By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal won their 11th Pac-12 title on Sunday evening with a victory over their rival, Cal, by the score of 61-60. 

Add another page to the Stanford and Cal rivalry, as the two duked it out for the Pac-12 Championship in Seattle on Sunday evening.  It was the Stanford Cardinal that cut down the nets, as they defeated the Bears 61-60 in a nail bitter. The victory marks the 11th conference title for the Cardinal, as they clinch the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, where they are expected to be given the fourth seed in the Oklahoma City region and host the first two rounds of the tournament.  The Cal Bears have never won the Pac-12 Championship, and will have to try next year without star players Brittany Boyd and Rashanda Grey, who will be graduating.

The Cardinal did a great job holding the All-American finalist, as they scored a combined 13 points, way down from the 30 they average every night.  Unfortunately for the Bears, Grey was injured just minutes in.  She had to leave the court and ended up getting four stitches just underneath her right eye.  The injury occurred going for a rebound against Stanford freshman, Brittany McPhee.  As both players went up for the rebound, McPhee’s elbow came down and struck Boyd accidentally causing a small gash.

The Bears weren’t having any trouble without Grey early on, expanding their lead to nine, as Stanford went ice cold from the field.  Senior, Amber Orrange, ended the run with two free throws to pull the game to a seven point lead for the Bears.  Stanford’s drought would continue, allowing the Bears to grow the lead, as they went five minutes without a field goal.  However, they would push strong in the second part of the first half to make the deficit just two going into the break.

The second half would be just as close, as Stanford had the upper hand of just three points to give them the one point victory.  The difference maker was once again, senior, Taylor Greenfield, who finished the night with a career high 20 points.  Greenfield was also the difference maker in the semi-final victory over ASU, as she scored 17 on Saturday night.  Her amazing play over the two nights was good enough to be named tournament MVP.

Lili Thompson was second on the Cardinal in scoring, as she finished the night off with 13 points.  Orrange closely followed with 12.

Mercedes Jefflo continued to play extremely well, as the sophomore led the Bears with 16, keeping her team in the ball game.  She finished the night off nailing a three-pointer from the top of the key as the buzzard sounded to cut the loss to one.

Even with the loss, Cal is still expected to make the NCAA tournament, and are also expected to be a fourth seed in the tournament.  Like Stanford, the Berkley is also a host site for the first two rounds of the tournament, but in the Albany region.  Cal is expected to be a home team for the first two rounds.