Beavers earn No. 1 spot heading into the Pac-12 tournament

Brenden Slaughter Associate Sports Editor

Oregon State 25-4 (16-2 Pac-12): Well, the Beavers got lucky. After losing to Stanford, the Pac-12 championship was slipping out of reach, but UCLA saved OSU. Once the Bruins defeated ASU, the Beavers had earned their second straight Pac-12 title. However, they do have to share it with ASU. The silver lining for the Beavers is that they beat ASU earlier this season, and will be the top seed in the Pac-12 tournament.

Arizona State 25-5 (16-2): The Sun Devils almost had the Pac-12 title outright. After the Beavers lost to Stanford the title was ASU’s to lose. All they had to do was beat UCLA. Well, it didn’t happen. ASU lost to the Bruins by 13, and because of that loss they choked away their chance to have an outright Pac-12 title. ASU now enters the Pac-12 tournament as the two seed.

UCLA 22-7 (14-4): Playing spoiler to someone’s Pac-12 championship hopes is fun isn’t it? The Bruins are still enjoying the hype of knocking ASU out of the outright spot. Sophomore guard Jordin Canada is playing out of her mind right now, averaging 16 points per game, and making teams look silly. If UCLA can continue to get that type of production from Canada, the Bruins will be a scary team to play in the NCAA tournament.

Stanford 24-6 (14-4): The Cardinal are catching fire at just the right time. Stanford defeated OSU by 22 points, and Oregon by 27. It’s hard to describe just how impressive those two wins are, but given that OSU had won 14 straight going into that game, and Oregon had been heating up as well. This Stanford team is looking like the “elite” Stanford teams of the past, and if they continue to dominate like this, I could very easily see them winning the Pac-12 tournament for the second straight year.

Washington 20-9 (11-7): The Huskies quietly won two games this past week, sweeping Utah and Colorado by a combined 27 points and will enter the Pac-12 tournament as the five seed. The Huskies still have arguably the best scorer in the country in junior guard Kelsey Plum who is averaging 26.5 points per game. When Plum gets her numbers, the Huskies are a dangerous team to play.

Oregon 20-9 (9-9): Could the Ducks have been dealt a worse hand this week? Not only did they lose senior guard Jillian Alleyne to a season-ending ACL tear, but they also lost fellow senior guard Jordan Loera to a knee injury as well. The Ducks were flying high until those injuries, and without Alleyne it’s hard to see the Ducks making much noise going forward.

Utah 16-13 (8-10): Well it hasn’t been the season that Utah has hoped for, losing 13 games thus far, but all’s not lost for the Utes. Head coach Lynne Roberts has been mighty impressive in her first year, and her team seems poised to make a big step up in the Pac-12 next season. Women’s basketball will be relevant in Salt Lake City next year.

USC 18-12 (6-12): Entering the conference tournament on a four game losing streak is a bad way to start off the postseason. The Trojans have lost seven of their last nine games, and are going to have to play OSU even if they win their first round game. Sorry USC, but this season is one that will have an ugly finish at the hands of the Beavers.

Washington State 14-15 (5-13): What can I say about the Cougars that I haven’t already said. They matchup against USC this weekend in the Pac-12 tournament, but OSU awaits them even if they beat the Trojans. Almost a nightmare draw for the lowly Cougars, but who knows maybe they can beat OSU and forever rid themselves of the name. “Couged it”

California 13-16 (4-14): California is going to be a deadly team next season. Cal did not have one graduating senior this year, and still almost beat OSU at home this past weekend. They have a lot of young talent, and will be a much improved team next season. Look out for the Golden Bears come 2016-2017.

Arizona 12-18 (3-15): Arizona finally ended their losing streak! After losing 11 straight games, the Wildcats defeated USC to get them back to their winning ways. The Wildcats are still a very long ways from being competitive in the Pac-12 consistently, but they are showing a lot of poise by not just showing in the towel on the season.

Colorado 7-22 (2-16): Well Colorado, your season of pain and suffering is almost over. The Buffs have only one more guranteed game this season, a matchup with the Washington Huskies. It’s safe to assume that UW will come away victorious in that matchup, and officially send the Buffs back to Boulder for an offseason of soul-searching.

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