Feb. 8, 2007
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Freshman Jayne Appel had 19 points and season-best 14 rebounds for her first career double-double and No. 11 Stanford handed last-place Washington State its 13th straight loss, 60-34 on Thursday night.
Candice Wiggins had 16 points and four rebounds while playing point guard most of the game in place of injured freshman JJ Hones, helping the Cardinal bounce back after a tough loss to rival California on Sunday. Brooke Smith added 12 points and seven rebounds, with Stanford shooting 46 percent and holding a 48-35 advantage on the boards.
The Cardinal (20-4, 12-1 Pac-10), who hit at least one 3-pointer for their 400th consecutive game but also committed 19 turnovers, have won all 44 meetings between the schools in a series that started during the 1982-83 season.
Amanda DuRocher scored 10 points for cold-shooting Washington State (5-19, 1-13), which played Stanford tough in a 63-55 loss in Pullman on Jan. 13, but couldn't do anything effectively on offense this time. The Cougars were shooting 11 percent at one point in the second half at 4-for-36.
Their 17.2 shooting percentage for the game was the lowest by a Stanford opponent since Pacific's 15.4 percent on Dec. 12, 2003.
Stanford led by as many as 31 and was up 28-11 at halftime, the fewest points allowed by the Cardinal in a half this season. Washington State, which came into the game shooting 36.8 percent from the floor, didn't make its first two-point field goal until a putback by Ebonee Coates at the 18:51 mark of the second half.
Stanford then went on an 11-0 run to build a 39-13 lead, getting eight points, including six in a row, from Appel during the spurt. The 6-foot-4 Appel, slowed by a shoulder injury early in the season, shot 8-for-14 and showed why she was such a heralded recruit out of nearby Pleasant Hill.
Cissy Pierce moved into the starting lineup for Stanford after the Cardinal lost Hones, a freshman point guard, to a season-ending knee injury in the 72-57 loss to Cal on Feb. 4.
Coach Tara VanDerveer used reserve guards Melanie Murphy and Markisha Coleman for more minutes in the absence of Hones, who will have surgery in the coming weeks to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.
The Cougars started 2-for-18. They made their first shot of the game with a 3-pointer by DuRocher, then missed eight straight field-goal tries before another 3 by DuRocher more than 6 minutes later.
NOTES: Stanford reaches the 20-win plateau for the 18th season. The Cardinal has won 20+ games in each of the last six seasons and seven of the last eight overall ... Stanford is 3-1 in games following a loss so far this year ... Jayne Appel's 14 rebounds were a career-best. She has led the Cardinal in scoring seven times this year and has been the high rebounder on five different occasions ... Candice Wiggins, who scored 16 points on 6-12 shooting, is averaging 19.5 points per game over the last six games combined ... Only one Washington State player scored in double-figures, as Amanda DuRocher poured in 10 points ... The Cardinal held a commanding 48-35 rebounding edge and is now 18-1 when outrebounding an opponent ... Washington State held an 11-4 edge in steals ... Tonight's lineup of Wiggins, Cissy Pierce, Jillian Harmon, Brooke Smith and Kristen Newlin is now 3-1 on the year ... Washington State shot just 10.3-percent in the opening period, making 3-29 from the field. The Cougars' 11 first-half points represented the lowest point total allowed by the Cardinal in any half this year.