Photos

Amber Orrange found her way to the basket once it became evident Chiney Ogwumike would be denied her usual route.

UCLA became the first team all season to find a way to slow Ogwumike down, limiting her to three points, and nothing over the final 28 minutes. The Bruins couldn't solve Orrange though and that was a good thing for the Stanford women's basketball team.

Orrange scored with seven seconds left to help the fourth-ranked Cardinal slip past UCLA, 51-49, in Sunday's Pac-12 tournament championship contest at KeyArena in Seattle.

"I was just thinking I want to win. I want to win. I'll do whatever it takes," Orrange said. "I just looked for opportunities to take chances on plays on offense and defense and luckily it worked out."

Ogumwike, who set or tied five Pac-12 tournament records this week, was named the tournament's MVP. Orrange was also named to the all-tournament team.

The Bruins led by seven points with just over seven minutes remaining to play. Ogwumike, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, was 1 of 9 from the field and had 10 rebounds. The rest of the game belonged to Orrange, who scored 14 of her career 20 points in the second half.

"Tournaments are won by guards, and Amber was the best guard on the floor," Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Amber put our team on her back today."

The Cardinal won its seventh straight tournament title to earn the Pac-12's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament field, which will be announced Monday. Stanford will likely be awarded one of the four No. 1 seeds.

(Championship photo posted by Stanford women's basketball official twitter account can be found here: Fans ... your 10x Pac12 Tournament Champions!)

The come-from-behind victory allowed Stanford to extend its winning streak to 17. The Cardinal will host the first two rounds.

Orrange scored 10 of Stanford's final 12 points as the teams exchanged lead seven times in the second half. Orrange's drive pulled Stanford even at 47 with 1:38 left.

Mikaela Ruef's basket with 50 seconds left gave the Cardinal the lead and after Markel Walker scored for UCLA, Orrange spun through two defenders for the winning score.

Stanford scored the game's first 11 points and led, 14-4, when Ogwumike went to the bench with two fouls. She sat the rest of the first half. The Bruins rallied to take a 27-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"Today was a great day as a team," Ogwumike said. "I think throughout the year, what I've been telling you is exactly how I felt. Every game we look for someone to step up. I knew the day was coming when things would be really hard for me, and I really hoped it wouldn't be the Pac-12 championship, but it was.

"I think tonight was a true testament to team basketball, and what we mean." Ogwumike said. "We're sisters at Stanford. No matter what situation, we stick together. Yeah, I'm just really proud of this team and their effort.

"Coach told me with like about 7 or 8 minutes left, 'Chiney, you can't do this by yourself.' After that, I knew this is Amber's night. She had the best feel of the game out of anyone on the team."

Stanford beat the Bruins for the 16th consecutive time, a streak that began after UCLA won the 2006 Pac-12 tournament title.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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