Jan 30, 2002
By RICK EYMER
Associated Press Writer
STANFORD, Calif. - Cori Enghusen makes it tough for opponents to get to the basket. Now she's beginning to add offense to her game, making her a double threat.
The 6-7 senior center scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 3 Stanford beat California 79-52 for its 13th straight victory.
Enghusen, who leads the Pac-10 with 33 blocked shots, reached double figures in scoring for the third time in five games after doing so three times in her first 17 games.
"I feel more confident," said Enghusen. "I'm focused on running the floor and the two Washington games (in which she scored a combined 37 points) helped boost my confidence. Sometimes I get over anxious."
Enghusen was 7-of-11 from the field and grabbed a team-high five offensive rebounds. That was in addition to her usual tough defense.
"She's 6-7. People don't realize what a force she is in there," said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. "She changes a lot of shots."
LaTasha O'Keith, who led California with 14 points, agreed.
"She's a big wall there," said O'Keith. "They're all pretty big. It's difficult to shoot over them. They made me change my shot."
Nicole Powell had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Stanford (21-1, 11-0 Pac-10) as she recorded her ninth double-double of the season and 17th of her career. She's had double figures in rebounds 10 times this season.
Lindsey Yamasaki, Kelley Suminski and Bethany Donaphin each had 11 points as the Cardinal won by more than 20 points for the 13th time this season. Stanford averages 81.4, seventh in the nation. The Cardinal are fourth in scoring margin.
California (6-13, 1-10), which entered the game ranked second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense (61.2) but ninth in scoring offense (57.7), lost its third straight, and seven of eight. Amber White added 11 points.
"We did some good things but we need to do them more often," said Cal coach Caren Horstmeyer. "They do an incredible job of making you pay when you make a turnover."
Suminski, who had 11 points, scored six during Stanford's 13-2 run in the first six minutes of the second half and maintained a double-figures advantage the rest of the way.
Lindsey Yamasaki and Bethany Donaphin added 11 points apiece for Stanford.
White's 3-pointer gave Cal a 10-8 lead with 13:45 left in the first half. Less than four minutes later, Enghusen's layup ended a 17-2 run that put the Cardinal up 25-12 en route to a 37-23 halftime lead.
The Golden Bears, 0-12 when scoring fewer than 60 points, are off to their worst conference start since going 1-14 in 1997-98 en route to a school worst 2-16 finish.
The victory was Stanford's 16th in the last 17 meetings with the Golden Bears and avenged last year's loss to Cal at home.
It's the first time the two Bay Area rivals will have played both conference games - they meet in Berkeley on Saturday - in the same week. Their rivalry dates to the 1975-76 season. The scheduling change came about to allow both teams to travel during the first week of January. Cal participated in a tournament in the Bahamas while Stanford visited the East Coast.