STANFORD, Calif. — Tara VanDerveer’s reserves should be all tuned up for their rivalry weekend with California, and her starters well rested.
Jayne Appel had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists in limited action, Jeanette Pohlen added 18 points with four 3-pointers and No. 11 Stanford followed its record 77-point win over Washington two days earlier with a 102-53 rout of Washington State on Saturday.
“Our bench was huge for us this weekend,” VanDerveer said. “In both the Washington and Washington State games I was really pleased with how people finished out, and obviously we started well.”
The Cardinal (13-3, 4-0 Pac-10) weren’t nearly as sharp early as they were in beating the Huskies 112-35 on Thursday night for the largest margin of victory in program and Pac-10 history, but still earned their fifth straight victory since losing at two-time defending champion Tennessee on Dec. 21 in a rematch of the teams’ NCAA title game in April.
April Cook and Jazmine Perkins each scored 14 points to lead the Cougars (7-7, 0-3), who scrapped for 40 minutes but were plenty overmatched in losing their fifth straight after a five-game winning streak.
Stanford — the eight-time defending regular-season conference champion — now has this coming week to get ready for their first showdown with Bay Area rival and 13th-ranked Cal next Sunday in Berkeley.
The Cardinal know that their entire roster is prepared to contribute after the way things went the past two games.
“Anybody coming off the bench who gets the opportunity and comes in and does well for us is great for everybody’s confidence,” Pohlen said. “It shows we don’t drop off and that we can keep playing and what we are capable of when the starting five do come out.”
The Cardinal reached the 100-point mark for the third time this season and in consecutive games. They totaled 214 points in sweeping the Washington schools — but that wasn’t their most productive Pac-10 weekend ever. Stanford combined for 225 points on Feb. 21 and 23, 1991, in beating Arizona and Arizona State at home, the Cardinal’s most ever in back-to-back games.
“It’s a blast when you get to see everyone get in and play,” Appel said. “That’s what everyone works so hard for in practice. We know being the starters it’s up to us to get that for them.”
Michelle Harrison had back-to-back baskets during an 18-2 Stanford run that put the Cardinal up 45-20 at halftime, then they only built on that with a big run after the break — 23-4 to start the second half. Washington State went nearly five minutes without scoring late in the first half but got a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Danielle LeNoir.
Harrison finished with 16 points and five rebounds off the bench and 6-foot-5 reserve freshman Sarah Boothe had 13 points and five boards for Stanford, which shot 56 percent, finished with 17 steals, forced 27 overall turnovers and held a 45-25 rebounding advantage. Appel shot 8-for-9 in 18 minutes and had another productive outing despite playing less than a half for the second straight game.
“They’re as good as advertised,” second-year Washington State coach June Daugherty said. “Stanford is playing at a very high level early. Normally you see that kind of execution in February or March. Stanford is for real here and now and that’s scary for everybody else in the Pac-10.”
Stanford’s 57 second-half points were a season high, too.
Cook, the Cougars’ freshman point guard and second-leading scorer, picked up two quick fouls and her third with 6:07 before halftime. She shot 5-for-13 and had only one of Washington State’s seven assists.
Stanford improved to 47-0 all-time against the Cougars dating to the teams’ first meeting on Feb. 1, 1983, and 12 of the last 15 contests in the series have been decided by 20 or more points.
The Cardinal made nine of their first 15 shots while Washington State went 5-for-15 to fall behind in a hurry.
Stanford is hoping to get guard Melanie Murphy back this week after she missed the last three games with sprained big toes on each foot. She has been wearing a walking booth on the left side.
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