March 17, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - Nicole Powell was understated about her latest triple-double.
"I think it's pretty special, I guess. But I'm just glad that we won," said Powell, who had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Stanford's 76-51 victory over Weber State in the opening round of the NCAA West Regional.
Cori Enghusen added 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Cardinal (31-2), playing on their home court at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford will play its second-round game Monday night against 10th-seeded Tulane (24-10), which upset seventh-seeded Colorado State 73-69 in the early game Saturday.
It was the fifth career triple-double for Powell, the Pacific-10 Conference player of the year. The 6-foot-2 sophomore is the only player in conference history with more than one.
"That's incredible," coach Tara VanDerveer said when she tallied Powell's triple-doubles.
Julie Gjertsen had 16 points and eight rebounds for 15th-seeded Weber State (22-9). The Wildcats were making their first NCAA tournament appearance ever.
Weber State center Crystal Howe was happy for the experience.
"We're going to bring it back next year," she said.
Stanford is in its 15th consecutive tournament. The Cardinal advanced to the Final Four six times, and won NCAA Championships in 1990 and 1992.
Weber State jumped out to a 12-3 lead on Gjertsen's 3-pointer at 16:09.
But the more experienced Cardinal, not about to get rattled, coolly climbed back to tie it at 17 on Powell's 3-pointer.
Stanford scored 23 unanswered points to go up 35-17. Enghusen, Stanford's 6-foot-7 center, had 10 points during the run, and the Cardinal cruised to a 41-29 lead at the half.
Stanford pulled away in the second half, going up 71-43 with a little more than six minutes left on Azella Perryman's 3-pointer.
The Cardinal took the conference title this season with a perfect 18-0 record, but lost in the Pac-10 tournament to Arizona State. Lindsey Yamasaki, the team's top scorer, missed the tournament after she had an emergency appendectomy.
Yamasaki was back Saturday night, opening the game with a 3-pointer. She finished with nine points in 18 minutes.
Weber State, which claimed the Big Sky championship with a victory over Montana State, got 13 points from Stephanie Stanger, including a 3-pointer as time ran out.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer