Skip to main content

This year in Pac-12 Women's Basketball

Apr 10, 2017

Download Complete Release (PDF)

• The Pac-12 advanced a team to the NCAA Women’s Final Four for the ninth time in 10 years after STANFORD made its 13th all-time trip to the national semifinal. It came on the heels of the Conference earning a record seven NCAA Tournament bids. An additional three teams also earned WNIT bids.

• Pac-12 teams won a league-record 15 NCAA Tournament games (15-7) this season, placing two teams in the Elite Eight for the second-straight year. Pac-12 teams were 7-0 in the first round also setting a Conference record. With a record 10 teams in the postseason, the Pac-12 combined for a 22 wins (22-10).

• The Pac-12 was the best-represented conference in the Sweet Sixteen after a league-record five teams advanced that far with two teams earning a spot in the Elite Eight (Oregon and Stanford).

• WASHINGTON STATE advanced to the WNIT semifinal after winning its first-ever postseason game in the first round. All but one of its WNIT games was on the road.

• Five Pac-12 teams earned a ranking in one or both final national polls, including five appearing in the last WBCA/USA Today Coaches poll of the season, tying a league record that was set last year. Four were ranked in the in the final Associated Press poll, also tying a league mark set last year.

• For the fourth-consecutive year, the Pac-12 has had at least five NCAA Tournament teams. OREGON STATE and STANFORD each earned No. 2 seeds, the highest-seeded Pac-12 teams, and WASHINGTON was a No. 3 seed, earning its highest seeding since 1995. UCLA was also a No. 4 seed, the fourth time in seven years the Bruins have received a top-five seeding, and No. 10 seed OREGON received an invite for the first time since 2005. COLORADO, UTAH and WSU earned WNIT bids.

• The 10th-seeded Ducks advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever, upsetting No. 7-seed Temple and No. 2-seed Duke in Durham, N.C., to get to the third round. No. 8 seed ARIZONA STATE and No. 9-seed CALIFORNIA  also made it out of the first round.

• Washington’s Kelsey Plum graduates as the most-decorated women’s basketball player in Pac-12 history. She is a unanimous national player of the year award winner, taking home the Wade Trophy, Naismith Award, John R. Wooden Award, and Associated Press, USBWA and ESPNW Player of the Year honors. She also claimed the Dawn Staley and Nancy Lieberman Awards for the top point guard in the nation. Plums also leaves her mark in the record books, breaking several marks including the NCAA’s all-time scoring record.

• This season also marked a historic milestone for Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, who claimed her 1,000th-career victory becoming one of only three men’s or women’s Division I head coaches to reach the milestone.

• For the second-straight year, a Pac-12 player also claimed the USBWA National Freshman of the Year honor, this year going to Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu.

• Stanford claimed its 12th Pac-12 Tournament title in Seattle, coming back from a 13-point deficit. Plum was the 2017 Pac-12 Player of the Year, Ionescu was voted the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and OSU’s Gabriella Hanson was voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. The Beavs’ Scott Rueck is the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the second time in three years.

NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS

FIRST ROUND (Regional)  
#13 Boise State vs #3 UCLA (Bridgeport) UCLA, 83-56
#7 Temple vs #10 Oregon (Bridgeport) ORE, 71-70
#2 Stanford vs #15 New Mexico State (Lexington) STAN, 72-64
#8 LSU vs #9 California (Oklahoma City) CAL, 55-52
#3 Washington vs #14 Montana State (Oklahoma City) WASH, 91-63
#8 Arizona State vs #9 Michigan State (Stockton) ASU. 73-61
#2 Oregon State vs #15 Long Beach State (Stockton) OSU, 56-55
SECOND ROUND (Regional)  
#5 Texas A&M vs #4 UCLA (Bridgeport) UCLA, 75-43
#10 Oregon vs #2 Duke (Bridgeport) ORE, 74-65
#7 Kansas State vs #2 Stanford (Lexington) STAN, 72-64
#1 Baylor vs #9 California (Oklahoma City) BAYLOR, 97-63
#6 Oklahoma vs #3 Washington (Oklahoma CIty) WASH, 108-82
#1 South Carolina vs #8 Arizona State (Stockton) USC, 71-68
#2 Oregon State vs #7 Creighton (Stockton) OSU, 64-52
SWEET SIXTEEN (Regional)  
#1 UConn vs #4 UCLA (Bridgeport) UCONN, 86-71
#10 Oregon vs #3 Maryland (Bridgeport) ORE, 77-63
#2 Stanford vs #3 Texas (Lexington) STAN, 77-63
#3 Washington vs #2 Mississippi State (Oklahoma City) MISS, 75-64
#3 Florida State vs #2 Oregon State (Stockton) FSU, 66-53
ELITE EIGHT (Regional)  
#1 UConn vs #10 Oregon (Bridgeport) UCONN, 90-52
#1 Notre Dame vs #2 Stanford (Lexington) STAN, 76-75
NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR • DALLAS  
#2 STANFORD vs. #1 South Carolina  SC, 62-53

WNIT RESULTS

UC Davis at Utah (First Round) UCD, 72-62
UNLV at Colorado (First Round) COLO, 66-52
Washington State at BYU (First Round) WSU, 72-64
Colorado at South Dakota State (Second Round) COLO, 81-75
Washington State at Wyoming (Second Round) WSU, 68-67
Colorado at Iowa (Third Round) IOWA, 80-62
UC Davis at Washington State (Third Round) WSU, 71-62
Washington State at Iowa (Quarterfinals) WSU, 74-66
Washington State at Georgia Tech (Semifinal) GT, 69-61