Finally (in the minds of the other 11 schools), Stanford’s 81-game conference winning streak is over, as the Cal women’s basketball team beat Stanford 67-55 in Maples to earn a season split with the Card. It goes without saying it was a huge win for the Golden Bears, who were led by the 19 points of swaggerific sophomore Brittany Boyd and 14 points and 12 rebounds of Gennifer Brandon.
As if that loss wasn’t enough for Stanford, the Cardinal men’s basketball team lost down the stretch to Washington the night before, 65-60, after the Huskies scored seven of the game’s final nine points. The loss sent Stanford to 1-3 in conference play. But hey, at least football’s Andrew Luck Director of Offense Pep Hamilton nailed a half-court shot at the game.
Meanwhile, the Huskies return home flying high after getting the sweep in the Bay Area. The Huskies are one of three remaining undefeated teams in conference play.
One of those other teams still lossless in the Pac season is UCLA, which delivered a loud message with a 78-75 win at Colorado. The Bruins are the only 4-0 team in conference after getting the road sweep with hard-fought victories in Salt Lake City and Boulder.
The other perfect conference team is Oregon, as the Ducks hung on to beat a much-better-than-expected Arizona State squad 68-65 Sunday. Seriously, Dana Altman is one of the most underrated coaches on a national scale.
The highest-ranked team in the conference, Arizona, got the road split and kept pace in the Pac-12 race with an 80-70 win over Oregon State. It was a W that saw all Wildcats pitch in to help.
While Stanford women’s basketball had its winning streak snapped, USC men’s basketball gladly snapped a 14-game road losing streak with a 76-59 win over Utah in Salt Lake City, evening its conference record up at 2-2.
One more men’s basketball note: Washington State put in another good effort on the road, but the Cougs faded down the stretch in their 67-54 loss at Cal to fall to 0-3 in conference.
More women’s hoops now. Arizona State had a big leadership question heading into the season with Deja Mann out, but Janae Fulcher has filled in a much-needed leader’s role for the Sun Devils, who beat Oregon State 65-55 Sunday afternoon. Fulcher again came up big down the stretch, scoring five points in a late second-half run to put Oregon State out of real striking distance. Fulcher is now averaging nearly 17 points per game in conference play.
The women’s hoops squad in Boulder is putting together a very strong season, in large part because Linda Lappe’s team is learning to win on the road. They were at it again Sunday, beating Utah 56-43 in Salt Lake City. In other news, Colorado has a really good skiing team, and the men’s skiing side rebounded at the RMISA qualifier.
‘Twasn’t the best of weekends for Utah fans – the women’s team lost both games to Colorado, the men’s squad went 0-2 against the LA schools, and the No. 5 Utah Red Rocks (women’s gymnastics team) lost to No. 2 UCLA after a disappointing performance on the uneven bars did them in.
Let’s end with some happy news, shall we? The Oregon State women’s gymnastics team overcame falls and injury to narrowly defeat 14th-ranked Ohio State 195.375-195.000. The Beavers entered the meet ranked ninth in the nation.