Stanford Buries WSU Women With 3s Cardinal Hits Conference-Record 14 Treys To Beat Cougars For 22nd Straight Time

So if longshot Republican Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan could upset Bob Dole in a primary in New Hampshire, could the Washington State women’s basketball team pull off a win over No. 4 Stanford?

Hardly.

The Cardinal defeated the Cougars 87-63 Thursday night at Friel Court, and clinched at least a tie for the Pacific-10 Conference championship.

Stanford remained a perfect 22-0 against Washington State in the history of this matchup, dating back to 1983. Stanford (21-2, 14-0) also handed Washington State (15-9, 6-7) its fourth straight loss.

And if that weren’t enough, Stanford also set a conference record for 3-pointers with 14. California previously held that record with 13.

Stanford held a 24-22 lead midway through the first half. But a 20-4 run at that point sent the Cardinal on their way.

The Cougars hurt their chances with 15 turnovers in the first half alone. Many of those were a result of Stanford’s pressure on the ball. For the most part, Washington State was never allowed into its half-court offense.

“We want to jump on people early and take them out of the game,” Stanford co-head coach Amy Tucker said.

Stanford forced Washington State into 27 turnovers and held the Cougars to 37 percent shooting (19 for 51) from the floor.

“Because Stanford is so good offensively, their defense is overlooked. They just took us out of our game,” said WSU coach Harold Rhodes.

While the Cougars had no offensive game, Stanford clearly made up for it.

For the game, Stanford shot 28 for 64, but half of those baskets made were 3-pointers. The Cardinal shot 14 for 27 from downtown.

Stanford was led in scoring by Kate Starbird and Vanessa Nygaard, who each finished with 20 points. Those two shot a combined 10 for 19 from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Cougars were led by Jenni Ruff’s 19 points, although she was bottled up most of the night by Stanford’s starting front line that averages 6-foot-1. Ruff had hands, wrists and other assorted Cardinal body parts in her face all night.

“It (defensive pressure) feeds off itself,” Tucker said of the Cardinal’s intensity. “It starts with Jamila (point guard Wideman) and her ball pressure, and then the wings feel like they have to step up to keep it going.

“Then the post players jump in and start denying the passing lanes into the low block.”

Washington State will return to action against California, the Pac-10’s last-place team, on Saturday at Friel Court at 2:30 p.m.

Stanford heads to Seattle to face Washington at Hec Edmundson Pavilion at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Stanford 87, Washington St. 63

Stanford (21-2) - Scott 5-7 0-0 10, Nygaard 7-14 0-0 20, Starbird 5-12 6-6 20, Wideman 1-6 3-4 5, Smith 2-3 0-0 6, Wustefeld 2-3 0-0 5, Freuen 2-6 3-3 8, Benton 0-1 0-0 0, Harrington 0-3 0-0 0, Mulitauaopele 3-4 4-4 10, Owen 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 28-64 17-19 87.

Washington St. (15-9) - Ruff 6-14 7-10 19, Erickson 3-9 5-6 11, Kunze 3-6 7-8 13, Hyett 0-3 0-0 0, Wight 2-4 0-0 6, Kronberger 2-5 0-0 6, Kerns 1-4 0-0 2, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Wilder 0-1 0-0 0, Whaley 1-4 0-2 3, Keith 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 19-51 20-27 63.

Halftime-Stanford 44, Washington St. 26. 3-Point goals- Stanford 14-27 (Nygaard 6-11, Starbird 4-8, Smith 2-2, Wustefeld 1-2, Freuen 1-2, Wideman 0-1, Harrington 0-1), Washington St. 5-17 (Wight 2-3, Kronberger 2-5, Whaley 1-3, Ruff 0-1, Kerns 0-2, Erickson 0-3). Fouled out-Mulitauaopele. Rebounds- Stanford 39 (Owen, Wideman 6), Washington St. 36 (Ruff, Kunze 7). Assists-Stanford 19 (Starbird 7), Washington St. 9 (Kronberger 4). Total fouls-Stanford 23, Washington St. 13. A-1,005.

Weber State 59, EWU 45

Mika Brown scored 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Wildcats cruised to a Big Sky Conference road win over the cold-shooting Eagles.

Eastern made just four of its 30 first-half field goal tries.

The Eagles, who got 20 points and 11 boards from Kristy Missall, warmed up slightly in the second half, shooting just over 40 percent. But they connected on only 26.3 percent of their shots (15 of 57) for the game and were never able to get within 12 points of the Wildcats.

