SEATTLE (AP) - No. 10 Stanford’s experience wore out the youth and energy of upstart Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
The reward is a shot at some payback against No. 6 Oregon State.
Erica McCall had 17 points and 15 rebounds and Stanford ended Oregon’s run in the Pac-12 Tournament with a 71-56 win on Saturday night.
The Cardinal, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will face top-seeded Oregon State in the championship game on Sunday night after the Beavers swept Stanford in the regular season. It will be Stanford’s 14th appearance in the tournament title game, having won 11 championships.
“The fact we’ve been in tough games where we’ve been down helped to boost us, especially in the second half,” McCall said. “I’m really just proud of how my whole team reacted to us being down.”
McCall was dominant on the interior in the second half as Oregon started to show signs of fatigue after having to play an opening-round game, then upsetting No. 11 Washington in the quarterfinals on Friday. McCall had 11 points and 11 rebounds after halftime, including five straight points midway through the fourth quarter as the Cardinal (27-5) finally pulled away.
Stanford had three others in double figures, including 15 points from Brittany McPhee, 12 from Briana Roberson and 11 points and 12 rebounds by Kaylee Johnson.
“We did not want it to be an all-Oregon final,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Pac-12 freshman of the year Sabrina Ionescu and Maite Cazorla led Oregon (20-13) with 14 points. Ionescu had to work hard for all of her shots and was 5-of-11 shooting and had just two points in the second half, hounded by Roberson for most of the night. Oregon shot just 33 percent for the game and missed its first nine attempts in the fourth quarter. Lexi Bando, who had 23 points in the Ducks’ upset of Washington, had just three points, all at the free-throw line.
Stanford swept the season series against the Ducks, winning by 21 at home in January and closing out the regular season with a 65-59 win in Eugene last Sunday.
“We’re still learning, we’re still growing and we’re not where Stanford is right now,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “But we’re capable of beating teams like this and that it what we learned this weekend.”
Oregon showed no hangover early from its quarterfinal win, jumping to a nine-point lead after one quarter. The lead didn’t last long. Stanford closed the second quarter on a 10-2 run, capped by 3-pointers from Alanna Smith and McPhee, and the duo combined for a transition layup finished by Smith just before the halftime buzzer for a 36-34 lead.
Stanford missed its first eight shots of the fourth quarter before McCall’s rebound putback started a three-point play that gave the Cardinal a 56-49 lead with 6:03 remaining. McCall added a layup moments later after an Oregon turnover, and Stanford had its largest lead at 58-49 with 5:30 left.
MEET AGAIN
Stanford’s two losses to Oregon State in the regular season could have gone either way. The Beavers won 72-69 in double overtime at Stanford in January, and pulled out a 50-47 win in Corvallis on the final week of the regular season.
“Our team is going to have to have a chip on its shoulder and bring it,” VanDerveer said.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: The win over Washington likely sealed an NCAA Tournament bid for the Ducks, so a win over the Cardinal would have only helped seeding. Oregon has lost 23 of its past 24 against Stanford.
Stanford: McCall has 31 double-doubles in the past two seasons. She had a career-high 18 rebounds in the regular season finale against Oregon.
UP NEXT
Oregon: The Ducks will await their expected NCAA bid on March 13.
Stanford: The Cardinal will face Oregon State in the conference final.
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