Dec. 16, 2006
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - All-American guard Candice Wiggins felt a sharp pain on her final shot of the first half and didn't play in the second half. As it turned out, Stanford (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) didn't need her.
Jayne Appel scored 15 points and Jillian Harmon added 14 in Stanford's 74-47 victory over Utah on Saturday.
Wiggins added 13 points as the Cardinal (5-3) won their third straight. Cissy Pierce scored 10.
"[Wiggins] had a sore hamstring and she said it was OK at halftime," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "We need to have it evaluated."
Center Brooke Smith, in foul trouble early, was held scoreless for the first time in her Stanford career.
Still, the Cardinal opened the second half with a 14-1 run, taking a 53-26 advantage in the first six minutes.
"They're both important to our team's success," VanDerveer said. "But we're not a one or two-person team. Jayne going 6-for-6 inside -- we'll take that every night. The difference was our perimeter scoring."
Wiggins is expected to be available when Stanford opens Pac-10 play at Southern California on Wednesday.
Joh-Teena Filipe scored 12 points to lead the Utes (5-5), who had a four-game winning streak stopped. Morgan Warburton added 11.
"We needed someone not to score but they all did," Utah coach Elaine Elliott said. "Stanford played very well. They are finding themselves now."
Utah has lost all nine meetings with Stanford, the only Pac-10 school it has not beaten. The Utes are 46-34 against the rest of the Pac-10. Utah came within four at 21-17 after Heidi Carlsen made a pair of free throws with just under eight minutes to play in the first half. The Cardinal scored 14 of the next 16 points as the Utes committed five turnovers during the six-minute stretch.
NOTES: Today's crowd of 3,155 was the largest of the year ... Stanford has limited its opponents to 14 assists or less in every game this year. In the last three games combined, Stanford's opponents have totaled just 20 assists ... Cissy Pierce was two points shy of matching her career-high scoring total of 12 ... The Cardinal has forced 64 turnovers in each of the last three games combined ... Stanford is riding a season-high three-game winning streak and improves to 5-1 at home ... Brooke Smith was held scoreless (0-4 shooting from the field) for the first time in her Stanford career. Her previous low point total in a Stanford uniform came back on Nov. 24, 2004, when she scored just three points on 1-7 shooting against Louisiana-Lafayette in Anchorage, Alaska ... Once a weakness, three-point shooting has aided the Cardinal during its recent surge and the numbers have evened out. Stanford is 43-128 (33.6-percent) from beyond the arc while its opponents are 48-120 (40-percent) ... Jillian Harmon's three-point bucket with 14:27 remaining in the first half was the second of her career ... Stanford shot 50-percent in both halves ... The Cardinal has not played a road game since Nov. 26 at Georgia.