Every Wednesday, The State Press will be taking a look around the Pac-12’s uber-competitive women’s basketball landscape as the conference tournament in Seattle nears. With each team fighting for a shot at a NCAA Tournament bid come March, each weekend’s Friday-Sunday set of games should be full of exciting action and marquee showdowns.
If the season ended today, the brackets for that conference tournament would looks as follows, based on conference record:
Here’s our third weekly Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Round-Up heading into another weekend of conference play, including headlines, top performers and power rankings, as well as a look at the bracketology projections of ESPN’s Charlie Creme.
Last Weekend’s Storylines
The Pac-12 regular season title has long been a three-team race, and with two games left to play, that's still the case. Entering this weekend, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington all have the opportunity to lock up the Pac-12 title. Stanford's game at Oregon State on Friday should decide the regular-season champion, as the Cardinal and Beavers are tied one game ahead of Washington. But the Huskies can still sneak in and win depending on how the tiebreakers play out.
Yes, Kelsey Plum is still a beast. With 74 points in her team's two-game trip through Los Angeles, Plum moved into second on the NCAA all-time scoring list, passing former Baylor center Brittney Griner. With another 79 points — which could easily be attainable given her team's impending NCAA Tournament bid — Plum would pass Jackie Stiles (3,393 points) for the all-time Division I scoring mark.
Player of the Weekend
Kelsey Plum | Senior PG | Washington
Friday: 39 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 90-79 loss @ UCLA
Sunday: 35 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in 87-74 win @ USC
Dagger.
— Washington WBB (@UW_WBB) February 20, 2017
Kelsey Plum drains her third from beyond the arc. She's got 35 points. #GoDawgs https://t.co/r5zk33cCVu
Power Rankings
#1 – No. 8 Stanford (24-4, 14-2) | Last Week: No. 2
Last Weekend: @ California (W, 72-66), vs. California (W, 72-54)
Breakdown: A sweep of California set Stanford up to potentially lock up the Pac-12 when it heads to Corvallis this weekend. The Cardinal are also still battling for a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
This Weekend: @ Oregon State (Fri.), @ Oregon (Sun.)
Bracketology: No. 3 Seed vs. No. 14 Mercer (EVEN)
#2 – No. 10 Oregon State (25-3, 14-2) | LW: No. 3
Last Weekend: @ Colorado (W, 54-49), @ Utah (W, 63-49)
Breakdown: In almost the same situation as Stanford, the Beavers will also look to lock up a regular season title and potentially a two-seed in the final weekend of the regular season.
This Weekend: vs. Stanford (Fri.), vs. California (Sun.)
Bracketology: No. 2 Seed vs. No. 15 North Dakota (UP)
#3 – No. 11 Washington (25-4, 13-3) | LW: No. 1
Last Weekend: @ UCLA (L, 90-79), @ USC (W, 87-74)
Breakdown: A loss at UCLA hurt the Huskies' chances of winning the regular season championship, but Washington is still in great position to win the Pac-12 in Seattle and make a deep run — like last year — come Tournament time.
This Weekend: vs. Colorado (Thu.), vs. Utah (Sat.)
Bracketology: No. 3 Seed vs. No. 14 UC Davis (EVEN)
#4 – No. 15 UCLA (20-7, 11-5) | LW: No. 4
Last Weekend: vs. Washington (W, 90-79), vs. Washington State (W, 67-48)
Breakdown: UCLA's defeat of Washington locked the Bruins into a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament and also put them in a great position to host first and second round games in the tournament.
This Weekend: @ Arizona (Fri.), @ ASU (Sun.)
Bracketology: No. 4 Seed vs. No. 13 Western Illinois (EVEN)
#5 – ASU (17-10, 8-8) | LW: No. 5
Last Weekend: @ Arizona (L, 62-58), vs. Arizona (W, 67-54)
Breakdown: The Sun Devils looked like two different teams this weekend, but should be pleased with the way they pulled apart the rival Wildcats Sunday at home. If ASU can sweep this weekend, or even just split it, the Sun Devils should be back in position to have decent positioning in the NCAA Tournament.
