Saturday, January 23, 2010

Pac-10 sweeps today

UCLA defeated Washington today and USC beat Washington State, so the SoCal Pac-10 schools swept the Washington schools.

Stanford defeated Oregon today and Cal beat Oregon State in two overtimes, so the NorCal Pac-10 teams swept the Oregon schools.

Cal's Alexis Gray-Lawson had 47 points (good lord!).

Here's my homey Dave's write up on the Ducks-Cardinal game:

Final: Stanford 100, Oregon 80. The game was not the laugher that the final score might indicate. During the first half both teams occasionally looked confused in transition, and Oregon was only down four at the break. Early in the second half Oregon could never seem to get closer than five, but were still in reach down eight with eight minutes to go. However, at 5:42 remaining with the score 88 – 77, the game was effectively over. Stanford finished with a 12-3 run to make the game look lopsided.

Oregon’s defense wasn’t as bad as the 100 points makes them look. Stanford’s shooters can be deadly, and they have several players who can bury it from outside. Oregon’s only consistent long-range threat is Taylor Lilley. Both teams were difficult to penetrate against in a half-court set, and Stanford doubled Nicole Canepa every time Oregon tried to get it to her low. Shooters aside, if there is one aspect where Stanford looks scary it is that their rebounding is consistent, disciplined, and strong. Second chance points hurt Oregon.

Today was a test for Oregon against the #2 team in the country. Earlier this season, Oregon looked improved over last year even in their one-point loss to Wisconsin. Weeks later they looked more confident albeit against a weaker opponent in OSU. I’m not sure how long Coach Westhead can be expected to stay with this program, but if his reputation is able to bring better depth and talent to Oregon, they will find themselves consistently ranked.


Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike had a career-high 30 points and 23 rebounds (holy crap).

Upsets tonight include Illinois Chicago handing UW-Green Bay its second consecutive loss, and Mizzou beating 12th-ranked Baylor.

And Syracuse Coach Quentin Hillsman is allright after collapsing during the game against Louisville tonight. Whew.

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