March 5, 2002
By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer
EUGENE, Ore. - Amanda Levens scored 17 of her 22 points in the second half as Arizona State ended second-ranked Stanford's 22-game winning streak with a 70-63 victory Monday night to win the inaugural Pac-10 women's tournament.
Melody Johnson and Cian Carvalho each added 13 points for the Sun Devils (24-8), who earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and have their biggest win total since the 1981-82 team went 25-7.
Enjoli Izidor scored a season-high 20 points, and Pac-10 player of the year Nicole Powell had 19 points and 10 rebounds but shot just 4-of-17 for the Cardinal (30-2).
Stanford, which had won all 20 of its conference games by an average of 21 points, never could put away the Sun Devils, who took the lead for good with 12:25 to go, on a free throw by Levens. She missed the second, but teammate Carrie Buckner grabbed the rebound and fed Levens for a 3-pointer that made it 46-42.
Stanford got to 55-53 5:06 to play, but couldn't draw any closer.
The win was sweet for Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne, who played for Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer in the 1980s but was only 1-9 with the Sun Devils against her mentor.
Powell, who averaged 23.7 points in her three games, was selected the tournament MVP.
Stanford went ahead 40-31 early in the second half when T'Nae Thiel hit a 3-pointer and Izidor converted a layup.
Levens, who scored all the points during a key 13-0 run to beat Oregon in the semifinals, found her range again, scoring another 13 as Arizona State rallied to take a 53-47 lead with 8:29 left.
Stanford got within two points but let the Sun Devils have one too many easy layups. Kylan Loney's basket pushed the lead to 59-55, and a drive by Levens made it 63-55.
After Powell missed a 3-pointer, Levens hit a leaning jumper to make it 63-55 with 1:36 left.
Stanford had an uncharacteristically sloppy game, committing 21 turnovers and shooting just 36 percent in the second half.
The Sun Devils took an early 12-6 lead, but as with its two previous games, Stanford responded quickly. Powell hit a short leaning jumper, then fed Sebnem Kimyacioglu for a layup and free throw to cap a 13-0 run.
Unlike the Cardinal's other two opponents, however, Arizona State didn't fold. Betsy Boardman finished an 11-2 run with a 3-pointer, and Loney's 3 put the Sun Devils back in front 26-25.
Stanford scored the last five points of the half and the first five points of the second. Arizona State gave away three points when Carvalho pushed Powell in the back as she launched a jumper with two-tenths of a second left. Powell made all three free throws.