Jan 18, 2003
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. - Nicole Powell grimaced as she took a peek at the stat sheet and saw her five turnovers.
That many miscues are not the norm for the Stanford star, but this season has been far from normal for the preseason All-America forward.
Almost everything else went right Saturday.
Powell had 19 points and 12 rebounds and the No. 6 Cardinal won their 20th straight game at home, defeating Washington 77-63 on Saturday.
"Oh my gosh, my shot is so terribly flat right now," said Powell, who is still recovering from a back injury and played her best game of the season. "I'm working on my shooting. I'm getting closer every day."
She was sidelined for the first nine games with a bulging disc in her back and only practiced for the first time Dec. 26.
Stanford won for the ninth straight time, and has beaten the Huskies in the last three meetings and five of the past six.
Chelsea Trotter added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinal (14-1, 6-0), who weathered a second-half surge by the feisty Huskies. Azella Perryman had 12 points and Susan King and T'Nae Thiel each scored 10 points.
"We had to make some big plays," coach Tara VanDerveer said. "We made some good stops and we rebounded well."
Giuliana Mendiola led Washington (13-3, 5-2 Pac-10) with 14 points and five rebounds and Andrea Lalum also scored 14.
The Huskies had their four-game winning streak snapped. Their start was the program's best since they also opened the 1989-1990 season at 13-2.
Powell had four points and an assist during an 8-0 run that broke a 52-all tie. She also hit a 3-pointer with 6:57 left for a 66-57 lead. She had been 0-for-10 from 3-point range this season.
After trailing the entire first half, the Huskies tied it at 41 with 17:59 left and went ahead on Kristen O'Neill's 3-pointer at 17:12. Washington used a 10-0 run to start the second half and Stanford missed its first five shots.
Loree Payne broke the Washington school record for career 3-pointers when she hit one 49 seconds into the second half. That shot gave her 212 career 3s, breaking Megan Franza's mark set from 1997-2001. She later made another and finished with 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting.
Washington was effective using a 3-2 zone that put pressure on Stanford's talented perimeter shooters. But Washington was dominated on the boards, 53-26.
"I think that was the game right there," Mendiola said. "It's one thing to get beat on the boards, but to get slaughtered the way we did shouldn't happen.
"Rebounding is going to be our focus. We can't come into some games and rebound and other games not. We have to be consistent if we're going to be a championship-caliber team."
The Huskies also struggled early to get in sync offensively, rushing off-balance shots and forcing things against the taller Cardinal defenders.
"We're going back to Seattle and we think we can fix things," coach June Daugherty said.
Stanford jumped out to a quick 10-1 lead and used a 14-4 run to build a 37-22 lead late in the first half, but Washington stayed in the game with an 11-2 run and was within 41-33 at halftime.
The Cardinal have won 27 straight Pac-10 games dating to March 3, 2001.