[M T]

Somewhat troubling:  WSU out rebounded us 40/38, and 13/12 offensively.
Once Tara took Chiney out of the game, WSU slightly closed the lead

Chiney & Amber were pulled with > 10 minutes to play, Jos with 7:30.  Over the last 10 minutes, Stanford had 8+2 rebounds while WSU had 11+6 rebounds.  So, before that point Stanford had 18+10 while WSU had 16+7.  So, yes, our subs did get outrebounded.  The lead was 30 with 9:46 to go, and only 20 with 4:18 to go.

Regarding a #1 seed...  Don't forget that ND and UConn will play on Monday and then maybe once again.  Probably best for the PAC-12 is for ND to lose twice, which I would expect knock ND to lower ranked than at least one of Stanford and C.al.  Were ND to lose twice and Stanford to lose, I'm not sure what would happen.  I think Stanford has clearly indicated superiority to C.al because C.al had 6 wins against common opponents where they won by 5 points or less, but Stanford's closest game in those was by 9 points.

Duke has NC on Sunday and could face Maryland and/or NC in their tourney (I haven't looked at matchups). 

If Duke lost a game and ND lost two, then if Stanford lost to C.al, is it possible that both Stanford & C.al could get #1 seedings?
In that scenario, the losses would be Baylor:1, UConn:2, ND: 3, Duke:2, Stanford: 3, C.al: 2, Penn St: 3, TN: 5, MD: 5, ...
No, I think they'd seed Duke as a #1.  So, unless Duke & ND each lose 2, I don't see the PAC-12 getting two #1s.  If ND splits with UConn, Duke wins out, and Stanford loses, then the PAC-12 will likely get two #2s.  I think Baylor & UConn will get #1 seeds even if they lose 2 each.  So if UConn loses 2, three of the #1 seeds would be Baylor, UConn, ND.

It is hard to judge because our recent quality of opponent has been down, but I think Stanford has really started putting it together.  We've still got weak spots (erratic 3-pt shooting, IMO a not-so-great point guard, and this reliance on the person who has demonstrated she should be chosen as player of the year) but the additional playing time has really helped everyone.  Ruef's presence in the middle has helped take the multi-defender burden off Chiney, and freed up Jos to spend more time on the outside (where she goes anyway).  Bonnie has really played well, but I'm not sure she'll do as well against tough, top opponents. (However, she won't be as obvious a person to pick on.)  Sara hasn't developed the cut to the basket that I hoped she would, but with her in, we rarely wind up with a desperate last second shot. Taylor hasn't developed to the level of her promise last year.  Amber is shooting well, her passes are less often "Oops!", and she's less often catching my eye with lazy defensive plays that give away baskets (such as 14:05 in the first today), but she still seems to be trying to hit home runs rather than doing the things that her position calls for.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen C.al play recently, so I can't really judge.  They really played us tough last time, but they've had too many close calls to really be considered as good.  But what did we do wrong, or, rather, how do we play better against them?

[M T]

Somewhat troubling:  WSU out rebounded us 40/38, and 13/12 offensively.
Once Tara took Chiney out of the game, WSU slightly closed the lead

Chiney & Amber were pulled with > 10 minutes to play, Jos with 7:30.  Over the last 10 minutes, Stanford had 8+2 rebounds while WSU had 11+6 rebounds.  So, before that point Stanford had 18+10 while WSU had 16+7.  So, yes, our subs did get outrebounded.  The lead was 30 with 9:46 to go, and only 20 with 4:18 to go.

Regarding a #1 seed...  Don't forget that ND and UConn will play on Monday and then maybe once again.  Probably best for the PAC-12 is for ND to lose twice, which I would expect knock ND to lower ranked than at least one of Stanford and C.al.  Were ND to lose twice and Stanford to lose, I'm not sure what would happen.  I think Stanford has clearly indicated superiority to C.al because C.al had 6 wins against common opponents where they won by 5 points or less, but Stanford's closest game in those was by 9 points.

Duke has NC on Sunday and could face Maryland and/or NC in their tourney (I haven't looked at matchups). 

If Duke lost a game and ND lost two, then if Stanford lost to C.al, is it possible that both Stanford & C.al could get #1 seedings?
In that scenario, the losses would be Baylor:1, UConn:2, ND: 3, Duke:2, Stanford: 3, C.al: 2, Penn St: 3, TN: 5, MD: 5, ...
No, I think they'd seed Duke as a #1.  So, unless Duke & ND each lose 2, I don't see the PAC-12 getting two #1s.  If ND splits with UConn, Duke wins out, and Stanford loses, then the PAC-12 will likely get two #2s.  I think Baylor & UConn will get #1 seeds even if they lose 2 each.  So if UConn loses 2, three of the #1 seeds would be Baylor, UConn, ND.

It is hard to judge because our recent quality of opponent has been down, but I think Stanford has really started putting it together.  We've still got weak spots (erratic 3-pt shooting, IMO a not-so-great point guard, and this reliance on the person who has demonstrated she should be chosen as player of the year) but the additional playing time has really helped everyone.  Ruef's presence in the middle has helped take the multi-defender burden off Chiney, and freed up Jos to spend more time on the outside (where she goes anyway).  Bonnie has really played well, but I'm not sure she'll do as well against tough, top opponents. (However, she won't be as obvious a person to pick on.)  Sara hasn't developed the cut to the basket that I hoped she would, but with her in, we rarely wind up with a desperate last second shot. Taylor hasn't developed to the level of her promise last year.  Amber is shooting well, her passes are less often "Oops!", and she's less often catching my eye with lazy defensive plays that give away baskets (such as 14:05 in the first today), but she still seems to be trying to hit home runs rather than doing the things that her position calls for.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen C.al play recently, so I can't really judge.  They really played us tough last time, but they've had too many close calls to really be considered as good.  But what did we do wrong, or, rather, how do we play better against them?