The Wildcat women's basketball team suffered its second straight first-round exit in this season's NCAA Tournament. But the Pac-10 has been represented well in the tournament by an old favorite.
Stanford, which won back-to-back NCAA championships in the early '90s, made its first Elite Eight appearance in seven years after a buzzer-beating win over No. 2 seed Vanderbilt in the Sweet Sixteen. The sixth-seeded Cardinal came a last-second shot short of reaching the Final Four, losing to Tennessee 62-60 Tuesday night.
Stanford, this season's Pacific 10 Conference regular season co-champions and Pac-10 Tournament champs, played like a team on a mission. The players and coaches felt slighted by the selection committee, saying they should have been seeded higher than sixth.
UA head coach Joan Bonvicini, whose Wildcats were also co-Pac-10 champs, said she was proud of Stanford's run.
"I'm happy for them, that they played extremely well," Bonvicini said. "I'm disappointed they didn't go further (in the tournament), but I thought they represented the Pac-10 really well."
Asked if she thought the Cardinal's improbable run would earn the conference more respect in next year's NCAA selections, Bonvicini was unsure. She did, however, think it would bring more respect to the Pac-10 and West Coast teams in general, also citing No. 11 seed UC Santa Barbara's run to this year's Sweet Sixteen.
"What it's going to do is bring a lot more attention. I thought Santa Barbara did well, and it just brings a lot more attention to the West," Bonvicini said.
The 13th-year UA head coach, who led the Wildcats to a 24-9 record this season and a second-straight appearance in the Pac-10 Tournament championship game, was also impressed by UCLA's play. The 10th-seeded Bruins were ousted by Final Four-bound Minnesota on the Gophers' home court in the first round, but the game wasn't decided until the final minute.
"I thought they played really well. Part of that is because their three guards are awfully good," Bonvicini said, citing the play of underclassmen Nikki Blue, Lisa Willis and Noelle Quinn. "To have that kind of size and versatility makes them unique and tough to defend."
As for the Final Four, Bonvicini's going with an underdog to win it all: fourth-seeded LSU. The then-No. 19 Tigers beat the Wildcats 76-66 Jan. 4 at LSU.
This year's Final Four, which begins this weekend, takes place in New Orleans - just 80 miles away from the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, La. The Tigers take on top-seeded Tennessee in the semifinals.
"They're a tough matchup, and I think having a game in Louisiana and New Orleans - I think they're the sentimental favorite and I think they have a good team," Bonvicini said.