By Wally Mersereau
And so it came to pass, in a far-off
land of rolling hills known as the Palouse: Stanford’s 2012-2013
Pac-12 Conference schedule came to a fitting end. There were few in
Beasley Coliseum to see it happen—official attendance was 656. But
on television and computer screens throughout the world committed
fans watched in living color and high definition.
And so it came to pass, in a far-off
land of rolling hills known as the Palouse: Stanford’s 2012-2013
Pac-12 Conference schedule came to a fitting end. There were few in
Beasley Coliseum to see it happen—official attendance was 656. But
on television and computer screens throughout the world committed
fans watched in living color and high definition.
Season’s end found the Cardinal tied
for the Pac-12 championship with the Golden Bears of Berkeley. Each
of these teams beat the other once and lost to the other once. That’s
pretty doggone close when you stop to think about it.
Pullman is the most remote location the
Stanford women play, but games played there count just as much as
those played anywhere else and some of those games are historic. It
was in Beasley that Candice Wiggins broke the then-Pac-10 career
scoring record with only 3 Stanford fans looking on.
And it was in Beasley today that Chiney Ogwumike continued her steady progress through the record books.
In my early trips to Pullman I flew
into that pleasant college town and stayed near the university.
However, I discovered flights there are often delayed because the
Moscow-Pullman Airport lacks advanced landing aids. So I’ve changed
to flying into the more capable Spokane Airport. This also allows me
to enjoy the luxury of The Davenport hotel.
As I made the 75-mile drive to Pullman
this morning I reflected on my good fortune in having dry weather in
eastern Washington, easing my Stanford road journey.
The 54th game between
Stanford and Washington State ended, as have all the others, with a
Cardinal victory. As the perpetual loser in this rivalry one could
forgive the Cougars for giving up, but they battled on to the end. I
thought WSU started each half with tight defense, but that this
deteriorated into rough play. Two Cougars fouled out and a third had
4 fouls. Once again the officials did not effectively stop the overly
aggressive play.
Stanford led the entire game. At the
half it was 35-21 and the final score was 72-50. The Cardinal had a
30-point lead with about 10 minutes remaining in the game. At that
point Tara started subbing from the bench. Washington State took
advantage of Stanford’s reduced level of play and cut the lead to
20 with 4 minutes to go. Tara put a couple of rotation players back
in and this stabilized the lead.
Chiney had a double-double in the first
half. She left the game with more than 10 minutes to play. Her stats
were: 28 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 28 minutes.
Her free throw shooting fell off to 5 of 8.
Jos had 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2
blocks, 2 assists/1 turnover in 29 minutes. Sara had 9 points, 6
rebounds and a block in 24 minutes. Mikaela had 7 points, 10
rebounds, 2 steals, 3 assists/0 turnovers in 26 minutes.
Bonnie was 2 of 7 from 3. She ended
with 6 points and a rebound in 18 minutes. Amber had 3 points, a
rebound, a steal and 5 assists/1 turnover in 26 minutes.
No WSU player got to double digits.
Galdiera was high scorer for the Cougs with 8 points.
Surprisingly, WSU outrebounded the
Cardinal throughout the entire game, ending with a 49-43 advantage.
But Stanford led in field goals 42.9% to 28.6% and in 3-point
shooting 25% to 7.1%. Stanford again excelled in defense.
As I made the drive back to Spokane
after the game I reflected on my good fortune of being in Beasley
Coliseum today to again watch history being made as the remarkable
Stanford women clinched the co-championship of the Pac-12. This will
allow “2013” to soon be added to the board at Maples, extending
consecutive championships to 13, which certainly is a lucky number.
Furthermore, today’s win at Beasley makes Stanford the #1 seed for
next week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle. The team is healthy going
into the Tournament, except for Toni.
Cal assured its share of the conference
title with a win over Washington this afternoon, 78-50.
The final aspect of my favorable day
was to have the team on my flight from Spokane to SFO. Some people
have all the luck.
So ends the regular season. Let the
tournaments begin.
Tomorrow: A big round-up of food, drink and fun around Seattle Center!
