Jan. 2, 2004
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Kelley Suminski's near-perfect shooting helped No. 9 Stanford maintain its perfect record against Washington State.
Suminski missed just one shot and scored 22 points Friday night to lead the Cardinal to a 90-69 victory which improved its all-time record against Washington State to 37-0.
Kristen Newlin, a 6-foot-5 freshman, had a school-record eight blocked shots for Stanford (10-2, 3-0 Pac-10), while Krista Rappahahn scored 16 points and Sebnem Kimyacioglu added 15.
Jessica Perry led Washington State (4-8, 0-3) with 18 points and Bianca McCall had 16.
The Cardinal shot season bests of 57.4 percent from the field (31-for-54) and 65 percent from 3-point range (13-for-20) despite the absence of star forward Nicole Powell due to a sprained ankle.
"They're just that good," Washington State coach Sherri Murrell said. "That's why they're the ninth-ranked team in the country."
Suminski went 5-for-6 from the field; Rappahahn was 6-for-8; and Kimyacioglu was 5-for-10. Suminski and Rappahahn both went 4-for-5 from 3-point range, and Kimyacioglu was 5-for-8.
"I got a lot of great passes from our posts," said Suminski, who was averaging 7.5 points and shooting 39 percent from the field, including 28 percent on 3-pointers.
"We've won a lot of games shooting poorly from 3, so it was really nice to get some shots going down," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
In addition to their hot shooting, Suminski and Rappahahn set career highs for assists with 10 and five, respectively. Stanford had a 23-10 advantage over WSU in assists and hit a season high for points, but the Cougars played aggressively and matched their season high for points.
"I thought we did a good job attacking," Murrell said.
"Washington State has really improved," VanDerveer said.
The Cougars held brief leads early, but Stanford went ahead for good with a 15-2 run that put the Cardinal ahead 27-18. Stanford shot 65 percent from the field in the first half - Suminski went 3-for-3 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line - and scored the last 10 points of the half to lead 45-30.
Stanford has won three straight games since losing to Texas Tech, when Powell did not play in the second half after being injured. Washington State has lost six in a row.
Asked if three-time defending champion Stanford is the best team in the Pac-10, Murrell said, "Oh, by far ... they're just so deep."
VanDerveer said Powell, who leads Stanford with averages of 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds, should return Sunday at Washington. Starting point guard Susan Borchardt was limited to 8 minutes Friday due to illness.
Since March 2001, Stanford is 39-3 in the Pac-10, and Washington State is 1-40. The Cougars have finished last in the conference two straight years.