straight turnovers for Colorado and swinging the momentum in their favor, leading 41-38. The Buffaloes answered with a pair of buckets in the lane and a clutch triple from Frida Formann extended the lead to four with two minutes left — almost in the exact same situation as the Buff's first-round win over Washington when her three made it a six-point game.
The Wildcats had a chance to tie or win the game, but Shaina Pellington's three at the buzzer was off, and the Buffaloes advance to the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals for the first time in seven years and will face top-seeded Stanford at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Stanford Uses Big Opening Frame to Beat Oregon State 57-44
Similarly to how Oregon State burst out of the gates against Arizona State in the first round, Stanford blitzed the Beavers with a 16-2 first quarter. The Cardinal took advantage of the Beavers defenders giving them space and cashed four three-pointers in the opening period, including two for Anna Wilson.
Their lead grew to as large as 22-4, with the Beavers shooting just 2-15 to start. Eventually, they found their groove and hung with Stanford, relying on Emily Codding and Ellie Mack to push them out of their funk. The Beavers scored nine straight, but Wilson wouldn't stop filling it up, securing her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season in the first half alone.
Mack's buzzer-beating three-point shot with her heels on the logo kept the Beavers within range of the reigning national champs, trailing 27-18 at the intermission. Talia von Oelhoffen struggled all day for the Beavers, but her three to open the second half made things interesting.
Hailey Jones took over in the third quarter after a 1-8 first half, scoring 12 points in the third period. She scored at will in the paint, taking it coast-to-coast on one occasion and posting up deep in the paint on another. She proved why she is the Pac-12 Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's coaches, finishing the game with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The Cardinal maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half to secure the victory. Despite the 13-point win, the margin was their smallest in a Pac-12 tournament game since 2020 as they won all three games in 2021 by 20+ points.
Oregon Hangs On to Knock Out UCLA 63-60
To read more about how Oregon defeated UCLA in a down-to-the-wire finish, check out our recap for Billy Spotz.
READ MORE: Oregon Withstands UCLA 63-60 to Advance to Pac-12 Semifinals
Utah Rolls Past Washington State 70-59
The Utes put on an offensive display in the first quarter that would make the San Antonio Spurs dynasty proud. They did it from all levels, scoring in the paint with reckless abandon early to knocking down the three ball, swinging the ball around from side to side in beautiful fashion.
After squeezing a 14-13 lead early in the first, Utah scored the final 15 points of the quarter, converting on 11 of its first 15 field goals and its final six of the period. The Utes splashed four triples and recorded seven assists on 11 field goals to take an early 16-point lead. Utah's 29 points were a Pac-12 Tournament record for a quarter.
The Cougars stalled the run with some buckets from center Bella Murekatete in the second quarter, but aside from her, the usual suspects were mostly ineffective on offense. Tara Wallack stepped into the starting lineup for Ula Motuga and dropped 11 points in the first half while Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker combined for four points on 2-12 shooting.
Utah continued to just outshoot Washington State, scoring 24 points from behind the arc alone to the Cougars' 25 total points in the first half, taking a 20-point lead into the break. Jenna Johnson led all scorers with 13 points.
The final score doesn't indicate how much the Utes dominated in this game. The Cougars closed the game on a 12-0 after Utah led by 21 points with two minutes left. It was too little too late for Washington State, who held the Utes to just 1-12 from downtown in the second half.
Utah heads to the Pac-12 semifinals for the first time ever, with Oregon standing in its way of a trip to the championship game.
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