Publication Date: Wednesday, February 02, 2005
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Stanford is ready for stretch drive
Stanford is ready for stretch drive
(February 02, 2005) Sweep of Washington schools gives Cardinal a two-game lead over Arizona and USC
by Rick Eymer
With seven conference games and the Pac-10 tournament remaining on its schedule, the Stanford women's basketball team is in great shape, barring any more injuries, for the stretch drive.
The fourth-ranked Cardinal remain in California until the NCAA tournament gets underway on March 19. In fact, Stanford won't have far to travel, with games at UCLA and USC the longest trip left until the Big Dance begins. The conference tournament is scheduled for the San Jose Arena in early March.
After spending quality time in Washington - an 82-60 victory in Seattle over the Huskies on Thursday and a 69-56 win over Washington State in Pullman - Stanford (10-1, 19-2) saw their conference position improve.
With Arizona (7-3, 15-6) coming to Maples Pavilion on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff, the Cardinal are two games up on both the Wildcats and USC. The Trojans (8-3, 14-6) lost to Oregon (7-4, 14-6) over the weekend.
Arizona State (6-4, 14-6) visits on Saturday at noon.
While Stanford won't relax this weekend with two of the tougher teams coming to town, history is on the Cardinal's side. Not only does Stanford have an 18-game home winning streak, it hasn't lost a conference game in Maples in four years.
Arizona last beat Stanford at home in January of 2001, and has won just three times in 23 games on the Cardinal's home court.
The misery is even more pronounced for the Sun Devils, who haven't won at Stanford since March 3, 1984. The Cardinal have won 22 of 23 home games against Arizona State.
The trip through Washington wasn't without its hazards however. The Cardinal lost the services of sophomore forward Eziamaka Okafor for the rest of the year because of a right Achilles' tendon tear suffered against the Huskies. Freshman Jessica Elway sustained a broken right hand during the team's practice for Washington State.
Okafor was developing into a solid player off the bench. She played her way into the regular rotation and scored a career high 14 points against California.
Okafor came to Stanford in the fall of 2002, but has been limited to 17 career games thanks to a knee injury her freshman year, a torn left Achilles tendon the next year, and now this.
With two years of eligibility remaining, the former Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year still has a chance to display the skills that won her All-American honors in high school.
Elway hasn't played regularly, and was in street clothes when Stanford hosted USC and UCLA. She's appeared in nine games, and has seven points, eight rebounds, six steals and four assists in 46 total minutes.
Pinewood grad Sebnem Kimyacioglu, one of three players who scored 10 points against the Cougars, said the injuries "really do hurt us emotionally."
Being at home should help the healing process, and residing in first place is a comfort.
Susan King Borchardt and Azella Perryman also scored 10 points as the Cardinal rallied from an early deficit to beat Washington State for the 40th time in as many games.
Kristen Newlin added nine points and 11 rebounds.
Stanford's two leading scorers - Candice Wiggins and Brooke Smith - combined for 13 points against the Cougars.
"A lot of different people contributed," said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who utilized all 11 available players.
Using a lot of different people has been the case all season for the Cardinal, even if Wiggins and Smith have dominated the spotlight lately. Ten different players have reached double figures in scoring in a game, and even the rebounding has been distributed beyond Smith and Newlin.
The Cougars led 22-19 before Kimyacioglu made a 3-pointer with 6:27 left in the first half, sparking a 16-4 run to finish the half.
Stanford then took control of the game with a 14-2 run to open the second half.
In Seattle, Smith continues to make her presence felt. The post has become her personal playground and she's having fun bullying anyone who tries to stop her.
Smith scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and has made 68 of her 110 shots during conference play for a .618 percentage. She also added seven rebounds against the Huskies.
"She's tough to stop inside," VanDerveer said. "They were physical against her, put bodies on her, and I thought she did a good job."
Wiggins, featured in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated (along with a small story about Elway), scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half. She was limited to seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.
Washington did startle the Cardinal by grabbing a 37-36 lead a little over a minute into the second half.
Borchardt righted things by hitting a 3-pointer to give the Cardinal a lead they never relinquished. When the smoke cleared five minutes later, Stanford held a 53-41 edge and was in control.
"We just didn't really recover from their run," Washington forward Jill Bell said. "They did a good job hitting their shots."
Kelley Suminski made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Stanford shot 50 percent for the game, and held Washington to 36.5 percent.
The Cardinal have held the lead at halftime in all 21 games this season, though the Huskies and Cougars became the eighth and ninth teams to go into intermission with a single-digit deficit against them.
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