Pac-10 women’s tournament: Stanford rolls UCLA, 70-46, in championship

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Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer wanted history, and history she got.

Her No. 2-ranked Cardinal beat UCLA, 70-46, Sunday in the State Farm Pacific 10 Conference women’s tournament final, becoming the first team in the history of the tournament to have an undefeated league record and win the tournament championship. The Cardinal went 18-0 in Pac-10 play in the regular season.

Stanford’s dominating win came on the strength of its front line, which was bolstered by star center Jayne Appel, who had been hobbled by a sprained right ankle but played for most of Sunday’s game. She finished with 15 points on seven-for-11 shooting from the field. Another key contributor was Pac-10 player of the year Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who finished with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford.

In the points-in-the-paint category, Stanford held a 35-22 edge.

For top-seeded Stanford, which has played in all nine conference tournament title games since the event began in 2002, Sunday marked its seventh championship.

For the second-seeded Bruins, it was their second appearance, the other being a 2006 title win in overtime against Stanford. Jasmine Dixon led UCLA with 20 points on six-for-13 shooting.

Though Stanford (31-1) earned an automatic NCAA tournament bid with the win, the Cardinal was already a lock, and is expected to be one of the four No. 1-seeded teams when the tournament bids are announced Monday. UCLA (24-8) is also considered a lock for the NCAA tournament.

-- Baxter Holmes