Jan. 2, 2005
Stanford, Calif. (AP) - Stanford's Brooke Smith listened, learned and lifted weights while sitting out last season after transferring from Duke.
Smith scored 19 points in 19 minutes to lead the No. 5 Cardinal past Washington State 72-39 on Sunday.
"It's never fun to watch a bunch of basketball when you want to be out there playing," said Smith, Stanford's second-leading scorer. "I worked on a lot of things and worked out in the weight room. I'm excited about being here and I'm glad I made the move."
Candice Wiggins had 12 points and Kelley Suminski added 11 for Stanford (10-2), which won its 19th consecutive Pac 10 home opener.
The Cardinal were coming off a 62-58 upset loss at Oregon on Wednesday.
"Our goal was to be more aggressive," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "A missing piece of the puzzle is our toughness; getting after it defensively. We can't think one game like this fixes something. We have to continue to do those things."
Adriane Ferguson scored 10 points to lead the Cougars (4-7), who lost their fifth straight and dropped to 39-0 all-time against Stanford. Ferguson has reached double figures in eight of 10 games.
The Cougars entered as one of the Pac-10's top defensive teams, but had trouble stopping Smith and the taller Cardinal. Washington State allowed more than 70 points for just the third time this season.
"I thought we did a good job defensively," Washington State coach Sherri Murrell said. "But they are so darn good. It's like a garden hose. Once you think you've stopped one leak, out pops another one. They constantly have fresh legs and they play well together."
Stanford, second in the conference in scoring defense, held its sixth opponent to 50 points or fewer.
"This was a great way to start the new year," Wiggins said. "Toughness was one of our resolutions this year and everyone is focused now."
Stanford also limited the conference's rebounding leader, Kate Benz, to five boards. She averaged 12.5 rebounds over her previous four games.
The Cardinal opened a 30-point advantage before the second half was four minutes old. Most of the starters sat out the final 15 minutes.
After the Cougars led 2-0 on a pair of free throws by Emma Joneby, Stanford reeled off 10 straight points and never trailed again. Keisha Moore's jumper at 13:19 was the Cougars' first field goal.
Smith scored 14 points en route to Stanford's 40-17 halftime lead.