West Regional

Top-seeded Oklahoma downs Villanova

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - LaNeishea Caufield scored 30 points and Oklahoma withstood an early 3-point flurry by Villanova to beat the Wildcats 66-53 Monday night in the second round of the NCAA West Regional.

The top-seeded Sooners (29-3) won their 23rd consecutive at home and advanced to their third consecutive regional semifinal. They will play fellow Big 12 member Texas Tech on Saturday night in Boise, Idaho. Oklahoma beat Tech twice this season.

Mimi Riley scored 18 for ninth-seeded Villanova (20-11), which has yet to advance past the second round in six NCAA tournament appearances.

The Wildcats, who lead the nation with 8.5 made 3-pointers per game, had seven in the first 11:15 of the game but only one the rest of the way.

The Sooners saw an early 11-point deficit cut to one before outscoring Villanova 14-2 in the final 8:44 of the half. They scored the first seven points of the second half to build a 49-29 lead, and Villanova got no closer than 12 after that.

The Wildcats, who started out 10-of-18 from the field, wound up 19-of-51 (37 percent) overall and went 8-of-23 from 3-point range. Oklahoma shot 48 percent.

Caufield scored 18 points in the first 10 1/2 minutes as Oklahoma built a 24-13 lead. Then Villanova made five consecutive 3-pointers during a run that brought it within 28-27.

Seven of the Wildcats' first 10 baskets were 3-pointers, most coming in the final seconds of the shot clock. But they were just 1-of-11 the rest of the half as Oklahoma surged ahead 42-29.

Villanova's first field goal of the second half didn't come until the 12:58 mark, when Riley scored in the lane to make the score 51-35.

Oklahoma's 29 victories broke the school record set last year. The crowd of 11,245 was the largest to watch a women's game in state of Oklahoma, surpassing mark of 11,200 set during the first-round games Saturday night.

Stanford 77, Tulane 55

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Nicole Powell had her second consecutive triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Stanford beat Tulane 77-55 Monday night in the second round of the NCAA West Regional.

Lindsey Yamasaki added 24 points for second-seeded Stanford (32-2), which advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1996-97 season. They will play Colorado (23-9) in Boise, Idaho in the West Regional semifinals.

Teana McKiver had 16 points for 10th-seeded Tulane (24-11), making its eighth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

Stanford is playing in its 15th consecutive tournament. The Cardinal have advanced to the Final Four six times, and won NCAA championships in 1990 and 1992.

Paced by McKiver, the Green Wave kept up with the taller and more athletic Cardinal until midway through the first half when Yamasaki made a 3-pointer that put Stanford ahead 23-14.

The home crowd at Maples Pavilion jumped to its feet when freshman guard Kelley Suminski nailed a 3-pointer and got fouled with 3:36 left in the half. Although she missed the extra shot, her 3 put Stanford up 35-18. The Cardinal took a 40-24 lead into the half.

The second half was all Stanford, but the attention was on Powell after her triple-double led the Cardinal to a 76-51 victory in the first round Saturday against Weber State. Powell, the Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year, had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in that victory.

Powell had amassed 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists by the half Monday night en route to her sixth career triple-double. The 6-foot-2 sophomore is the only player in Pac-10 history with more than one.

When she finally left the game with just under two minutes left, she pumped her fist and grinned.

Yamasaki, the team's top scorer, missed the Pac-10 tournament after she had an emergency appendectomy. She eased her way into the tournament, playing 18 minutes in the first-round game.

The Cardinal, ranked as high as No. 2 this season, took the conference title with a perfect 18-0 record but lost in the Pac-10 tournament to Arizona State.

The Green Wave, who advanced to the second round with a 73-69 victory against Colorado State, had won eight of nine with the only loss coming in the Conference USA championship game against Cincinnati.

 

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