Feb 6, 2003
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. - Tara VanDerveer went back to a basic, structured offense to make sure all of Stanford's players were involved.
She doesn't want the sixth-ranked Cardinal to rely only on star forward Nicole Powell.
Once again, the coach made a brilliant call.
Kelley Suminski and Powell scored 15 points apiece to lead Stanford to its 22nd straight home victory, 85-54 over Oregon on Thursday night.
The Cardinal (18-2 overall, 10-1 Pac-10) easily improved to 11-0 in Maples Pavilion this season by shooting a season-best 56.4 percent and hitting nine 3-pointers. Stanford has won five straight games against Oregon (8-13, 4-8), including 75-74 Jan. 11 in Eugene.
.raisedquote {font-family:arial, helvetica; font-size:14px; font-weight:700;}.raisedquotesig {font-family:arial, helvetica; font-size:12px; font-style: italic;}
Stanford's home winning streak, which dates back to Dec. 28, 2001, is the second-longest in Division I behind Connecticut.
"We saw our team execute the offense as well as we have all season or better," VanDerveer said. "We have players who when they focus on things can get it done. We have a lot of different options.
"Up to now we ran more motion. Today, we went with more of our structured offense to help people anticipate where their teammates will be. There's less confusion on the floor and less standing around."
This game turned into a blowout early for the Cardinal, who used all 11 of their available players and had all but one score. Five players finished in double figures, including four starters.
Azella Perryman added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Cardinal won its third straight game since a frustrating 75-72 loss at Southern California on Jan. 26 that snapped a 10-game winning streak and ended its string of 28 straight Pac-10 wins.
"The execution just got so much better this game," Perryman said. "It allowed different people to do different things on the floor."
Freshman reserve Krista Rappahahn produced her best game yet with a career-high 10 points, career-high seven rebounds and three assists for Stanford. She came up big with Powell on the bench in foul trouble in the first half.
Carolyn Ganes and Amy Taylor had 10 points each to lead Oregon, which was outrebounded 39-22 and managed only 20 field goals on 35-percent shooting.
The Ducks made four of their first six 3-point attempts to keep the game close early. But the Cardinal used a 25-6 run over the last 8:51 of the first half on the way to a 45-28 lead at the break.
They shot 66.7 percent in the half, their best percentage in a half this season.
"We never got into the flow we wanted to tonight," Ganes said. "The big thing is that they played real hard and we didn't come out with the same intensity, and that hurt us."
Stanford outscored Oregon 8-2 to start the second half, building a 53-30 lead, and made it a 30-point cushion at 74-44 on a free throw by Powell with 6:52 left.
"Whatever they run, they execute it well," Oregon coach Bev Smith said. "They hurt us outside and they hurt us inside. They broke us down in the interior and that opened up the outside.
"I noticed a sharpness to their execution that wasn't there when we played them the first time."
The Cardinal played without point guard Susan King, who has a broken little toe on her left foot. She had been playing on the injury and isn't supposed to miss much time. King is listed as questionable for Saturday's game against Oregon State.
Stanford committed a season-low 11 turnovers.