Feb. 5, 2005
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Candice Wiggins overcame a slow start on offense to score 20 points, and No. 4 Stanford won its 12th straight game with a 67-53 victory over Arizona State on Saturday.
Wiggins, a candidate for Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year honors, struggled to finish on drives to the hoop early and started the game 2-for-8. But she scored 15 of her points in the second half and finished 6-of-13 from the field.
She made all eight of her free throws, had five rebounds, three steals, two assists and scored seven points during a decisive 13-2 second-half run.
Brooke Smith added 15 points and five rebounds and Kelley Suminski 12 points as Stanford (21-2, 12-1 Pac-10) extended its home winning streak to 19 games and won its 35th straight conference game in Maples Pavilion.
Kylan Loney scored 13 points for a Sun Devils team that constantly tries to control the pace of the game but couldn't make enough big shots.
Emily Westerberg added 10 points for Arizona State (15-7, 7-5), which had gone 5-2 since losing to Stanford 68-57 on Jan. 7 in Tempe. The Cardinal have won 24 of the last 27 meetings in the series.
Stanford hasn't lost a Pac-10 home game since a 62-59 defeat against Southern California on March 1, 2001. The Cardinal have won 54 of their last 57 games at home.
The Cardinal entered Saturday's game averaging a 20.6 margin of victory during their winning streak, including a 91-74 victory over rival Arizona on Thursday night.
They used a full-court press from the start in an effort to rattle the Sun Devils, who thrive on a disruptive, pressure style of play themselves.
Arizona State forward Kristen Kovesdy, the team's second-leading scorer at 11.3 points per game, came in shooting a conference-best 61.5 percent but was held to eight points.
Stanford led 11-2, forced five turnovers in the first five minutes and limited the Sun Devils to only four shots during that span. Arizona State missed its first eight field-goal attempts and didn't have a basket until Westerberg's 3-pointer at 10:43.
The Sun Devils made two more 3s to pull within 16-13, but Stanford answered with a 14-9 spurt - seven by Smith - to end the half for a 30-22 lead at the break.