Kiana Williams scored 23 points to lead No. 7 Stanford past No. 14 Oregon State 68-56 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals
LAS VEGAS —
Kiana Williams scored 23 points to lead No. 7 Stanford past No. 14 Oregon State 68-56 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night.
Stanford (25-5), which won both regular-season meetings by a combined six points — each three-point victories — opened a 25-10 lead in the first quarter and didn’t looked back, never trailing in the game.
Oregon State didn’t necessarily go away easily, as it carved into a 16-point deficit with an 8-0 run and trailed 64-56 with 2:58 left in the contest.
But Williams hit two free throws with 1:02 left to push Stanford’s lead back to 10, and the Cardinal was never threatened the rest of the way.
Maya Dodson and Lacie Hull each added 10 points for Stanford, the defending Pac-12 Tournament champion.
The Cardinal is 46-5 all-time at the event and has won 13 of the 18 titles. The Cardinal is in the semifinal — against UCLA — for the 17th time after improving to 17-1 in the quarterfinals. Stanford is 16-1 in the semifinal round.
The Beavers (23-8) were led by Aleah Goodman and Destiny Slocum, who each scored 12 points. Mikayla Pivec had 10 points for Oregon State.
After a stellar offensive performance in Thursday’s 82-55 quarterfinal win over Washington State, the Beavers never found their footing against the Stanford’s stringent defense.
Oregon State went into the locker room at halftime on Thursday with a 53-28 lead. Friday night against the Cardinal, the Beavers didn’t get to the 53-point plateau until the 4:44 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal improved to 46-0 when it holds its opponent under 70 in the event.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: Kat Tudor had a rough turnaround in her second game of the tournament. After shooting 7 for 9 from the floor, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range, in Thursday’s opening round against Washington State, the 6-foot senior struggled against Stanford’s defense and finished with just 5 points on 2-of-3 shooting.
Stanford: A win in the semifinal round, and an Oregon victory over Arizona, would pit the Ducks and Stanford in the championship for a third straight year, and fourth time in five years.
RECORD BREAKER
With Pivec’s third rebound of the game, she became the school’s all-time leading rebounder, which is quite an accomplishment considering she is a 5-foot-9 guard. The senior from Lynwood, Washington, finished with six rebounds to give her 1,034 in her career.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: Awaits its NCAA Tournament bid.
Stanford: Will face UCLA in Saturday night’s semifinal round.
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