Young Stanford players sparkle

Two of the youngest players from The Farm stepped up big for the Final Four-bound Stanford women’s basketball team.

Sophomore guard JJ Hones thought it was her turn to play a key role. And did the Beaverton, Ore., native ever step up, scoring a career-high 23 points as the second-seeded Cardinal knocked off top-seeded Maryland 98-87 in the NCAA tournament Spokane Region final Monday before an announced crowd of 6,821 at the Arena.

Right behind Hones in the stepping-up department was 6-foot-4 freshman Kayla Pedersen, who did a splendid job of stepping out.

Pedersen, who had made seven 3-pointers in the previous 36 games, made all three of her attempts, finishing with 15 points.

Hones, who missed half of her freshman season with a knee injury, figured she might be overlooked by Maryland.

“I felt like throughout the course of the tournament people have stepped up big,” said Hones, who had 17 points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting, 3 of 5 beyond the 3-point arc. “I felt like people might have been sleeping on me. And so I felt like it was kind of my duty to make shots.”

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer figured Hones was going to have a big game. “Sometimes you can get a sense before a game like who is kind of ready and who is doing things,” VanDerveer said. “JJ stepped up big – knocking down big shots, making that steal. I didn’t really even see it (the steal). I turned and I saw her just going in for a layup.”

Hones made a 3-pointer with a minute left in the half to give Stanford its biggest lead to that point, 51-38.

“I just found myself open and my teammates found me and I hit shots,” Hones said.

Maryland’s players were quite aware that All-American Candice Wiggins was capable of going off. But they were frankly surprised by Hones.

“Yeah, she played great too,” Maryland point guard Kristi Toliver said of Hones.

Maryland’s Laura Harper agreed.

“JJ Hones, she came out on fire,” Harper said. “It wasn’t just Candice.”

It wasn’t just Wiggins and Hones. Pedersen, too, put her imprint on the game, especially defensively as she limited Crystal Langhorne, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, to 14 points.

Pedersen also had seven assists and six rebounds.

“Kayla is outrageous,” VanDerveer said. “You hear this line on ESPN all the time – cool as the other side of the pillow. That’s (Kayla). She is really poised. She is really, really a mature player. She stepped out and hit 3s and we have been working on that. So I’m glad to see it come to fruition in this game.”

Pedersen had made 7 of 23 3-point attempts before Monday. But she said she’s been practicing the long-range shots.

“They (her teammates) found me on the pick-and-pops with Candice, and I’ve been practicing my (3-point shot) in practice,” Pedersen said. “We have a couple plays for that. But I think it was just my time to step up and hit them.”

Notes

Stanford’s 34 victories (34-3) matches the most in school history. … Stanford’s 98 points is the most allowed by Maryland, eclipsing the 97 scored by North Carolina in a double overtime loss midway in the season. … Since 2004-05, Maryland is 113-9 when outrebounding its opponent. But the Terrapins couldn’t turn a rebounding edge into a win over Stanford despite winning the boards 36-29. … Toliver scored not only a career-best with 35 points, but it tops Maryland’s all-time best previously set by Langhorne (34). … Wiggins, who made five 3-pointers, now holds the all-time Pac-10 record with 290. … The 14 3-pointers made by Stanford is the most by any team so far in the 2008 NCAA tournament.