Jan. 25, 2007
TUCSON (AP) - Brooke Smith had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 9 Stanford to its 15th straight victory, 86-76 over Arizona on Thursday night.
The Cardinal (17-3, 10-0) scored the first eight points of the game, built a 22-point first-half lead and then held off an Arizona rally that brought the Wildcats within seven.
Jayne Appel made 9-of-10 from the field for 18 points for Stanford. Candice Wiggins added 18 points, Cissy Pierce had 15, and Kristen Newlin had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Joy Hollingsworth led Arizona (7-15, 1-9) with 13 points and Jessica Arnold added 11.
Hollingsworth's 3-pointer with 6:44 left got the Wildcats to 71-64.
But Wiggins hit a 3-pointer and a layup after getting a loose ball under the bucket to put Stanford ahead by 12.
The Wildcats came within 80-72 with 2 minutes remaining, but Appel put the game away with a mini-hook to put Stanford back ahead by 10 with 1:06 left.
Arizona used full-court pressure to rattle the Cardinal at the start of the second half, outscoring Stanford 22-10 to close to 54-47 on Jessica Arnold's driving layup with 11:32 remaining.
Stanford built its big first-half lead by turning it up a notch midway through the half, making 11-of-15 field goal attempts to go ahead 42-22 with 2:30 left following a layup from Smith. Arizona had cut the lead to 13-12 on a jump shot by Burns, but a 3-pointer from Michelle Harrison and six straight inside points from Appel gave Stanford a nine-point burst that started the Cardinal's hot streak.
NOTES: In two career games against Arizona, Jayne Appel is shooting 15-17 from the field ... Jillian Harmon's lay-up with just over two minutes remaining assured she would not be held scoreless for the first time in her career (54 games) ... Kristen Newlin tallied her team-best fifth double-double of the year, scoring 10 points and hauling down 11 rebounds ... Arizona's Amina Njonkou became only the second player to record a double-double against Stanford this year. California's Ashley Walker (16 points, 12 rebounds) is the other ... Stanford improves to 5-0 when scoring at least 80 points ... Stanford's 15-game winning streak ranks tied for fifth-best in program history ... The last time two Stanford players recorded double-doubles in one game was in a 77-72 loss at Washington on Dec. 22, 2005, as Jillian Harmon (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Brooke Smith (24 points, 10 rebounds) pulled it off ... Five Cardinal players scored in double-figures, representing the first time that has happened since five players accomplished the feat against Arizona back on Dec. 28, 2006 ... Stanford held a commanding 44-22 edge in points in the paint ... The Wildcats trailed by as much as 22 points with 54 seconds remaining in the first half ... The showdown is set for Saturday afternoon in Tempe: No. 9 Stanford (17-3, 10-0 Pac-10) at No. 10 Arizona State (19-2, 9-1 Pac-10).