There’s nothing inherently wrong with lobbying for Stanford’s Cameron Brink as Pac-12 women’s basketball Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore is in the top 10 in the conference in scoring and rebounding; nationally, she’s in the top 20 in field-goal percentage and blocked shots per game.
But when No. 2-ranked Stanford is actually at risk of losing, it’s clear that Haley Jones, not Brink, remains the straw stirring the Cardinal mix.
Jones had 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot in the fourth quarter Sunday, leading Stanford’s rally from 10 points down to a 66-62 victory at Oregon. It was a clinic under duress by the 6-foot-1 junior guard — akin to her Most Outstanding Player performance at the 2021 NCAA Final Four.
Getting to the basket four times in the final 5:24, Jones made four layups, the last while falling down, and converted twice for 3-point plays.
“How does she do that?” marveled ESPN announcer Eric Frede after Jones threw in what proved to be the game-clincher while nearly on her back with 36 seconds left.
She was central to a 17-4 Stanford run that turned a 56-46 deficit into a 63-60 lead.
The Ducks lost despite leading for all but three of the 40 minutes. They dropped into a second-place tie with surging Washington State, a half-game ahead of Arizona.
“We controlled that game most of the night,” Ducks coach Kelly Graves told reporters. “Just didn’t make our own breaks, didn’t get many calls down the stretch but that happens in the game. They know how to win, they have a veteran crew and a coach that knows a thing or two about what she’s doing.”
Stanford (23-3, 14-0 Pac-12) clinched the Pac-12 regular-season title Friday and has 29 straight wins over conference opponents, including the 2021 postseason.
The Cardinal is two wins away from its eighth undefeated conference season (but first since 2012). No other team has ever accomplished that feat.
Jones is averaging 12.6 points per game to Brink’s team-high 13.4, and she has taken a slim edge in rebounding (7.9 rpg to Brink’s 7.8). She couldn’t have made a more dramatic POY statement going into the final week of the regular season, with the Pac-12 postseason awards coming out ahead of the conference tournament.
“We knew that we weren’t playing our best basketball, but we were able to snap out of it, focus on one another and stay tight,” Jones said.
Stanford has won 15 consecutive games since losing to No. 1 South Carolina on Dec. 21.
Washington State ties win records
After beating the Arizona schools by a combined 12 points, Washington State tied the school record for most overall victories in the NCAA era (18) and the most Pac-12 wins (10). Both records were originally set in 1990-91.
The Cougars are back in position for a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance after starting the weekend outside ESPN’s projected bubble.
“This is a résumé-building kind of win,” coach Kamie Ethridge said after Sunday’s 72-67 upset of Arizona. “We handled their pressure well and got them out of their system. It shows that our team is continuing to morph into whatever we need them to be to succeed.”
Johanna Teder, 5-8 junior guard from Estonia, followed up a 20-point performance Friday in a victory over ASU with 21 against Arizona. She was 9 of 14 from 3-point range for the weekend and scored seven straight points in the final two minutes against the Wildcats, who were missing forward Cate Reese over the last 6:59 due to a dislocated shoulder.
Arizona State goes 0-3 including forfeit
ASU began the week on a roll, looking to solidify its postseason résumé. Instead, the Sun Devils went 0-3. They lost by forfeit to California on Wednesday — after not making the trip due to a mechanical issue with their chartered flight — then were swept by Washington State and previously winless (in conference play) Washington.
“I’m kind of at a loss,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “Obviously I’m not getting it done for this team.”
The comment came after the loss to UW and wasn’t reflective of the decision to not ask her players depart after 10 p.m. Tuesday and play a scheduled 1 p.m. game at Cal the following afternoon.
“We were ready to play,” she said. “We couldn’t get there at a reasonable time. I don’t know what people expect these college athletes to do. We didn’t feel like we could get there and be rested and ready to play, have a good chance to compete and be safe.
“Honestly given the situation, I did not think that (forfeit) would happen, but it did and that’s fine. In my mind, was it reasonable for us to show up and play? No. But they (Pac-12) deemed otherwise, and we respect that decision.”
ASU’s Jayde Van Hyfte did not play against Washington due to injury, and the Sun Devils lost Gabriela Bosquez to injury in the fourth quarter.
The Pac-12 also gave UCLA a forfeit against Oregon on Jan. 28 for not having enough healthy (non-COVID related) players. In other major conferences, the only forfeits were by Virginia (twice).
Forfeits impact conference record but not overall record.
Graves gets to be dad between weekend games
Oregon coach Kelly Graves traveled between weekend games to Gonzaga, where he previously coached, to share Senior Day with his son Will, a reserve guard for the No. 1 Bulldogs.
Graves drove back from Spokane to Eugene to make his team’s game against Stanford in time.
“They allowed me to be a dad, and to me that’s the most important thing in the world,” Graves said of his staff.
