Turns out someone was able to stop Stanford.
Sparked by another second-half charge from Amanda Levens, Arizona State ended Stanford’s 22-game winning streak Monday night to capture the crown at the inaugural Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball tournament at McArthur Court.
With the 70-63 win, the third-seeded Sun Devils (24-8) secured the Pac-10’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“I fully expected to be playing for the championship,” Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I’m very proud of our kids. This is the toughest group I’ve ever had.”
Stanford, the No. 2 team in the country, who swept all 18 Pac-10 games in the regular season, lost for the first time since Dec. 16, when it lost to Tennessee. The Cardinal (30-2) are still a likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t really care — we’re going to the NCAA Tournament,” said Stanford’s Nicole Powell, the Pac-10 Player of the Year and tournament MVP who had 19 points and 10 rebounds against ASU. “We’re more determined, and we’re going to be ready.”
Melody Johnson and Cian Carvalho each added 13 points for the Sun Devils. Stanford’s Enjoli Izidor scored a season-high 20 points.
Levens, an all-tournament selection, scored 17 of her 22 points in the second half to lead Arizona State’s comeback — much like she did in Sunday’s win over Oregon.
Trailing 35-31 at the break, Levens scored 11 points in the first nine minutes of the second half. Her free throw with 12:24 left gave the Sun Devils a 43-42 lead, and they never trailed again.
“I’ve never beaten Stanford since I’ve been at ASU, so this is nice,” Levens said. “People were saying they weren’t sure we were going to get an at-large bid (to the NCAA Tournament), so we wanted to go ahead and decide ourselves.”
The game was not decided until the closing minute, when the Sun Devils sank 7-of-10 free throws. Stanford had cut a six-point Arizona State lead down to 55-53 with 5:06 left but could not get any closer.
Much like they did in a 64-58 win over Oregon on Sunday, the Sun Devils’ tenacious defense held Stanford to 36 percent shooting in the second half while forcing the Cardinal to commit 21 turnovers (to ASU’s 14).
“Arizona State just played a great game — they were very aggressive,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “This was definitely the most aggressive and physical game we’ve had all year.”
Powell, who scored 37 points in the semifinals against Oregon State, was 4-for-17 from the field and committed six turnovers in 40 minutes.
“I think our defense definitely wears people down,” Turner Thorne said.
Powell was fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 0.02 seconds left in the first half. She sank the three free throws to give the Cardinal a 35-31 lead at the half.
Stanford played the tournament with senior guard Lindsey Yamasaki, the team’s leading scorer who had surgery last week for appendicitis. She is expected to return for the start of the NCAA Tournament.