After an immensely rewarding first round of action for the five Pac 10 teams, the second round was a bit of a let down. ESPN/ESPN2 did not show any of the Oregon-Baylor game so I'm not sure what happened during the contest, but the end result was that the Ducks were blown out. I wasn't expecting Oregon to win, however I had hoped that they would at least keep the score close. I had even less expectations for Arizona. After the way they played the first game I didn't think they stood much of a chance at all against LSU. And they didn't.
The other three games were much more entertaining. Stanford steadily pulled away and ended up winning the game by a wide margin. It felt closer than it actually was. Candice got in early foul trouble and had to sit for extended periods of time throughout the game. Her stats reflect this. Fortunately, Brooke Smith had a field day on the inside. And Azella put in a very strong performance (I think she went 6 for 6 and had some key rebounds). It's always good to see Azella doing well. Other than that, it was just your average Stanford victory. I am a bit concerned about the slow starts we have had in the first two games. We're going to need to come out of the blocks a lot stronger against Connecticut. I'm also worried about how ready Thiel is after having a cast on her foot for the past many weeks. She gives us a huge presence in the key and is a rebounding machine. She's a strength player as opposed to Brooke's finesse. We'll need her against UConn and I hope it doesn't take her too long to shake the cobwebs loose once she enters the game. Although, if Brooke Smith has another monster game, we might be able to keep T'nae on the sidelines.
Arizona State took out Notre Dame with a very impressive second half which was a good thing because the first half was forgettable. The Irish played excellent defense and Arizona State had too many turnovers during the first twenty minutes. They went long stretches of time without scoring the ball but, towards the end of the half, they started gelling out there. They fed off their always strong defense and cut the lead to a manageable margin with a three pointer at the buzzer. The second half was a whole different story. The Sun Devils came out on fire and quickly made up the five point deficit. They kept Notre Dame off balance and, even though the score remained close for a while, it was clear that they were dictating the pace of the game. Emily Westerberg had a great game but my personal favorite was Carrie Buckner, who is just a tenacious defender - she reminds me a lot of one of my favorite Cardinal, Sarah Dimson.
USC put up a fight but there were times in the game where they were just terrible. They kept making these slow, high arcing passes around the perimeter and into the low post that would get intercepted. I don't know how many times they turned the ball over but it just looked really bad for a while. The Spartan players would step around the Trojans, who were waiting for the ball, and pick off the pass. I felt like yelling through the TV, "Come TO the pass." I understand why you wouldn't want to give up your position in the low block by coming to the pass, but there was no excuse on the perimeter. After a couple of steals for easy lay-ups, you would think they would either make harder passes or come to the ball. It just killed me to see them give up so many easy baskets like that. Even with that sloppy play they almost managed to have a shot at winning the game. They kept just ahead of Michigan State until the final minute or so when the Spartans took the lead on a three. USC answered right back to tie the game and it was going to come down to their defense. They blocked the shot, had the rebound, but then the ball got batted to the ground and pinballed between diving players until a Spartan picked it up and put in a lay-up with 2.9 seconds left. Not a lot to do at that point but draw up a play and go for the long pass but a Trojan stepped over the line before inbounding the ball and that turnover should've been the game. For some odd reason, Michigan State threw the ball almost to half court where USC intercepted the inbounds, got a pass off, and almost had a shot from just beyond the three point arc. Actually, the Trojan who intercepted the pass got fouled and should've shot one plus one but there was no call. I don't think the three pointer got off in time and Michigan State won by two. Man, USC really didn't play that well over significant stretches of the first half and still managed to almost upset the number one seed. It's a shame that a good fight had to come down to fifteen seconds of rugby at the end.
Some quick thoughts on non-Pac 10 action: Liberty continues to be impressive. They dispatched DePaul rather handily and look much better than your average 13 seed. Duke, Connecticut, and Tennessee all looked strong. They're going to be tough.
