Pac-10 women’s tournament: Stanford advances to title game with 64-44 win over California
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Stanford steamrolled into the finals of the State Farm Pac-10 women’s tournament with a 64-44 win over California at the Galen Center today, where the Cardinal will face the winner of the USC-UCLA game that’s coming up next.
The top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Cardinal built a 7-0 lead and was up 35-19 at halftime. In the second half, both teams probably wanted it to end sooner than it did: the Cardinal because they didn’t want anyone to get injured, fourth-seed California because no one likes to be pounded for longer than they have to be.
Stanford star center Jayne Appel, who has been battling a sprained right ankle, checked into the game at the 13:56 mark and checked out in the middle of the second half, finishing with seven points and two rebounds.
Cardinal Coach Tara VanDerveer said Friday that she’d like to rest Appel as much as possible. But when Appel entered the game, the Bears were forced to collapse on her in the paint, which opened up several opportunities for her teammate and Pac-10 player of the year Nnemkadi Ogwumike.
Ogwumike took advantage, scoring a game-high 18 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the floor and grabbing 10 rebounds.
With the game in hand, a horrifying moment occurred with 5:14 left.
California’s Alexis Gray-Lawson, a senior guard who led the team in scoring (17.9) coming into the game and is a candidate for the 2010 Women’s Naismith Trophy, went up for a shot after getting an offensive rebound. She was blocked by Stanford’s Michelle Harrison, and Gray-Lawson hit the floor, landing on her upper shoulder and neck.
She lay motionless on the floor for several minutes before a medical unit came out and placed her on a stretcher. Her mother, Roslyn, stood at her side as the crowd sat silent. Gray-Lawson was wheeled out to a standing ovation.
A Cal trainer reported that Gray-Lawson had neck pain but was conscious.
--Baxter Holmes