Led by graduate guard Hannah Jump’s 20 points, No. 1 seed Stanford beat No. 4 seed Oregon State 66-57 in Friday’s first Pac-12 tournament semifinal game at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Stanford had a first-round bye, but that doesn’t mean it’s been a cakewalk for the Cardinal. They battled it out in a comeback win against Cal on Thursday after trailing by nine in the second quarter.
The Cardinal faced a similar fate Friday. The team was fired up at the start of the game, going on an 8-0 run with the help of senior forward Cameron Brink’s three consecutive baskets. However, after a layup by Jump, the Beavers shifted gears and presented Stanford with a 17-2 run of their own.
Oregon State sophomore forward Raegan Beers found her groove down low and contributed four layups to the Beavers’ run, three of those in just under a minute.
The first quarter quickly became a familiar start for the Cardinal, who found themselves trailing by 12.
Halfway through the second quarter, sophomore forward Timea Gardiner sank two free throws to push the Beaver margin to a comfortable 16 points. That was the last time the Beavers would score for the rest of the half.
Even after holding Oregon State scoreless for the last five minutes of the first half, Stanford found itself in a moment of deja vu, trailing by the same margin as it was Thursday against Cal at the half. In that previous spot, the Cardinal turned it around in the third quarter and outscored the Bears by 22 in the second half to win 71-57.
“I hope that being down at halftime is not a habit of our team,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said postgame. “But I’m really excited. I think that this can be a game that can really help us a lot, being down and being able to battle back.”
Thursday’s and Friday’s games were the only time all season Stanford has trailed at the half in consecutive games.
With Cardinal fans hoping for a replay of Thursday’s storyline, Stanford took a lead at the 4:33 mark of the third quarter, just 15 seconds later than it did the same against Cal.
The duo of Jump and junior forward Brooke Demetre each scored eight points in the third quarter, the same as the Beavers’ total. Demetre’s consecutive 3-pointers helped flip the Cardinal’s three-point deficit into a nine-point lead that eventually carried them to victory.
“My thing is just always being ready and getting my shot within the offense,” Demetre said. “We needed shots at that point. And definitely after I shot them, I felt a momentum shift. … It’s exciting, but just doing what I need to do for the team.”
Brink, the Pac-12 Play of the Year, also contributed her fair share and was just one assist away from a triple-double: 16 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Stanford now has a 7-0 all-time record against Oregon St. in the Pac-12 tournament.
Sunday’s championship game at 2 p.m. will be Stanford’s chance to redeem itself, having lost to UCLA in last year’s tournament semifinals.
Stanford will play against the winner of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game between No. 2 seed USC and No. 3 seed UCLA.
“We’ll be excited about whoever we’re playing,” VanDerveer said. “They’re both great teams. We’ve played each one of them once, and I think, in some ways, that’s good because playing a team a third time is very challenging. … We’ll be excited to play either opponent.”