Publication Date: Friday, December 23, 2005
Successful opener for Stanford women in Pac-10 basketball
Successful opener for Stanford women in Pac-10 basketball
(December 23, 2005) by Rick Eymer
A sputtering start turned into a smooth ride as the Stanford women's basketball team opened the Pac-10 season with a 76-56 victory over host Washington State on Tuesday night.
The 10th-ranked Cardinal (1-0, 6-2) traveled to Washington for a contest on Thursday night.
Stanford fell behind 15-11 in the first 8:11 of play due to sloppy play (in the form of four turnovers) and inconsistent shooting (missing nine of its first 14 shots).
That all changed in a hurry when Brooke Smith scored eight of her game-high 17 points during a 10-0 run that put Stanford up for good. Freshman Jillian Harmon, who is back in the starting lineup with Kristen Newlin sidelined with a leg injury, blocked a shot and had two rebounds during the run.
Harmon finished with eight points, a team-high eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Krista Rappahahn added 14 points, which included a 4-for-8 effort from 3-point range.
Stanford beat the Cougars for the 41st straight time, and the 37th time by 10 points or more. The Cardinal is 20-0 on Washington State's home court, winning by an average margin of 19.9 points. It's easily the most lop-sided rivalry in the Pac-10.
Stanford has split its past six games in Seattle, though the Cardinal owns an overall four-game winning streak against the Huskies.
After shooting a miserable 36 percent in the first eight minutes, Stanford hit on 28 of its final 50 shots and finished with a .516 shooting percentage.
The Cardinal limited Washington State to three shots in the final 4:20 of the first half and forced six turnovers while going on a 12-2 run for a 40-25 halftime advantage.
"I thought we played an uninspired first half," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "We came out in the second half and got things going."
Candice Wiggins instigated the second-half roll, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the first 30 seconds to ignite a 10-0 run that gave Stanford a comfortable margin the rest of the way.
Wiggins, who twisted her knee against Rice on Saturday, scored her 14 points in 18 minutes. She sat out most of the second half. Guards Cissy Pierce and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude each recorded more playing time than Wiggins.
Stanford won its conference opener for the sixth straight year, and 11 of the past 12.
Stanford also added three blocked shots for a team total of 46, tops among Pac-10 teams. The Cardinal is on a pace for 175 blocked shots, which would be third all-time just behind the 176 blocks recorded by the 2000-01 version.
Newlin leads with 12 blocks, while Smith has 11 and Wiggins and Harmon each have nine.
Washington State did limit the Cardinal to a season-low 33 rebounds. Stanford came into the game with a school-record pace 46.1 rebounds per game average.
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