Stanford Holds Off Cougars

Everyone loves to see an underdog do well: the AFC against the NFC in the Super Bowl; anyone against the Chicago Bulls; the Washington State women’s basketball team against No. 3 Stanford.

The Cougars did well against the Cardinal on Saturday afternoon at Bohler Gym, well enough to lose with dignity 84-75.

“This was the best (we’ve played this year),” said Washington State coach Harold Rhodes. “And what I liked about it is that we competed hard. And we brought more intensity into the second half.”

Had it not been for a mammoth amount of mental mistakes in the first half, this game might have been more than just respectable. Midway through the first half, WSU turned the ball over 10 times in the span of 7 minutes.

The Cougars’ sloppiness started when they were trailing by just two points, 15-13 with 12:40 left in the half. Traveling, hasty passing and Stanford’s quickness resulted in a 15-8 Cardinal run and allowed them to take a 40-28 halftime lead.

The Cougars committed 25 turnovers, which Stanford converted into 26 points.

“We just need to do a better job communicating with each other,” said Cougars forward Amy Saneholtz, who led her team with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting. “But this team is starting to come together. We had a good game against Cal (79-53 win Thursday) and against Stanford.”

Saturday’s loss dropped the Cougars to 7-9, 1-6 in the Pacific-10 Conference. Stanford improved to 20-1, 8-0, its only loss coming in December against Old Dominion. It has defeated WSU in all 23 meetings.

Stanford made its yearly road swing through Washington without two of its top players, posts Vanessa Nygaard and Naomi Mulitauaopele, who are both sidelined with knee injuries. A third talent, point guard Jamila Wideman, has been playing with a sprained right ankle.

However, the banged-up Cardinal’s most revered player, 6-foot-2 Kate Starbird of Tacoma, played 39 minutes and finished with 31 points. Starbird, whose 21.5 points per game ranks 19th in the nation, hit 11 of 18 shots. Forward Heather Owen of Moscow, Idaho, got a rare start because of her teammates’ injuries and scored four points in 32 minutes.

“I wasn’t surprised (with the way WSU played),” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “They have some young players. No. 15 (freshman Joanna Smith) is a real nice outside shooter and (Jade) Hyett runs her team well.”

Smith scored 18 points, all from 3-point range, making 6 of 10 from outside. Hyett, who set a Pac-10 record with 20 assists against Cal, had 11 assists against Stanford but scored only one point.

“Every team comes out and brings their best (against us),” VanDerveer said. “If Washington State played that well in every single game, they’d be in a different situation.”

(3) Stanford 84, Washington St. 75

STANFORD (20-1) - Owen 2-4 1-2 5, Scott 6-9 2-2 14, Wideman 5-7 2-2 13, Smith 2-7 3-5 8, Starbird 11-18 6-8 31, McNamee 1-3 0-2 2, Peterson 0-1 0-0 0, Batastini 0-0 0-0 0, Flores 2-3 1-2 7, Benton 0-1 4-4 4. Totals 29-53 19-28 84.

WASHINGTON ST. (7-9) - Hyett 0-3 1-2 1, Kunze 5-8 3-6 13, Ludwicki 2-9 2-5 7, McNeely 5-7 0-3 10, Rubio 2-2 2-2 6, Saneholtz 7-14 6-8 20, Smith 6-11 0-0 18, Wilder 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 14-23 75.

Halftime-Stanford 40, Washington St. 28. 3-Point goals- Stanford 7-15 (Starbird 3-5, Flores 2-3, Wideman 1-2, Smith 1-5), Washington St. 7-18 (Smith 6-10, Ludwicki 1-5, McNeely 0-1, Hyett 0-2). Fouled out-Scott. Rebounds-Stanford 29 (Smith 7), Washington St. 35 (Kunze 7). Assists-Stanford 16 (Wideman 7), Washington St. 17 (Hyett 11). Total fouls-Stanford 19, Washington St. 21. A-702.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo