Oregon women’s basketball is looking to make another deep run into the March Madness tournament after a strong 20-11 season, landing a 5 seed. With the bracket announced, it’s time to look at the other Pac-12 teams that are tournament bound this year.
Stanford has been a powerhouse all season. Ranked at No. 2 and No. 1 on ESPN’s power rankings, the Cardinal went 28-3 this year with a perfect 16-0 conference record. Their only losses came to No. 7 Texas by 5, No. 1 South Carolina by 4 and South Florida by 3 points.
After Stanford’s loss to South Carolina put its record at 8-3, the Cardinal stormed through the rest of their games, going on a 20-game winning streak to finish the season.
The defending champions cruised through the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, defeating Oregon State, Colorado and Utah, all by double digits. Haley Jones was named the most outstanding player in the tournament, capping off a great season where she averaged 13.1 points and 7.9 rebounds.
She landed in second place on the team in these two categories behind forward Cameron Brink, averaging 13.6 points off 56.2% shooting and eight rebounds.
As a group, the 1 seed Cardinal look extremely strong heading into the tournament and are one of the favorites to win the whole thing.
There is one other ranked team in the Pac-12 heading into March Madness in No. 19 Arizona.
The Wildcats began the season with an 11-game winning streak but went only 9-7 the rest of the year.
Arizona is getting cold at the wrong time, losing three of its last four games, including a narrow 2 point loss to Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament.
Led by senior forward Cate Reese, the team will try to turn things around come tournament time as a 4 seed. She leads the team in points and rebounds by a wide margin with 14.6 points and 6.2 boards per game.
Utah got slated as a 7 seed and will play 10 seed Arkansas in the round of 64.
The Utes’ record is nothing special, 20-11 overall and 8-7 in conference play. But wins in five of their last seven and a top-25 win over BYU helped them into tournament position.
Utah players Gianna Kneepkens (12.0), Jenna Johnson (11.9) and Brynna Maxwell (10.9) all score more in the double digits. Guard Dru Gylten has also been effective, leading the team in assists (5.0) and steals (1.3).
After Utah, Colorado was also placed as a 7 seed and Washington State as an 8 seed.
Colorado finished fifth in the Pac-12 with a 22-8 overall and 9-7 conference record after winning its first 13 games of the season.
The Buffalos hit a rough patch midway through the year, losing six in a seven game stretch, but finished strong winning six of their last seven games.
Mya Hollingshed leads the Buffalos in points (14.1) and rebounds (7.5), as they hope to surprise people in March Madness.
Washington State has had its ups and downs this season but showed resilience, finishing strong to land No. 2 in the conference behind Stanford.
The team had a 19-10 overall record, going 11-6 in conference play. Sophomore guard Charlisse Leger-Walker averaged 16 points on the year, as she’ll try to lead the Cougars on a run deep into March.
Stanford is at the center of Pac-12 women’s basketball heading into tournament time, as the team hopes to defend its title from last year. Behind the Cardinal, there are a lot of teams in the Pac-12 conference that have the potential to make some noise come late March.
