Stanford heads to NCAA Women's Final Four

STANFORD is heading to the NCAA Women’s Final Four for the sixth time in seven years, also marking the seventh-straight year a Pac-12 team is playing in the national semifinals. The Cardinal plays defending NCAA Champion Connecticut on Sunday, April 6 in Nashville, Tenn., at the Bridgestone Arena. The winner plays the winner of the other semifinal game that pits Maryland and Notre Dame on Tuesday, April 8 for the national championship crown ... Five Pac-12 teams in all secured NCAA Tournament bids this year, the most since 2006, going 4-1 in the first round and 7-4 so far. An additional four teams also participated in the WNIT.

 

Stanford’s Chiney Owgumike was named a John R. Wooden Award All-American, the fourth All-America honor after receiving nods from the Associated Press, USBWA and ESPN. The Conference’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, she is among the leading candidates for national player of the year honors ... OREGON’s Jillian Alleyne and CALIFORNIA’s Brittany Boyd were tabbed AP honorable mention All-Americans ... Four league players from four schools earned WBCA All-Region honors: Boyd, USC’s Cassie Harberts, Ogwumike and UTAH’s Michelle Plouffe. They are now finalists for the WBCA All-America team ... OREGON STATE’s Scott Rueck was named the WBCA’s Region 8 Coach of the Year making him a finalist for the WBCA’s national coach of the year honor ... WASHINGTON’s Mike Neighbors was named a finalist for the WBCA Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year.

 

In addition to breaking the league’s all-time scoring and rebounding record, Ogwumike broke the single-season scoring record, becoming the only player in Conference history to score 900 points in a single season ... Alleyne shattered the Conference’s single-season rebounding average record, a mark that had stood since 1992. She also claimed the single-season total rebounding record, becoming the first player in league history to haul down 500 rebounds in a season. She leads the country in rebounding and double-doubles.

 

USC claimed the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament title, a first for the program, also earning its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2006. OREGON STATE also ended a long NCAA Tournament drought, earning its first invitation to the Big Dance since 1996 ... CALIFORNIA made a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, while ARIZONA STATE returned to the event after a two-year absence ... The Cardinal, meanwhile, is making its 27th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 28th all-time ... COLORADO, OREGON, WASHINGTON and WASHINGTON STATE all participated in the WNIT with the Huskies advancing to the quarterfinal round.

The league’s coaches voted Ogwumike the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, while UW’s Kelsey Plum was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. STANFORD’s Tara VanDerveer was voted the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.