Weber State (13-11, 7-5) - Sorenson 1-5 2-2 4, Berg 1-5 5-5 7, Brown 9-15 5-6 23, Martin 0-2 0-0 0, Gardner 4-11 2-2 13, Allen 1-5 0-0 2, Hansen 1-3 0-0 2, Friend 2-4 0-0 4, Wimmer 2-5 0-0 4. Totals - 21-55 14-15 59.

EWU (7-16, 5-6) - Watterson 2-5 1-2 7, Missall 6-12 8-8 20, Bartleson 0-7 0-0 0, Sutter 0-5 0-0 0, Smith 2-11 0-0 4, Ray 3-11 2-2 8, Hollingbery 0-1 0-0 0, Sloan 2-5 2-2 6. Totals - 15-57 13-14 45.

Halftime - WSU 29, EWU 12. 3-point goals - Weber 3-12 (Martin 0-1, Gardner 3-8, Allen 0-1, Hansen 0-1), EWU 2-5 (Watterson 2-3, Bartleson 0-1, Smith 0-1). Total fouls - Weber 14, EWU 13. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none. Rebounds - Weber 42 (Berg, Brown 10), EWU 35 (Missall 11). Assists - Weber 16 (Gardner 5), EWU 10 (Ray, Sutter 3). Att - 750.

NAU 79, Idaho 60

Marisa von Bromssen scored 18 points and teammate Karli Rikli added 15 points and 14 rebounds as the Lumberjacks turned back the Vandals in a Big Sky Conference battle in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The Vandals must win two of their last three games to qualify for the Big Sky tournament.

Northern Arizona (13-11, 5-7) - Rikli 5-12 5-6 15, Mattox 2-5 0-0 5, Matchinski 1-4 2-2 4, Bromssen 6-9 4-6 18, Shayani 2-2 6-7 10, Hoopes 1-4 3-5 5, West 1-2 0-0 2, Travers 2-4 2-3 6, Warren 0-1 0-0 0, LeBlanc 1-5 2-2 4, Hofer 4-7 2-4 10. Totals 25-55 26-35 79.

IDAHO (7-16, 4-78) - Johnson 1-8 4-5 6, Hawks 7-15 3-8 17, Stone 3-4 0-0 6, McDaniel 0-5 0-0 0, Ortner 1-1 0-0 2, Morris 0-1 0-1 0, Greenwood 4-11 2-2 10, Beard 1-1 0-0 2, Ackerman 0-2 0-0 0, Blakely 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23- 63 13-22 60. 3-Point Goals - Northern Arizona 3-6 (Mattox 1-2, Von Bromssen 2-3, Shayani 0-1), Idaho 1-7 (Johnson 0-4, Skorpik 1-3). Fouled Out - McDaniel, Idaho. Rebounds - Northern Arizona 51 (Rikli 14), Idaho 29 (Greenwood 7). Assists - Northern Arizona 10 (Mattox 3), Idaho 7 (Beard 2). Total fouls - Northern Arizona 20, Idaho 26. Halftime Score - Northern Arizona 32, Idaho 23. Technicals - None. A - 602.

Columbia Basin 61, CCS 46

The Hawks broke open a relatively close game by scoring the first six points of the second half and coasted past the Sasquatch in the first round of the NWAACC tournament at Pasco.

CCS shot only 25 percent from the field in making an early exit.

CCS (12-14, 6-6) - Fine 3-12 0-0 6, Starks 3-7 0-0 6, Sheppard 2-14 0-0 6, Humphrey 0-6 3-4 3, Brandt 3-5 0-0 6, Lawlor 0-4 2-2 2, Davies 3-6 0-0 6, Gaines 3-5 5-5 11. Totals - 17-59 10-11 46.

CBC (12-14, 6-6) - Santana 2-9 0-0 6, Coehler 8-12 2-4 18, Waters 3-10 0-0 8, Galloway 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 3-8 1-3 8, Brown 3-6 0-0 6, Ulman 0-5 0-0 0, Tuiaea 5-8 5-6 15. Totals 24-59 8-18 61.

Halftime - CBC 30, CCS 23. Three pointers - CCS 2-18 (Fine 0-1, Starks 0-2, Sheppard 2-10, humphreys 0-5), CBC 5-12 (Santana 2-6, Waters 2-4, Johnson 1-2). Rebounds - CCS 35 (Lawlor 6), CBC 30 (Tuiaea 9). Assists - CCS 11 (Lawlor 3), CBC 10 (Santana 3). Total Fouls - CCS 15, CBC 9. Fouled out - none. Att. - 200.

, DataTimes