UCLA Subdues Arizona State, 70-50

Saturday’s Pacific-10 tournament game between the fourth-seeded UCLA women and fifth-seeded Arizona State figured to be the most competitive one of the day. The teams matched up well, and neither figured to shoot well enough to blow out the other.

But close games were not on the menu Saturday. And while this one took longer than the others to become a rout, it was a rout nonetheless. The Bruins won big, 70-50, before 4,412 at the HP Pavilion.

The Bruins’ Nikki Blue, Noelle Quinn and Lisa Willis have had better shooting nights; they were a combined 17-for-40. But they still led UCLA to its ninth win in the last 11 games.

Quinn, the conference freshman of the year, had 16 points and 10 rebounds, her eighth double-double and 19th consecutive game scoring in double figures. Blue and Willis each scored 14.

For the game UCLA shot 25 for 61; Arizona State was 16 for 46, making only eight field goals in each half. The Sun Devils compounded their situation but committing 26 turnovers and getting outrebounded, 37-32.

“ASU came out in a zone and I thought that threw us off a little in the beginning,” Coach Kathy Olivier said. “But we ended up being fine after a while.”

So UCLA (17-11) will step up and meet top-ranked Stanford today in a rematch of last year’s semifinal. A win over the Cardinal, which has won the last 10 meetings between the teams, would separate UCLA from a bunch of bubble teams.

The loss was a severe blow to the Sun Devils’ NCAA tournament hopes. Although Arizona State is playing host to first- and second-round games, its victory total, a key late season-ending injury to leading scorer Betsy Boardman and ending the season with three straight losses may not make the Sun Devils that attractive to the selection committee.

“Obviously we’d love to be invited,” Coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We know the committee takes into consideration things like injuries....It was our first game without Betsy and it showed. We can get healthy by the NCAA tournament, should they choose to invite us.”

Stanford 80, California 55 -- The Cardinal’s size and depth once again proved too much for the ninth-seeded Bears. After scratching out a 32-29 halftime lead, Stanford began the second half with 23-6 run that all but put Cardinal in the semifinals.

Nicole Powell had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Stanford to its eighth straight victory over Cal. The Cardinal has won 23 of the last 24 meetings between the teams.

But it may be a costly victory, because starting guard Susan Borchardt hurt her right knee in the second half and is doubtful for today’s game.

Arizona 81, Oregon State 58 -- Oregon State went scoreless for seven minutes early in the second half and Arizona ran off 18 straight points.

Senior guard Amy Grzyb had a career high 24 points, including six three-pointers for Arizona (23-7), and sophomore center Shawntinice Polk scored 22. The Wildcats move on to play sixth-seeded Washington in the conference semifinals.

Oregon State (15-14) received 23 points from senior forward Hollye Chapman.