Pac-12 basketball: UCLA women advance in conference tournament

Jordin Canada scored 24 points, Nicole Kornet scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half, and No. 15 UCLA used a huge first quarter to beat Arizona State, 77-68, in the Pac-12 Conference tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

The fifth-seeded Bruins led by 19 after one quarter and by as many as 26 in the first half, moving into a semifinal showdown with top-seeded and sixth-ranked Oregon State. UCLA handed the Beavers one of their two conference losses during the regular season.

UCLA (23-7) was certainly impressive for three quarters in knocking out the fifth-seeded Sun Devils. Canada made nine of 15 shots, added seven assists and four rebounds. Monique Billings added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the Bruins bested the Sun Devils for the second time in a matter of days. The Bruins won at Arizona State, 55-52, in the regular-season finale.

Sabrina Haines led Arizona State (19-12) with 14 points and Sophie Brunner added 13.

The Bruins dominated from the outset, building early leads of 14-2 and 19-4, and led 26-7 after one quarter. The lead extended to 29-7 in the opening moments of the second quarter after Kornet’s third three-pointer and reached 39-13 midway through the second quarter on Ashley Hearn’s layup.

Arizona State chipped away, pulling within 11 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter on Ruden’s three-pointer, but Canada answered with a three-pointer of her own. The Sun Devils hung around and made the final minutes uncomfortable, pulling within 72-64 with 1:05 left on Hines’ three-point play and 72-66 after free throws from Brunner. But the rally was too late.

Oregon 70, No. 11 Washington 69: Sabrina Ionescu made two free throws with seven seconds left, Ruthy Hebard deflected Kelsey Plum’s buzzer-beating three-point attempt, and the Ducks (20-12) surprised the Huskies (27-5) to advance to a semifinal against Stanford.

Plum, the Pac-12’s leading scorer with a 31.6-point average, had 34 points.

No. 6 Oregon State 65, California 49: Sydney Wiese scored 26 points as the Beavers rolled into the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.

Wiese and the Beavers (28-3) won their sixth straight, leading by as many as 16 in the first half and holding off every run by the Golden Bears. It was Oregon State’s second win in a week over California, knocking off the Bears in the regular-season finale by 15.

Mikayla Pivec added 17 points for Oregon State, the top seed in the conference tournament. The Beavers won their first Pac-12 tournament title a year ago, the precursor to a run to the Final Four. They will face No. 15 UCLA or Arizona State in Saturday’s semifinals.

Kristine Anigwe led California (19-13) with 26 points. The Bears likely needed one more victory to bolster their NCAA Tournament hopes.

No. 10 Stanford 66, Washington State 36: Karlie Samuelson had 21 points and the Cardinal scored the first 21 points in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal. Stanford (26-5) advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 11 Washington or Oregon.

The Cardinal improved to 62-0 against Washington State, which missed its first 11 field goal attempts. Stanford was never threatened after its early outburst. The Cardinal led 26-8 after one quarter, 39-19 at halftime and 54-30 entering the final period.

Brittany McPhee added 12 points for Stanford. Ivana Kmetovska had 10 points for Washington State (12-19).