March 11, 2013

Sunday's postgame press conference

STANFORD, Calif. - The Cardinal Channel was embedded with Stanford women's basketball this weekend as the Cardinal claimed its seventh straight and 10th overall Pac-12 Tournament crown with a 51-49 win over No. 14/13 UCLA.

The Cardinal Channel was behind-the-scenes throughout the team's trip to Seattle, capturing exclusive content in the team huddles, the halftime locker-room speeches and team travel around the city.

Led by sophomore point guard Amber Orrange's career-high 20 points, the Cardinal outlasted the Bruins in a very physical encounter. Orrange scored 10 of Stanford's final 10 points including a driving layup with 8.3 seconds remaining to account for the winning bucket.

Redshirt junior Mikaela Ruef scored eight points with four rebounds while Bonnie Samuelson scored nine points, making up some ground for the Cardinal as it battled much of the first half without national player of the year candidate Chiney Ogwumike, who picked up two fouls and sat for the final eight minutes of the half.

Despite scoring just three points, Ogwumike was able to open up opportunities for her teammates by commanding two and sometimes even three UCLA defenders in the paint. This opened up lanes for Orrange and Ruef to drive, and Ogwumike also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Cardinal.

When all was said and done, and the confetti poured out, it was Stanford that stood tall once again. Ogwumike was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after averaging 17.0 points and 16.7 rebounds a game and setting the following Pac-12 Tournament records: most rebounds in a tournament (50), most rebounds in one game (21, vs. Washington State), most defensive rebounds in a tournament (34), most defensive rebounds in one game (15, vs. Washington State), and recording the first 20-20 games in tournament history with her 21-point, 23-rebound game against Washington State.

With the Pac-12's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in hand, No. 4/4 Stanford will open the draw at Maples Pavilion Sunday, March 24 against an opponent to be determined during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 4 p.m. PT Monday, March 18.