SEATTLE, Wash. – Freshman Marta Sniezek had more assists than any Stanford player since 1991 and the No. 11 Cardinal cut a 16-point second-half deficit to two late in the fourth, but Washington turned back the rally and eliminated Stanford Friday night in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals, 73-65.
UW's Kelsey Plum, who entered the game third in the nation in scoring, scored on a drive down the lane to put Washington up 65-53 with 5:41 remaining. Stanford (24-7) answered with a 12-2 run, pulling within 67-65 with 2:43 left on a 3-pointer by Lili Thompson, her third of the quarter.
Katie Collier's free throw with 2:11 left made it 68-65 and Talia Walton nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to put the Huskies (22-9) up 71-65 with 23 seconds left as the Cardinal missed its final five shots.
Erica McCall had 22 points and Karlie Samuelson and Thompson each added 14 for Stanford, which had won 11 of the previous 14 Pac-12 tournament titles and never lost in the quarterfinals.
Walton finished with 19 and Collier added 13 for Washington, which advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2004.
Sniezek had a Pac-12 Tournament record 13 assists and zero turnovers in 24 minutes off the bench. Her assist total is tied for third in program history and only equaled by a pair of Stanford greats in Jennifer Azzi and Sonja Henning. Azzi had a program-record 16 on Jan. 15, 1987 against BYU while Henning handed out 15 at Cal on March 1, 1991. Azzi also had 13 against Arizona on Jan. 24, 1987 and Henning the same number against Arkansas on March 24, 1990.
Plum's game-high 29 points pushed her career total to 2,282 to move her past Jazmine Davis (2,277) for the top spot in Washington history. She hit two free throws with 7:46 left in the third quarter to push the Huskies' lead to 44-28. McCall then scored all of Stanford's points in a 9-2 run to make it 46-37.
Plum's three-point play with 1:34 left put Washington up 56-40 -- and moved her past Jazmine Davis as the Huskies' all-time scoring leader. The Cardinal scored the final five points to pull within 56-45 entering the fourth quarter.
The Huskies put together a 10-2 run late in the first quarter, capped by Plum's 3-pointer for a 20-12 lead.
Washington opened the second quarter with a 7-2 spurt to push the lead to 27-16. Alexus Atchley's layup with 31 seconds left gave their Huskies the biggest lead of the half at 37-23.