Pac-10 women’s tournament: Bears top Sun Devils, 60-50, advance to Saturday’s semifinal round

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Fourth-seed California topped fifth-seed Arizona State, 60-50, Friday at the Galen Center, advancing to Saturday’s semifinal round of the State Farm Pac-10 women’s tournament, where they’ll take on the winner of the game coming up next between top-seed Stanford and eighth-seed Arizona.

The game was knotted throughout but the Bears were able to pull away late in the second half behind the play of freshman center DeNesha Stallworth and senior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson, who combined for 29 points on 12-of-29 shooting from the floor. They checked out of the game with 39.2 seconds to loud applause.
Junior Forward Becca Tobin led the Sun Devils with eight points.

The Bears shot 22 of 51 from the floor while Arizona State shot 17 of 57. The key was rebounding, though, as the Bears grabbed 41 boards while the Sun Devils got just 29. In that same vein, California had 30 points in the paint, whereas ASU had 18.

With 3:45 left in the second half, California’s Rachelle Federico was assessed a flagrant foul and was ejected after she swung an elbow, hitting Arizona State’s Danielle Orsillo in the face. Orsillo, a senior from Oroville, Calif., lay on the court for several seconds after being struck. She missed both ensuing free throws.

‘That’s not Mooch, that’s not our team,’ California Coach Joanne Boyle said. ‘I think she was just trying to clear space. In a tournament to throw a kid out...I know Mooch and she wasn’t doing anything to harm the kid.’

Arizona State Coach Charli Turner Thorne declined comment on the call.

[Update 1:42 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from California Coach Joanne Boyle on the flagrant foul that occurred with 3:45 in the first half.]

-- Baxter Holmes