Jan. 19, 2006
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Brooke Smith had 20 points and 11 rebounds in leading No. 14 Stanford to an 82-51 victory over Arizona on Thursday night.
Jillian Harmon added 13 points and seven rebounds for the conference-leading Cardinal (12-4, 7-1 Pac-10), who won their sixth straight and 41st consecutive home conference contest. Candice Wiggins was held to a season-low 11.
Ashley Whisonant scored 12 points to lead Arizona, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Wildcats, at 0-6, are the only Pac-10 team without a road victory.
Stanford's Cissy Pierce served the first of a two-game suspension for violating a team rule. The sophomore guard, who has started once and appeared in 13 games, will also miss Saturday's game against No. 15 Arizona State.
Arizona freshman forward Amina Njonkou, in her second start and third appearance, left the game with an apparent right ankle injury with 12:23 left.
The Wildcats (6-12, 2-6) appear to be headed for their first losing season since 1994-95.
The Cardinal scored 14 of the first 16 points in the second half to open a 57-30 lead with 15:43 remaining to play, and led by as many as 42.
Arizona missed 13 3-point shots before Kelsey Burns and Che Oh hit two straight in the final 5 minutes.
Stanford scored the game's first 10 points and raced to a 20-3 lead less than 7 minutes into the game. The Cardinal did most of their offensive damage without a significant contribution from Wiggins, who missed her first nine shots and had four points - all on free throws - by halftime. Wiggins had scored 30 or more points in three of her previous games.
Arizona, with Whisonant scoring 10 points, rallied to within 43-28 by halftime.