NCAA Women's Tournament | Stanford's Candice Wiggins scores 44 in rout of UTEP

STANFORD, Calif. — On a night when nearly an entire arena celebrated Candice Wiggins' remarkable college career, she gave them a record-setting performance to cheer.

Stanford's beloved superstar scored a school-record tying 44 points in her last game at Maples Pavilion on Monday night, leading the second-seeded Cardinal past Texas- El Paso 88-54 and into the NCAA tournament's round of 16.

It was the third-most points scored in women's tournament history and the most since Sheryl Swoopes had 47 in the 1993 championship game for Texas Tech.

"It means so much," said Wiggins, who walked to Stanford's jubilant locker room arm in arm with coach Tara VanDerveer. "This is my lasting imprint of my career. I think it just summarizes the feeling I have when I play at Maples."

Wiggins took the ball to the basket from every which way. She found her teammates with pretty passes, too. She shot 15 for 27 with six three-pointers, had 10 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block. Her performance tied Kate Starbird's school record and was the highest-scoring tournament game by a Stanford player.

If her latest gem wasn't enough to finally put last year's shocking second-round loss to Florida State in the past, a trip to the Spokane Regional should do the trick.

"This is my last year. Last year stung so much," said Wiggins, who was surprised to see her high-school coach, Terri Bamford, in the stands. "I didn't want to go out in Maples like that. I didn't want to go out and disappoint and make the season less than what it was."

Wiggins has her heart set on traveling to Tampa, Fla., for the Final Four before turning her attention to next month's WNBA draft.

After Wiggins' three-pointer with 16:42 to play gave the Cardinal (32-3) a 51-31 cushion, Wiggins backpedaled while shaking her head as if even she was impressed.

"I threw it up and I thought I got fouled a little bit and it still went in and I was like, 'I think the Maples gods are helping me out tonight,' " Wiggins said of that play.

The Miners quickly took a timeout, but by then it was too late.

"She hit the three, she got to the basket," UTEP coach Keitha Adams said. "We tried to make the adjustments. She just played a very good ballgame."

Izabela Piekarska became the school's all-time scoring leader with 1,251 after getting 17 points and eight rebounds for NCAA newcomer UTEP (28-4), which had won 24 of its last 25 games.

GWU stuns Cal

STANFORD, Calif. — Sarah-Jo Lawrence rebounded a missed shot and beat the buzzer with a shot from the baseline to give sixth-seeded George Washington (27-6) a comeback victory over No. 3 California.

The winning shot was set up when Natasha Vital traveled while trying to call timeout for Cal (27-7) with less than 6 seconds remaining. The only problem was the official ruled she took an extra step before making the timeout signal, a call the Golden Bears dispute.

"I thought I called timeout," Vital said, fighting tears. "I feel like we should have won the game."

Antelia Parrish scored 15 points to lead George Washington and Lawrence added 13.

Ashley Walker led Cal with 19 points and nine rebounds. Gray-Lawson added 14 points and a career-high nine boards.

Cal (27-7) blew a seven-point lead in the final 4 minutes, failing to score in the last 3:20 of the game as the Bears missed out on advancing to the regional semifinals for the first time in school history.

"This game doesn't define our season," said coach Joanne Boyle, who fell to 0-8 all-time against George Washington. "I'm disappointed for them. They deserved the opportunity to move forward and that didn't happen tonight."

New Orleans Regional

Louisiana State 68, Marist 49

BATON ROUGE, La. — Tigers center Sylvia Fowles had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and 5-foot-3 guard Erica White had 15 points to help LSU (28-5) end the Red Foxes' 22-game winning streak.

Fowles, playing her final game on campus, overcame double-teams all night. She also became the leading rebounder in the history of the Southeastern Conference, with 1,527.

White scored all of her points in the second half on an array of perimeter shots and determined drives to the hoop to help LSU break open a close game.

Julianne Viani led Marist (32-2) with 21 points, hitting five three-pointers. Rachele Fitz had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Oklahoma State 73,

Florida State 72 (OT)

DES MOINES, Iowa — Andrea Riley sank a free throw with 0.7 seconds left in overtime to rescue the Cowgirls in the second-round matchup.

Riley, who had missed two free throws on her previous trip to the line, bricked her first attempt but nailed the second, then intercepted Florida State's long inbounds pass.

Danielle Green led OSU (27-7) with 23 points and Riley scored 21, though she shot just 8 for 25.

Mara Freshour led the Seminoles (19-14) with 20 points, including four three-pointers.

Spokane Regional

Pittsburgh 67, Baylor 59

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Shavonte Zellous scored 19 points and grabbed a key late rebound to lead the sixth-seeded Panthers (24-10).

Baylor (25-7), which lost in the second round for the second year in a row, was led by its frontline duo of Danielle Wilson with 15 points and Rachel Allison with 14. Guard Angela Tisdale finished with 13.

Vanderbilt 64, West Virginia 46

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Christina Wirth scored 21 points and reserve Jessica Mooney added 11 to help Vanderbilt beat West Virginia.

The Commodores (25-8), who have won 11 of their last 12 games, got a big lift from its bench. Mooney led the way as Vandy outscored West Virginia's reserves 20-2.

Olayinka Sanni led fifth-seeded West Virginia (25-8) with 14 points.

Greensboro Regional

Rutgers 69, Iowa State 58

DES MOINES, Iowa — Kia Vaughn scored 23 points to lead four players in double figures, and Rutgers advanced to the regional semifinals for the fourth straight season by beating Iowa State (21-13).

The Scarlet Knights, who leaned on its stingy defense all season, shot over 50 percent for the second straight NCAA tournament game.

Epiphanny Prince scored 17 points, Matee Ajavon had 16 and Essence Carson added 10 for second-seeded Rutgers (26-6).

Oklahoma State Regional

Texas A&M 63, Hartford 39

BATON ROUGE, La. — Danielle Gant scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead A&M to a dominant victory.

Morenike Atunrase added 13 points to help the Aggies (28-7) win their 11th straight game.

Hartford (28-6), which beat Syracuse in the first round, saw its 10-game winning streak end.