2002 Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket
Friday, March 1 Saturday, March 2 Sunday, March 3 Monday, March 4
No. 7 Oregon
6:30 p.m.
No. 10 Washington State_
Noon
No. 2 Washington
No. 6 UCLA
No. 3 Arizona State
2:15 p.m.
No. 6 Arizona
No. 1 Stanford
6 p.m.
No. 4 USC
No. 5 Oregon State
8:15 p.m.
12:30 p.m.
Fox Sports Net
7:30 p.m.
Fox Sports Net
Tournament Champion
3 p.m.
Fox Sports Net
Scouting the Pac
10. Washington State
Record: 2-26 overall, 0-18 Pac-10
Scoring offense: 55.8 ppg
Scoring defense: 78.5 ppg
Watch: Brittney Hawks, C, 12.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg
At least the Cougars will have a big crowd
watching them.
Washington State gets the unenviable
task of opening the Pac-10 Tournament
against host Oregon at 6:30 p.m. tonight.
The Cougars began the season with two
wins in their first five games. Since then,
they’ve lost 23 straight, including all 18
league games — the only Pac-10 team to
ever do so. Against the Ducks, Washing
ton State lost 76-47 on the road and 88-47
at home.
There is a bright spot to playing at
McArthur Court for the Cougars, as it is
the site of their biggest win in recent
memory. On Feb. 15, 2001, Joanna Smith
scored with five-tenths of a second left
to lift Washington State to a 77-76 victory
at Oregon.
Smith has now departed, and if the
Cougars are going to have any chance of
shocking Oregon at the Pit, they’ll need big
games from Brittney Hawks and Whitney
Martindale. Hawks leads the Pac-10 with 12
double-doubles and became the first Cougar
to lead the league in rebounding. In both
games against the Ducks this season, Mar
tindale has led Washington State in scoring
with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Washington State’s closest Pac-10 loss
this season was a 75-68 defeat at home
against the rival Huskies. Should Washing
ton State upset Oregon, the Cougars would
play Washington at noon on Saturday.
—Jeff Smith
HAWKS
Record: 15-12 overall, 10-8 Pac-10
Scoring offense: 71.3 ppg
Scoring defense: 66.7 ppg
Watch: Shaquala Williams, G, 17.4 ppg,
4.2 apg
The Ducks have had a frustrating season
under first-year head coach Bev Smith, but
with home-court advantage for the Pac-10
Tournament, Oregon could erase any blem
ishes this year may have caused.
Oregon has already secured its ninth
consecutive winning season, but the Ducks
need a strong showing here this weekend
in order to make a ninth consecutive trip to
the NCAA Tournament.
The backcourt of Williams, and seniors
Edniesha Curry and Jamie Craighead,
lead the Ducks into the first game of the
tournament tonight against Washington
State, a team Oregon beat twice this year
by an average margin of 35 points.
“What better opportunity to start the
tournament off right — we just have to take
advantage of it,” Smith said.
Assuming the Ducks can get by the
Cougars, they’ll face Washington at noon
Saturday. Oregon split the season series
with the Huskies, with Washington win
ning 88-80 in Seattle last weekend.
—Adam Jude
2. Washington
Record: 17-10 overall, 12-6 Pac-10
Scoring offense: 73.4 ppg
Scoring defense: 65.5 ppg
Watch: Giuliana Mendiola, G, 12.0 ppg,
5.6 rpg
Coming into the Pac-10 Tournament, the
Huskies have won seven of their last nine
games, with the losses coming against No. 1
seed Stanford and an overtime loss against
Oregon State on Feb. 21.
Washington, known for their offense,
features a balanced scoring attack, with
four players averaging in double figures
in scoring — Loree Payne (14.1 ppg),
Mendiola (12.0), Andrea Lalum (11.6)
and Emily Autrey (10.1). Seven different
players have led the team in scoring this
year, including a 31-point game by Men
diola against Oregon in the final regular
season matchup.
The Ducks are the probable opponent
for Washington, as the Huskies will face
the winner of the No. 7 Oregon/No. 10
Washington State game on Saturday.
Washington has not won at McArthur
Court since 1993.
In the two regular season meetings be
tween the two Washington schools, the
Huskies defeated the Cougars 98-64
on Dec. 21 in Seattle and 75-68 on Jan.
25 in Pullman.
Against Oregon, the Huskies lost the
first meeting this year in Eugene, 69-56,
Dec. 28, and then avenged the loss in
Seattle, 88-80, last Saturday. In the second
game, the Huskies won without Lalum,
who had injured her ankle two days ear
lier against Oregon State. The injured an
kle may still be a factor in the throughout
the tournament.
Chris Cabot