Powell returns to lineup and leads Stanford women past Washington Powell returns to lineup and leads Stanford women past Washington (January 07, 2004)

Having her senior leadership will be important this week as No. 7 Cardinal take on Arizona State and Pac-10 co-leader Arizona in basketball showdowns

by Rick Eymer

icole Powell returned to the starting lineup on Sunday and all seems well in the world for the Stanford women's basketball team.

Powell's ankle isn't fully recovered, but it didn't seem to affect her in a 23-point, 13-rebound performance that helped the nationally No. 7-ranked Cardinal to a 77-69 victory over host Washington on Sunday.

Stanford (4-0, 11-2) opened the weekend with a relatively easy 90-69 win over Washington State on Friday night that featured a school record eight blocks from freshman Kristen Newlin. Bethany Donaphin, Cori Enghusen and Trisha Stevens shared the previous mark at six.

Stanford gears up for another important weekend with Arizona State and Arizona coming to town. The Sun Devils visit Thursday at 7 p.m. and the Wildcats come on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Arizona (3-0, 11-3) represents Stanford's biggest challenge in its quest for a fourth consecutive Pac-10 title. The Wildcats have an inside presence in 6-foot-5 sophomore center Shawntinice Polk, and quickness outside in junior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler. Those are two of the better players in the conference and they helped beat the Cardinal by 15 points in Tucson last year.

The Sun Devils lost by 17 at Stanford last year, but do return key players such as junior Betsy Boardman, who missed last year with a torn ACL in her right knee, and sophomore Jill Noe. Carrie Buckner, Amy Denson, Kylan Loney and Kristen Kovedy are also returning starters.

The victory over Washington (1-3, 8-5) put Stanford in a good position. Not only did the Cardinal avenge last year's 92-68 loss to the Huskies, they accomplished it on the road in a tough environment.

Washington may not have gaudy numbers at this point in the season, but the Huskies will be heard from before the Pac-10 season is over and getting a win in Seattle, where Stanford had lost three of the previous four visits, is a bonus.

More importantly, while Powell is again the focus of the offense, several other players made significant contributions. Pinewood grad Sebnem Kimyacioglu scored 16 points on the heels of a 15-point effort against Washington State and it appears her shooting woes may have ended.

"I did get off to a slow start," said Kimyacioglu. "But I've been getting a lot more reps in and I do feel more confident. I think my teammates are getting me open and giving me good looks. With players like Kelley (Suminski) and Susan (Borchardt) and Nicole, who can penetrate, and draw people to them and that leaves me open."

Borchardt added 14 points and five assists and Suminski had six assists to go with eight points. Suminski recorded a double-double against the Cougars with a team-high 22 points and a career-high 10 assists.

T'Nae Thiel, still coming back from a foot injury, added eight rebounds - including a game-high three offensive boards - and eight points against the Huskies.

Powell also showed why she's considered one of the best to put on a Stanford uniform, despite playing at less than full strength.

"It's sore but I wanted to come out and play," she said. "I wasn't able to push off on some plays and my conditioning isn't all the way there."

Powell recorded her fifth double-double of the season and the 35th of her career. She also has six career triple-doubles.

Stanford had a 69-55 lead early in the second half before Washington went on a 12-0 run to close within two points with less than five minutes remaining to play. The Cardinal maintained its slim lead despite missing the front end of two straight one-and-one foul situations and turning the ball over on a shot clock violation.

Washington missed a wide-open 3-point attempt that would have given it the lead with 35 seconds left.

"This was a gutty win," said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. "It wasn't pretty at the end but we played hard and withstood their rally."

Stanford put the ball in Powell's hands afterward, and she responded by making all six of her free throws in the final 24 seconds for the final margin of victory.

"You can definitely feel it on the court when they got on their run," said Kimyacioglu. "They hit some big 3's, but thankfully we stopped them and made our free throws at the end."

The next step for Stanford is finishing off its opponents. The Cardinal let Tennessee off the hook in December, and almost let the Huskies off the hook on Sunday.

"We still have some improving to do," Kimyacioglu said. "Like coach says we didn't deliver the knockout punch. We had the game won but we let them back in."

For the second straight game, Stanford's sharpshooters were on target. Kimyacioglu was a combined 9-of-15 from 3-point range over the weekend, and the team was 26-of-44 for a dazzling 59 percent.

Krista Rapphahn recorded a career-high 16 points, including a 4-of-5 effort from long range, against Washington State while Azella Perryman added 10 points.

Stanford has now won 40 of its past 43 conference games.

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