Pac-12 women’s basketball report: Colorado stands alone atop the league after beating Stanford
The Pac-12 has four of the best teams in the country and one of the toughest top-to-bottom conferences in women’s college basketball. Utah — a Sweet 16 team last season — might be the fifth-best team in the league right now. Oregon State just swept Arizona and Arizona State and looks like a very tough out. Washington State won at Washington and is improving after a tough start. There are simply no freebies in this league, with the possible occasional exception of Arizona State. Winning in the Pac-12 is extremely difficult, and that’s why this conference race is so compelling.
On Sunday, there were two giant matchups in the league. We’ve covered USC’s win over UCLA with lots of different articles. Here’s just one example. If you missed anything, just visit our homepage, where you’ll see all of our content on the Trojans’ 73-65 win over the Bruins.
Before USC did its thing on Sunday, Colorado — down 12-2 in the first few minutes — rallied to beat Stanford, 71-59. Buffaloes Wire staff writer Tony Cosolo has more on the story:
“Colorado’s defense came to life against Stanford, holding the Cardinal to only 20 makes on 59 field goal attempts (33.9%), well below its season average of 46.9%. Stanford got a majority of its scoring from three players as Kiki Ifriafen, Cameron Brink and Brooke Demetre combined for 43 points.”
Colorado moved to 5-0 in the Pac-12 with the win. Stanford absorbed its first loss in conference play. The Cardinal are 4-1, with USC and UCLA at 3-1. Those are the four primary contenders in the Pac-12. The other eight teams have at least two conference losses if not more.
Notably, USC and UCLA are done playing each other in the regular season. They might meet a third time at the Pac-12 Tournament, but they won’t play a scheduled game over the next six weeks. Their only conference losses came against each other in the two-game series between the teams. If they can handle everyone else in the Pac-12, their chances of winning the title will increase.
This next week is huge in the Pac-12: USC and UCLA visit the Mountain schools, Utah and Colorado. This conference race is just getting started. Shakeups are likely to occur every week. Buckle up!
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