Stanford women edge UCLA in Pac-12 final NO. 4 STANFORD 51, NO. 14 UCLA 49

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Seattle -- - It will look like a misprint in the box score, but, yes, Chiney Ogwumike scored just three points Sunday night - and Stanford won anyway.

For that, the Cardinal can thank their soft-spoken point guard, Amber Orrange, who scored a career-high 20 points and hit a driving layup with seven seconds left to beat UCLA 51-49 in the final of the Pac-12 tournament at KeyArena.

The 5-foot-7 sophomore has come up big before, most notably in last year's NCAA Tournament second round when she had 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 72-55 win over West Virginia.

"We had more around her last year (including All-American Nneka Ogwumike), so I think this was the best game" of her Stanford career, head coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Tournaments are won by guards, and Amber was the best guard on the floor."

It was Stanford's seventh straight conference tournament title and its 10th in the 12-year-old event. But it didn't look as if it would happen when the Bruins held a seven-point lead with just over seven minutes left.

Orrange scored 10 of the final 14 points for No. 4 Stanford (31-2), which probably would have received one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament even if they had lost to the No. 14 Bruins (25-7).

"Our team had to grit it out," VanDerveer said. "Quite honestly, we haven't had to do that a lot this year. And we learned a lot about ourselves."

Stanford's Amber Orrange and UCLA's Jasmine Dixon dive for the ball during the first half. Stanford's Amber Orrange and UCLA's Jasmine Dixon dive for the ball during the first half. Photo: Elaine Thompson, Associated Press Photo: Elaine Thompson, Associated Press Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Stanford women edge UCLA in Pac-12 final 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

With UCLA holding a 44-37 lead, Joslyn Tinkle - fighting a case of the flu since Tuesday - sank two free throws. Then it was time for Agent Orrange. She scored Stanford's next eight points, offsetting a three-point play by UCLA's Markel Walker.

With 51 seconds left, Mikaela Ruef somehow connected on an off-balance jumper under close guarding - what UCLA head coach Cori Close called "an amazing acrobatic shot" - to put Stanford up 49-47.

"Honestly, I have no idea how it went in," Ruef said. "I knew the time was running down on the shot clock. The play we were trying to run didn't work. I wanted to just throw it up and give it a chance to go in, and if it doesn't, hopefully one of us can get the rebound. I was amazed."

Walker, who led UCLA with 16 points, countered with a driving basket to tie it at 49-49 with 36 seconds left, setting the stage for Orrange's heroics.

"First, I was looking over at Tara to see what time she wanted me to go," Orrange said. "Then, at like 10 or 11 seconds I used the screen, and (Nirra Fields) kind of overplayed me left, so I spun back right, and luckily the shot went in."

In the closing seconds, Walker missed from in close in a scramble. The ball went out of bounds off a Stanford player, leaving UCLA just two-tenths of a second. The Bruins' only chance, by the rules, was a tip-in, but the Cardinal closed off the inside. A UCLA shot, which wouldn't have counted, went awry just after the buzzer.

Ogwumike, who had 10 rebounds, made just one of nine shots against the close guarding of 6-3 Alyssia Brewer and others in constant double teams.

"Today was a great day as a team," said Ogwumike, who averages 23 points. "Every game we look for someone to step up. I knew the day was coming when things would be really hard for me, and I really hoped it wouldn't be the Pac-12 championship, but it was."

Nevertheless, she was named the most outstanding player of the tournament. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Orrange, Brewer, Walker, Washington's Jazmine Davis and Colorado's Chucky Jeffery.