The 2023 Pac-12 Conference women’s basketball tournament was without a doubt an intense, eye-opening event. Though the strengths of the participating teams are represented through their rankings, win-loss records and rankings did not define the outcomes of this event. From March 1-5, 2023, in Las Vegas, 12 teams battled for the conference title: Stanford, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, UCLA, USC, Washington State, Washington, Oregon, UC Berkeley, Oregon State, and Arizona State. Stanford, Utah, Colorado, Arizona were given automatic spots in the quarterfinals because of their conference records. 

First Round: 

UCLA, Oregon, Washington State, and Oregon State emerged victorious in the first round of the conference tournament. UCLA and Arizona State scored very closely throughout their game, but the Bruins eventually won in overtime 81-70. Oregon and Washington were very close as well with the final score being 52-50, while Washington State dominated over UC Berkeley as they won by 12 points. The most unexpected upset of this round was the Oregon State win over USC. Beating the #6 Trojans by 8 points, Oregon State was ranked #11 in the conference. 

Quarterfinals: 

The Quarterfinals continued to bring the intensity! This round featured even more upsets. Out of the four games, 2 had expected victors, while the other 2 really changed things up. The Colorado vs. Oregon State game was one of the anticipated games. Colorado beat ORST by 8 points. The second expected result was from the matchup between Stanford and Oregon. The Cardinals, being co-season champions with Utah and the #1 ranked Pac-12 team, defeated the Ducks by 9 points. #5 UCLA surprised viewers as they beat #4 Arizona by a whopping 14 points! Prior to the conference tournament, Arizona had beat UCLA twice. The biggest upset of this round was Washington State’s win over Utah. Utah is ranked #2 in the conference and, as mentioned, was named co-season champions with Stanford. WSU is ranked #7 but they still came on top, winning by 8 points. 

Semifinals: 

The upsets just kept on coming! Both semifinal games brought surprise to all watching the tournament. #7 Washington State continued to dominate as they took down #3 Colorado by 11 points. UCLA’s win over Stanford was a significant upset, considering that the Bruins had already lost to the Cardinals twice. UCLA won by 4 points, stripping Stanford of their highly anticipated championship win in the tournament. 

Finals: 

UCLA vs. Washington State, a matchup no one expected for this year’s tournament. Going into the game, no one could confidently guess the winner; both teams had taken the tournament by storm and were playing so well that it was hard to tell. Continuing the “theme” of this tournament, this game was another upset! WSU beat UCLA by 4 points. Though the Bruins had a very strong start, the Cougars finished with a bang. 

This championship win was important for Washington State because it was the first Pac-12 women’s title for any sport. The team was led by Charlisse Leger-Walker, named the finals MVP, Bella Murekatete, and Astera Tuhina. With their win in the tournament, WSU was given an automatic bid to the NCAA D1 women’s tournament. As mid-March is around the corner, fans get ready for the March Madness Tournament.