EUGENE, Ore. – Third-seeded Stanford women's lacrosse fell to second-seeded Colorado, 16-9, in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament on Friday night at Pape Field.
No. 20 Stanford finishes the season at 13-5 overall. All five defeats were at the hands of top 25 opponents, including two apiece to Pac-12 foes Colorado and USC, who will play for the conference title on Sunday.
Senior Areta Buness led the Cardinal with three goals and senior Genesis Lucero finished with a game-high nine draw controls.
How It Happened
Colorado (10-6) scored first, but Stanford responded with four of the next five. In that run, Buness scored twice and gave the Cardinal a 4-2 lead at the 19:52 mark of the opening half.
The Buffaloes answered with three to regain the lead before junior Jacie Lemos tied it again, 5-5, with 13:06 left in the half.
Two more went in for Colorado before sophomore Ali Baiocco buried her 50th goal of the season. She became the fourth Cardinal to reach that milestone and closed the gap to 7-6 with 6:43 until the break.
In the final seconds of the half, Lemos stopped a string of three straight Colorado goals with her second tally and closed the gap to 10-7 at intermission.
Senior Daniella McMahon scored less than two minutes into the second half to get within 10-8, but Colorado responded with the next five.
Stanford halted a 25-minute scoreless streak when Buness scored to make it 15-9 with 3:00 to play.
By the Numbers
Behind Lucero, Stanford held the edge in draw controls, 19-8. Buness won six and senior Julia Massaro added a pair as she became the first player in school history to reach 100 draw controls in a season.
Stanford caused seven turnovers. Lemos led the team with two and also finished with two goals, an assist and two ground balls. Baiocco and sophomore Katherine Gjertsen each finished with a goal and an assist.
Colorado held the advantage in shots, 29-27, and ground balls, 19-16.
Notables
Stanford, which defeated Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game last season, lost for the first time in the two-year history of the conference tournament and is now 3-1 all-time in the event ... Baiocco joined Kelsey Murray (2017 and 2018), Hedy Born (1998) and Katharine Barnes (1999) as the only players in school history with 50 goals in a season ... Lucero finished the tournament with 19 draw controls in two games.
Next Up
Stanford awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. The NCAA selection show is slated for Sunday, May 5 at 6 p.m. PT and will be broadcasted on NCAA.com.
