Jan. 21, 2006
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Candice Wiggins scored 33 points to help No. 14 Stanford rally for an 84-78 victory over No. 15 Arizona State on Saturday.
Brooke Smith added 19 points as the Cardinal (13-4, 8-1 Pac-10) won their seventh straight and their 42nd consecutive home conference game by overcoming a 13-point deficit.
Wiggins has scored 30 or more in four of her last six games. Freshman Rosalyn Gold-Onwude added three key free throws in the final minute and led Stanford with five rebounds.
Emily Westerberg scored a season-high 20 points to lead the Sun Devils (14-5, 5-4), who lost their fourth straight on the road and their fourth in six games overall. Kristen Kovesdy had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Jill Noe added 19 points.
Kovesdy, who recorded her fifth double-double of the season and 10th of her career, moved into seventh-place on the Sun Devils all-time scoring list with 1,202.
Stanford has won 26 of the past 29 meetings between the teams.
Stanford sophomore guard Cissy Pierce served the final of her two-game suspension for missing practice earlier in the week.
Back-to-back hook shots from Smith gave Stanford its first lead since early in the game at 62-60 with 6:35 remaining.
After missing eight of her first 11 shots, Smith made four in a row down the stretch.
Both teams opened the game with full-court pressure, and the Sun Devils countered by replacing their starting lineup in the first 4 minutes to keep players fresh.
Kovesdy's inside jumper with 6:45 left in the first half capped an impressive 21-5 run by Arizona State, including 12 unanswered points, in giving the Sun Devils a 32-19 advantage. It was Stanford's largest deficit of the season.
The Sun Devils controlled the boards early, grabbing 21 rebounds - with nine on the offensive boards - in the first 20 minutes. Stanford had 11 first-half rebounds.
The Cardinal rallied to 36-34 before Danielle Orsillo converted a rare four-point play.
Wiggins hit a short jumper in the final 5 seconds to bring Stanford within 42-37 at halftime.