March 3, 2002
EUGENE, Ore. - Nicole Powell is in one of those can't-miss grooves, and Stanford is setting itself up as one of the favorites to win the national championship.
Powell scored 27 of her career-high 37 points in the first half as the second-ranked Cardinal advanced to the title game of the Pac-10 tournament with a 71-55 victory over Oregon State on Sunday.
"Nicole was kind of the life jacket, keeping everybody afloat for the whole first half," coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Powell, the conference player of the year as a sophomore this season, did most of her damage the last 6:47 of the first half. She scored 17 points during a 21-4 run, and her third 3-pointer in the stretch came at the halftime buzzer to give Stanford a 37-19 lead.
"The first half, I was kind of feeling it," said Powell, who also had 14 rebounds. "Just hitting some good shots. They were kind of flat when they left my hand, but they were going in."
The Cardinal (30-1) won two national titles and advanced to the Final Four on four other occasions between 1990 and 1997, but they failed to make it out of the NCAA's second round the past four years.
Stanford has been untouchable this season, however, sweeping all 18 regular-season Pac-10 games for the fourth time in school history. They've won the first two games of the inaugural conference tournament by a combined 51 points.
"Stanford's always been a strong team, and this year it seems like they can't do anything wrong," Oregon State center Ericka Cook said. "I'm amazed at how they're playing. Stanford stands out compared to everyone else."
The Cardinal will play third-seeded Arizona State, which defeated Oregon 64-58, in Monday night's championship game.
Freshman Juleen Smith had 26 points and nine rebounds, both season highs, to lead Oregon State (16-14). All-conference guard Felicia Ragland scored 15 points on just 5-of-21 shooting.
The Beavers, who lost all three games to Stanford this season by a total of 75 points, shot just 29 percent and were outrebounded by the much bigger Cardinal 50-36.
The Beavers had an early 6-3 lead and were within 16-15 when Powell hit a 3-pointer to start her flurry.
"I thought we did a decent job in the first 15 minutes, but then Nicole Powell got in that unconscious zone she can get in and couldn't miss," Oregon State coach Judy Spoelstra said. "We had a hard time containing her."
Stanford let a 23-point lead slip to eight midway through the second half. Smith hit two 3-pointers and two layups, the last one coming off a clean steal by Leilani Estavan, to cut the deficit to 47-39.
The Cardinal slowly rebuilt the lead, however, and Bethany Donaphin scored the last four points of a 10-0 run to make it 57-39 with just under seven minutes to go.
Powell surpassed her previous career high of 36 points - set against USC last month - on a pair of free throws with 1:46 left. She then left the game with her team leading 65-46.
No other Stanford player scored in double figures, but Donaphin had 12 rebounds, and T'Nae Thiel added 10.
All-league forward Lindsey Yamasaki watched her second straight game from the sideline after having her appendix removed last week. She is expected to be back for the start of the NCAA tournament.
By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer