Women’s Top 25 Capsules: No. 8 Oregon beats Arizona State 57-44 for rare win in Tempe
TEMPE, Ariz. – Sabrina Ionescu scored 16 points and No. 8 Oregon moved a step closer to its first Pac-12 title in 18 years, beating Arizona State 57-44 Friday night to end a 15-game losing streak in Tempe.
Oregon (26-4, 15-2 Pac-12) won the first meeting by shutting down Arizona State in the third quarter. The Ducks took control of the rematch with similar blueprint.
Trailing by one at halftime, Oregon hounded the Sun Devils (19-10, 10-7) into one missed shot after another to build an 11-point lead. Arizona State scored eight points in the quarter and went 4 for 17 from the floor.
The Ducks broke the school record for wins in a season and matched the mark for conference wins, set in 1998-99. They had not beaten Arizona State on the road since 2000.
No. 12 Oregon State 65, Arizona 40
TUCSON, Ariz. – Marie Gulich had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Oregon State jumped out early and cruised to a 65-40 victory over Arizona on Friday night.
Oregon State (22-6, 13-4 Pac-12) has won six in a row. Arizona (6-22, 2-15) has five straight double-digits losses and was held to fewer than 50 points for the eighth time this season.
Gulich has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games and collected her 14th double-double of the season. Katie McWilliams added 11 points for the Beavers, who shot 59 percent in the first half and 47.5 percent overall.
Gulich had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and nine rebounds as the Beavers built a 35-16 halftime advantage.
Destiny Graham scored 13 points and had nine rebounds to lead Arizona. She had 11 of the Wildcats’ 16 first-half points.
Arizona pulled within 14 points in the third quarter but didn’t get closer.
No. 16 Stanford 86, Washington 79
SEATTLE – Brittany McPhee scored 25 points and No. 16 Stanford took an 86-79 win Friday night despite a career-high 40 points from Amber Melgoza and a stern test from last-place Washington.
Melgoza was 14-of-26 shooting and made a career-high five 3-pointers in scoring the most points by a Pac-12 Conference player this season.
Marta Sniezek’s 3-point play with 1 1/2 minutes left gave Stanford a 10-point lead – matching its largest of the night – but Melgoza answered with a 3-pointer and another bucket before the Cardinal made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 37 seconds to seal the win.
Melgoza got Washington (7-21, 1-16) off to big start, making four 3-pointers and scoring 18 points in the first quarter for a 26-18 lead. But McPhee brought Stanford back in the second period, scoring 13 points with Stanford leading 42-35 at halftime.
Both teams shot well from 3-point range, Stanford making 12 of 29 (41 percent) and Washington 13 of 29 (45 percent) but the Cardinal outrebounded the Huskies 38-22, including 19 offensive boards that led to a 27-8 advantage on second-chance points.
Stanford (20-9, 14-3) – with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in attendance to see his sister, Anna Wilson, a sophomore guard for the Cardinal – is alone in second place behind No. 8 Oregon (15-2) and a game ahead of No. 12 Oregon State and No. 10 UCLA (both 13-4) with one game remaining.
No. 22 Green Bay 78, Oakland 48
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jessica Lindstrom posted her 15th double-double this season with 16 points and 13 rebounds and No. 22 Green Bay defeated Oakland to win the outright Horizon League regular-season crown.
Allie LeClaire scored 13 points to move into the program’s top 10 all-time scoring leaders and Karly Murphy and Mackenzie Wolf added 10 points each for the Phoenix (25-3, 15-2), who have won 20 consecutive conference titles. Sha’Keya Graves scored 15 points and Taylor Gleason and Leah Somerfield 11 each for the Golden Grizzlies (13-15, 6-11).