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No. 2 Stanford Takes Down Oregon State In Pac-10 Semis, 71-55
March 3, 2002
By LANDON HALL EUGENE, Ore. - Nicole Powell scored a career-high 37 points as No. 2 Stanford stayed untouchable in the Pac-10, advancing to the conference tournament's championship game with a 71-55 victory over Oregon State on Sunday. The Cardinal (30-1) swept all 18 regular-season Pac-10 games four the fourth time in school history, and they won the first two games of the inaugural conference tournament by a combined 51 points. Stanford will play third-seeded Arizona State, which defeated Oregon 64-58, in Monday night's title game. Freshman Juleen Smith had 26 points and nine rebounds, both season highs, to lead Oregon State (16-14). All-conference guard Felicia Ragland scored 15 points on just 5-of-21 shooting. The Beavers, who lost all three games to Stanford this season by a total of 75 points, shot just 29 percent and were outrebounded by the much bigger Cardinal 50-36. Powell, the Pac-10 player of the year as a sophomore this season, surpassed her previous career high of 36 points - set against USC last month - on a pair of free throws with 1:46 left. She then left the game with her team leading 65-46. Powell also had 14 rebounds. No other Stanford player scored in double figures, but Bethany Donaphin had 12 rebounds, and T'Nae Thiel added 10. Stanford let a 23-point lead slip to eight midway through the second half. Smith hit two 3-pointers and two layups, the last one coming off a clean steal by Leilani Estavan, to cut the deficit to 47-39. The Cardinal slowly rebuilt the lead, however, and Donaphin scored the last four points of a 10-0 run to make it 57-39 with just under seven minutes to go. The Beavers had an early 6-3 lead and were within 16-15 when Powell started
hitting her shots. She scored 17 points during a 21-4 run. The last of her
three 3-pointers in the stretch came at the halftime buzzer, giving Stanford a
37-19 lead.
All-league forward Lindsey Yamasaki watched her second straight game from the sideline after having her appendix removed last week. She is expected to return for the NCAA tournament. |
