Stanford rolls past Utah Valley in first round
Kiana Williams scored 20 points while becoming Stanford’s career leader in made 3-pointers, and six teammates also hit from long range as the top-seeded Cardinal overwhelmed Women’s NCAA Tournament first-timer Utah Valley 87-44 in the opening round Sunday night.
Stanford never trailed after Williams, who made 6-of11 from beyond the arc, hit a 3 for the first basket in the opening minute and tied the school mark of 295 held by Candice Wiggins. Playing in her hometown and with her parents in the stands, Williams set the record with her second 3 midway through the first quarter to put the Cardinal up 18-3.
“It’s great she had like 52 people here, she really got us going,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. “Our whole team shot the ball well, especially in the first half. I think the best thing was we were able to rest people and no one got hurt. I thought we did a really good job.”
Lacie Hull added 12 points for Pac-12 champion Stanford (26-2), the No. 1 overall seed for the first time since 1996, which plays Alamo Region No. 8 seed Oklahoma State in the second round on Tuesday.
Santa Cruz native Haley Jones had six points, three rebounds and seven assists, as 10 different players scored points, and 10 got a rebound for the Cardinal.
Josie Williams had 18 points to lead Utah Valley (13-7), the WAC runner-up in the regular season that lost its first conference tournament game, represented the league in the NCAA Tournament because undefeated California Baptist was ineligible to advance while still
completing the transition from Division II to Division I.
The Cardinal led by as many as 43 points while shooting 55.9% overall (33 of 59), and 45.5% on 3-pointers (15 of 33). Williams’ six were the most by a player since Bonnie Samuelson also hit six in the 2014 tourney against South Dakota.
Coach Tara VanDerveer’s 1,120th career victory — she passed Pat Summitt’s 1,098 earlier this season to become the winningest coach in women’s basketball — was the 90th NCAA Tournament win for the Cardinal, who are in their 34th tourney.