Arizona State Surprises Stanford

Arizona State couldn’t beat Stanford at home or on the road. The only place left to try was a neutral court.

That must be the Cardinal’s weak spot.

At least it was Monday night when Arizona State upset second-ranked Stanford, 70-63, at Oregon’s McArthur Court to win the inaugural women’s Pacific 10 tournament.

In earning the Pac-10’s automatic bid to the tournament, Arizona State (24-8) ended a five-game losing streak to the Cardinal (30-2). It was also Stanford’s first loss to a Pac-10 opponent this season, ending a 23-game conference winning streak dating to last season. A bigger loss for the Cardinal may come later this week when the NCAA pairings are announced. Stanford was banking on a tournament victory to secure a No. 1 seeding in the West regional.

The victory was sweet for Arizona State Coach Charli Turner Thorne, who played for Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer from 1985-88. Since becoming the Arizona State coach, Thorne was 1-9 against VanDerveer before Monday’s game.

Amanda Levens, who rousted Arizona State from a four-point halftime deficit, led the Sun Devils with 22 points, of which 17 came in the second half. Enjoli Izidor had 20 for Stanford. Nicole Powell, voted the tournament’s most valuable player, added 19 points and 10 rebounds Monday, but she made only four of 17 shots and did not score for Stanford after the 10:40 mark of the second half.

There were 10 lead changes in the first half, and the biggest lead either team could muster was Stanford’s 19-12 spread after 10 minutes.

Powell did most of her first-half damage from the foul line, where she was eight for nine, including three free throws at the end of the half to give Stanford a 35-31 lead.

The Cardinal scored a quick five points to open the second half with a 40-31 edge, but Arizona State put together a 22-7 spurt to go in front, 53-47, with 8 1/2 minutes to play. The closest the Cardinal got was 53-51 with 7:08 remaining.

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Women’s NCAA Automatic Bids

* Arizona State (24-8), Pac-10

* Austin Peay (20-11), Ohio Valley

* Chattanooga (23-7), Southern

* Duke (27-3), Atlantic Coast

* Harvard (20-5), Ivy

* Indiana (17-13), Big Ten

* Liberty (23-7), Big South

* Pepperdine (23-7) West Coast

* St. Peter’s (25-5), Metro Atlantic Ath.

* Temple (20-10), Atlantic 10

* Vanderbilt (27-6), Southeastern

* Wis. Green Bay (24-6), Horizon