Carey leads Cardinal, which got off to a slow start, with 15 points.
  Stanford forward Lauren St. Clair passes the ball as she steps through traffic Monday against Georgia. |
March 20, 2000
Box Score
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATHENS, Ga. - Deana Nolan scored 20 points and Shala Crawford provided strong play off the bench, leading top seeded Georgia into the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional with an 83-64 victory over Stanford on Monday night.
The Lady Bulldogs (31-3) set a school record for victories in a season and remained on course for the first national title in school history. Georgia has reached the Final Four five times, including last season.
Stanford (21-9), a two-time national champion and six-time participant in the Final Four, broke a streak of two straight first-round losses in the NCAA tournament with an 81-74 overtime victory over Michigan on Saturday night. But the Cardinal didn't have enough quickness to keep up with the host Lady Bulldogs.
Georgia took control with a 17-2 run in the first half, then put the game away after Stanford closed to 40-34 on a 3-pointer by Milena Flores with 16:04 remaining. In the space of just over a minute, Tawana McDonald scored on the inside, Nolan hit a pull-up jumper and Coco Miller made another jumper after Angie Ball's steal to push the Lady Bulldogs back up 46-34.
Stanford didn't get any closer than nine the rest of the way and Georgia pushed the lead as high as 20 points, advancing to meet the winner of the North Carolina-Rice game in the semifinals of the West Regional at Portland, Ore.
Georgia, which shot 56 percent in the second half, had five players in double figures. Coco Miller scored 19 points, Crawford and McDonald had 14 apiece and Kelly Miller added 12.
Jamie Carey led Stanford with 15 points but the Cardinal couldn't overcome 7-of-27 shooting in the first half.
Crawford, a 6-foot-4 junior who was inconsistent during the regular season, came up big against Stanford and its twin towers on the front line, 6-6 Carolyn Moos and 6-7 Cori Enghusen.
Crawford's play was especially important when McDonald picked up two fouls in the first half, limiting her to eight minutes, and Ball hit only 1-of-6 shots in the game.
Coco Miller made a 3-pointer with 14:58 remaining in the half to put the Lady Bulldogs ahead to stay, 9-6. She scored 10 of Georgia's first 16 points.
The Lady Bulldogs grabbed their biggest lead of the opening half, 30-16, when Crawford converted the first in a trio of three-point plays. Stanford trailed 30-20 at the half.