Stanford Secures Pac-10 Title With Win Over UCLA

Nicole Powell scored 24 points as ninth-ranked Stanford clinched the Pacific 10 Conference title with a 79-61 victory Saturday over UCLA at Palo Alto.

Kelley Suminski added 20 points as the Cardinal (22-3, 14-2) won its second straight outright title -- after sharing honors two seasons ago -- and 12th in 17 years.

Nikki Blue scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half to lead the Bruins (15-10, 10-6), whose three-game winning streak was ended. Michelle Greco had 15 of her 18 points in the first half for UCLA.

Stanford improved its all-time conference mark to 259-45 (.851) in winning its 25th consecutive home game, the second-longest current streak in Division I. The Cardinal is 326-76 at home.

UCLA outscored Stanford, 12-4, to open the second half, with Blue making two free throws to pull to within 50-41 with 15:42 left.

Blue’s jumper closed the gap to 59-53 minutes later, but that was as close as the Bruins would come because Stanford went on an 18-6 run.

The Cardinal shot more than 54% in the early going and made seven three-pointers.

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California 60, USC 50 -- Leigh Gregory had five of her 13 points during a 20-3 run that pushed the Bears (9-16, 5-11 Pac-10) past the Trojans at Berkeley.

Ebony Hoffman had a game-high 16 points for USC (12-15, 7-9) and Aisha Hollans added 14.

The loss dropped the Trojans into eighth place in the conference with one week left in the season. That spot in the standings would force USC to play an extra game in next month’s Pac-10 tournament.

Associated Press

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Pepperdine 76, Loyola Marymount 63 -- Tamara McDonald had 17 points and five assists to help the Waves clinch their fourth West Coast Conference women’s title in five years, defeating the Lions before 625 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Nicole Funn had 14 points and five rebounds for the Waves (19-6, 11-1 in WCC), who rallied from a three-point deficit in the final 10 minutes.

Pepperdine earned the No. 1 seeding and byes through the first two rounds of the conference tournament March 6-9 at San Diego.

Mary Turner led Loyola (12-13, 4-8) with 14 points and six rebounds.

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-- Rob Fernas