Stanford puts its struggles in past to open NCAA run
STANFORD >> It wasn’t a typical regular season for Stanford, but the Cardinal got off to a typical start in the NCAA tournament.
Freshman Kiana Williams made a grand entrance to the event with 21 points, and junior forward Alanna Smith added 20 points and four blocks as the fourth-seeded Cardinal topped No. 13 Gonzaga 82-68 in a first-round game Saturday at Maples Pavilion.
Williams was 5 of 8 from behind the arc and has now made 18 of 26 from long range since the start of the Pac-12 tournament.
“When Kiana puts it up, you’re assuming it’s going to go in,” Smith said. “Obviously as a post player, and as our team mantra is to rebound, so I’m going to go in and re-
bound it anyway. But when Ki puts it up, I’m assuming it’s going in.”
Senior guard Brittany McPhee had 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for her fourth career double-double.
Stanford (23-10) goes for its 11th straight Sweet 16 appearance at home Monday at 6 p.m. against No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast, which upset No. 5 Missouri 8070 earlier Saturday. The winner advances to the regional next weekend in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Eagles (31-4) don’t have a player taller than 5-foot-11, but they make up for it from outside the arc – they have made 414
three-pointers, 10 short of the NCAA record.
“They are a really unorthodox team and we’re going to be very challenged,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Stanford broke the game open Saturday late in the third quarter, holding Gonzaga scoreless for the final 4:31 of the period while getting 3-pointers from Smith, Williams and reserve forward Nadia Fingall to go up 65-48 after three. The Zags never got closer than 12 in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal fell out of the AP Top 25 after a 6-6 start and entered the NCAAs with 10 losses for the first time since 2001. It didn’t win the Pac 12 regular season or tournament title for the first time since 2000. But Stanford continued its domination at home
in the postseason, improving to 35-4 in NCAA tournament games at The Farm.
In fact, the Cardinal has only lost 12 games at Maples in the last 11 years — though one of those losses was to Gonzaga last season.
Stanford made sure it wouldn’t happen again. After a close first quarter, Stanford pulled ahead with eight straight points to go up 32-20, and maintained a comfortable lead from then on. The Cardinal shot 51 percent from the field and had a 42-27 edge on the glass.
“Obviously everyone knows we lost last year to this team, and I think our team took it very personally,” VanDerveer said.
Jill Barta had 21 points for the Zags (27-6), who dropped to 10-10 all-time
in the NCAA Tournament. Laura Stockton added 14 points and four assists with her father, Gonzaga great John Stockton, looking on from the stands.