This Weekend: vs. USC (Fri.), vs. UCLA (Sun.)
Bracketology: No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 South Florida (DOWN)
#6 – Oregon (18-10, 8-8) | LW: No. 6
Last Weekend: @ Utah (W, 73-61), @ Colorado (L, 76-66)
Breakdown: Oregon can play its way into the NCAA Tournament with one or two wins this weekend; a win over Cal will look good, but a home defeat of Stanford would all but lock the Ducks into the field of 64.
This Weekend: vs. California (Fri.), vs. Stanford (Sun.)
Bracketology: No. 9 Seed vs. No. 8 LSU (DOWN)
#7 – Colorado (15-12, 5-11) | LW: No. 10
Last Weekend: vs. Oregon State (L, 54-49), vs. Oregon (W, 76-66)
Breakdown: Things were looking grim for Colorado until a surprising win over Oregon, and the Buffaloes could certainly play a spoiler role at Washington this weekend. Otherwise, there's not much of a bright outlook in Boulder for the month of March.
This Weekend: @ Washington (Thu.), @ Washington State (Sat.)
Bracketology: Out (EVEN)
#8 – California (17-11, 5-11) | LW: No. 7
Last Weekend: vs. Stanford (L, 72-66), @ Stanford (L, 72-54)
Breakdown: With two straight losses to Stanford, Cal has all but kissed goodbye its chance to salvage what was once a 13-0 team, unless it can pull of some major upsets this weekend and in the Pac-12 tourney.
This Weekend: @ Oregon (Fri.), @ Oregon State (Sun.)
Bracketology: Out (DOWN)
#9 – USC (14-13, 5-11) | LW: No. 11
Last Weekend: vs. Washington State (W, 80-64), vs. Washington (L, 87-74)
Breakdown: The Trojans can play spoiler when they visit ASU, but otherwise there's not much left for which to play, other than seeding in Seattle next weekend.
This Weekend: @ ASU (Fri.), @ Arizona (Sun.)
Bracketology: Out (EVEN)
#10 – Washington State (10-17, 5-11) | LW: No. 8
Last Weekend: @ USC (L, 80-64), @ UCLA (L, 67-48)
Breakdown: That top-five strength of schedule is starting to catch up to the Cougars, who lost by double digits to both Los Angeles teams. Washington State could certainly win its final two, but it won't mean much other than a boost in morale.
This Weekend: vs. Utah (Thu.), vs. Colorado (Sat.)
Bracketology: Out (EVEN)
#11 – Arizona (13-14, 4-12) | LW: No. 12
Last Weekend: vs. ASU (W, 62-58), @ ASU (L, 67-54)
Breakdown: A win over rival ASU gave Arizona some silver lining on a difficult season, but losing in convincing fashion in the ensuing game brought the Wildcats back down to earth, as their campaign nears an early close.
This Weekend: vs. UCLA (Fri.), vs. USC (Sun.)
Bracketology: Out (EVEN)
#12 – Utah (15-12, 4-12) | LW: No. 9
Last Weekend: vs. Oregon (L, 73-61), vs. Oregon State (L, 63-49)
Breakdown: The Utes, as of the start of February, looked like a bona fide bubble team, but having lost five of six has pushed Utah out of the tournament conversation barring a Pac-12 Tournament miracle.
This Weekend: @ Washington State (Thu.), @ Washington (Sat.)
Bracketology: Out (EVEN)
Games to Watch This Weekend
No. 8 Stanford @ No. 10 Oregon State – Friday, 9 p.m. MT: Basically, this game is the Pac-12 regular season championship, barring the winner falling in its Sunday game. With both teams also vying for NCAA seeding, this game should be one of the best the Pac-12 has had this season.
No. 15 UCLA @ ASU – Sunday, 12 p.m. MT: ASU, fresh off of a dominant momentum-boosting win over Arizona, has a chance to finally add a marquee conference win to its resume – the maroon and gold is 0-6 against the league's top four teams — in its final game of the regular season. The Sun Devils can also play spoiler, as UCLA looks to lock up a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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