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Your Day in Women’s Basketball, January 21: Shake-up in the Pac-12

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Aarion McDonald #2 of the Arizona Wildcats sets up a play against the Oregon Ducks during the Pac-12 Conference women’s basketball tournament semifinals at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on March 7, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks defeated the Wildcats 88-70. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 07: Aarion McDonald #2 of the Arizona Wildcats sets up a play against the Oregon Ducks during the Pac-12 Conference women’s basketball tournament semifinals at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on March 7, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ducks defeated the Wildcats 88-70. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Four Pac-12 programs hold spots in the latest top-25 national ranking

The Pac-12 has been abuzz this week and it all started on Sunday when the Colorado Buffaloes beat No. 1-ranked Stanford in a 77-72 overtime upset victory.

The last time Colorado beat Stanford was in the 2002 Sweet 16, when the Buffs were still in the Big 12 conference. It also marks their first-ever win over a top-ranked team.

You can check out a more detailed recap of the gametime action here, but today we are going to talk about the aftermath of that game, what else happened around the conference this week and what’s on deck for this weekend.

Honors for the Buffs

As you can probably guess, the Buffaloes’ upset performance didn’t go unrecognized by the conference’s powers that be. Following the win, Mya Hollingshed and Frida Formann received the Pac-12 Conference Player and Freshman of the Week honors, respectively.

Hollingshed put up a career-high 32 points and shot .500 from the field, including .400 from beyond the arc. She also tacked on 10 rebounds and five steals to her stat line to make for her sixth double-double of the year.

Hollingshed also picked up ESPN Women’s Hoops’ Player of the Week, while the team’s game as a whole was selected as the Win of the Week. Hollingshed is the program’s first Player of the Week since Arielle Roberson earned the honor back in December 2013. Formann, meanwhile, is the sixth Buff to receive Freshman of the Week.

Wildcats Dominate in Oregon

After dropping an overtime heartbreaker to the Washington State Cougars last week, Arizona managed to show why they’d been ranked in the top-ten every week this season up until that loss in Pullman.

The Wildcats pulled off a big 57-41 win over the then-No. 10 Oregon Ducks last Tuesday and then also beat Oregon State on Sunday 67-51, completing the sweep in the Beaver State.

Arizona is now back in the top ten (No. 10) and is currently in second in the Pac-12 conference, behind No. 5 Stanford.

More from NCAA

UCLA Jumps to No. 6

The Bruins claimed a No. 6 ranking in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, after being dubbed No. 8 last week. This marks the highest AP ranking for UCLA since the team was ranked fifth in Week 3 of the 2017 season. The jump comes after a thriller against the Cougs.

On Sunday, UCLA had an overtime 68-66 victory over then-No. 25 Washington State. Guard Charisma Osborne led all scores with 28 points, including 11 of the Bruins’ 13 points in overtime. Michaela Onyenwere also locked in her 28th-career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

UCLA has now earned a top-11 ranking in each of the last 29 weeks and have been ranked in the top 25 in 32 consecutive weeks.

This also means that four Pac-12 programs hold spots in the latest national ranking: Stanford (No. 5), UCLA (No. 6), Arizona (No. 10) and Oregon (13). Washington State and Arizona State are also receiving votes.

It’s not called the Conference of Champions for nothing.

Pac-12 Matchups: What to Watch This Weekend

There’s an extra bit of spice now, too, in that some top prospects have chosen to enroll early and are already on their new teams’ active rosters. This includes players like Arizona’s Madison Conner, UCLA’s Dominique Darius and Washington’s Jess Finney. It will be interesting to see how these players fit into the on-court equation moving forward.

  • Washington State at No. 13 Oregon: Friday, Jan. 22 at 5:00 p.m. PT
  • No. 6 UCLA at No. 5 Stanford: Friday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m. PT
  • Colorado at No. 10 Arizona: Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1:00 p.m. MT
  • Washington at No. 13 Oregon: Sunday, Jan. 24 at 2:00 p.m. PT
  • USC at No. 5 Stanford: Sunday, Jan. 24 at 4:00 p.m. PT

All games will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.

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