Late in the regular season, the Pac-12 remains the best conference in the country based on both NET ranking and number of teams projected as top-16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament by the selection committee.
Add to that list of bona fides a top contender for the best game of the season — or, at minimum, the premier finish of the season.
UCLA and Oregon State combined for 10 points and four lead changes in the final eight seconds on Friday, a heart-stopping thriller that was finally decided when OSU’s Talia von Oelhoffen drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
“This is what I came here for,” a tearful von Oelhoffen said. “Seeing Gill (Coliseum) full and being surrounded by the most amazing people. I told (coach) Scott (Rueck) after the game, ‘Thank you for never giving up on me.’
“I got to a point in my career where I didn’t know if this is what I wanted or if I was built for this. I just stayed with it. Not that we’ve done anything yet, but just super rewarding to look up and see people behind the rafters. I didn’t think it would take this long, but I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything.”
More than 8,500 fans experienced the late thrill ride that really began with three minutes left and UCLA leading 72-65. Oregon State went on a 9-0 run and led by two points at the 15-second mark.
Then came four straight daggers, any one of which would have won most games:
— UCLA’s Angela Dugalic, just back from Brazil, where she helped Serbia qualify for the Paris Olympics, made a 3-pointer at eight seconds.
— Von Oelhoffen answered with a layup with 2.9 seconds left.
— UCLA’s Lauren Betts hit a 15-footer at what was ruled, following a review, to be the 1.1-second mark.
— After a pair of timeouts, OSU’s Lily Hansford inbounded to von Oelhoffen, a junior guard who missed the end of last season due to injury.
She let it fly from the top of the key.
“We were trying to get the ball to TG (Timea Gardiner),” von Oelhoffen said. “She’d been making plays for us all night. She was the difference in this game. I might have made some of the last shots, but she made really big ones.
“So we were going to her and she drew attention so I knew I was going to be the second option. Like I thought they would, they helped and I knew I only had one second so I just let it go.”
The Beavers won their sixth game in a row and did so largely without star forward Raegan Beers, who suffered a broken nose when hit on a drive by UCLA’s Kiki Rice less than a minute into the second quarter.
Beers, who averages a double-double, did not play Sunday when USC ended Oregon State’s winning streak with a 58-50 victory in Gill. When asked about Beers’ return, Rueck said “hopefully soon.”
USC sweeps three games in seven days
USC was the Pac-12’s biggest winner last week with three victories in seven days — a stretch that began with a nationally televised game against Arizona on Feb. 12.
The Trojans dominated Oregon 88-51 on Friday, then cooled off Oregon State.
Star freshman JuJu Watkins scored 33 points against Oregon, her 10th game of at least 30, which ties the school single-season record set by Cheryl Miller in 1984-85. Watkins followed up with 18 points (on just 6-of-32 shooting) and 11 rebounds against Oregon State, a game USC never trailed.
The Trojans swept the Oregon schools on the road for the first time since 2012-13. Thanks to a six-game winning streak, they have climbed into a second-place tie with Oregon State and Colorado — all three are 10-4 in league play — behind Stanford, which is 12-2.
Those four teams, and UCLA, were among the top-16 seeds Thursday in the first of two NCAA Tournament early reveals.
The selection committee projected Stanford and Colorado as No. 1 seeds, UCLA as a No. 2 and Oregon State as a No. 3.
But that snapshot became dated a night later when Utah held off Colorado 77-76 in the only game of the weekend for those rivals.
Stanford fared much better in its second rivalry meeting against Cal, winning 84-49 to remain two games above the fray with four left in the regular season.
Playing at home, Utah built an 18-point lead over Colorado early in the third quarter but trailed by one with eight seconds remaining. Coach Lynne Roberts opted against using a timeout, and the decision paid off when Dasia Young drove for a game-winning layup in her first game back from concussion since Jan. 28.
“It was just rolling the dice and letting them make a play,” Roberts said. “I had a feeling if I called a timeout, it would play into Colorado’s hands and give them a chance to set up and plant a trap. For us, it was just get the ball and go, which is when we are at our best.”
Said Young: “I didn’t want to overthink or look for anyone else to do it, I just put the play in my hands and if we lost that would be on me and I was OK with that.
“As an upperclassman, I have to take that responsibility. I didn’t hope it would go in. I knew it was going to go in.”
Utah and UCLA are tied for fifth in the Pac-12, one game behind the trio of teams tied for second.
Washington plays five overtimes, goes 0-2
Arizona joined USC as the only teams to win multiple games last week as the Wildcats completed a home weekend sweep with a win over Washington 90-82 in triple overtime.
The Huskies were coming off a double-overtime loss to Arizona State on Friday, meaning they flew back to Seattle with an extra 25 minutes of wear and nary a victory to show for the extra effort.
Arizona played without forward Esmery Martinez (back injury) against Washington State but still won comfortably. Martinez returned Sunday when Isis Beh led the way with a career-high 29 points and Helen Pueyo, playing all 55 minutes, added 22.
The Wildcats overcame a four-point deficit late in regulation and a five-point hole in first overtime, then pulled away with a 13-2 run in third overtime.
Against ASU, the Huskies led for almost all of regulation — and by as many as 14 points — but couldn’t break a tie with the final shot in the fourth quarter.
The Sun Devils never trailed in overtime, although it took a second extra period to complete their first Pac-12 season series sweep under second-year coach Natasha Adair.
Washington State, which is projected to reach the NCAAs, won at ASU, its first victory since losing star guard Charlisse Leger-Walker to a season-ending knee injury Jan. 28.
“Really proud of our starters knowing this was urgent, this was desperation and we had to find a win,” to break a five-game losing streak, WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said.
“It was more roles changed (without Leger-Walker). Now Tara (Wallack) has to produce every single night. She’s not used to that. She was the second wheel or third wheel. It was an adjustment of leadership and the weight’s on you to perform.”
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