Washington falls to No. 2 Stanford women, 58-36

Jayne Appel smiled at the memory.

Nearly two minutes into No. 2 Stanford's game against Washington and the ball sailed over Appel's head into the hands of Huskies sophomore Regina Rogers for an open layin. Cardinal teammates barked at each other as coach Tara VanDerveer belted instructions from the sideline.

Never again.

"We were saying it was a good thing because they kept trying to make that pass the rest of the game," said Appel after the 58-36 win Friday night at Edmundson Pavilion. "We got caught sleeping on the backside."

"But they did keep trying to make that pass," VanDerveer said, cutting in. "And it accounted for maybe at least four or five turnovers."

Watching the inside play disappear early, Washington went outside with a three-pointer by Sami Whitcomb to make the deficit 8-5. Stanford simply intensified its perimeter defense and ripped a 10-0 run for an 18-5 advantage — not allowing Washington back within single digits of the lead.

No shot attempt for Washington was as open as its first possession, accounting for the 22-point loss. UW shot 4 for 31 from the field in the first half.

"We kind of lost ourselves for a good six- to eight-minute spread that we couldn't recover from," Huskies coach Tia Jackson said.

Washington made adjustments, shooting 43.5 percent after the break, but the forgettable start was too much to overcome.

The Huskies (9-13, 4-8 Pac-10) dropped their third consecutive game, losing seven of their past eight matchups overall. It's a stark turn from starting the Pac-10 season on a three-game win streak.

"It's frustrating just because we've seen the success that we can have and we're capable of," Whitcomb said. "We still know we're capable of doing those things and it's frustrating because we do the things we need to for a good amount of the game, but then have these breakdowns that prevent us from getting wins."

Washington forced Stanford into foul trouble, executing part of its game plan in keeping sophomore star Nnemkadi Ogwumike off the boards and on the bench with four fouls. That allowed the Huskies to outrebound the top rebounding team in the conference 14-4 offensively.

Yet Cardinal defender Rosalyn Gold-Onwude held Huskies sophomore Kristi Kingma scoreless in four attempts while Stanford's Kayla Pedersen limited Whitcomb to 3-for-12 shooting for eight points and five rebounds.

Rogers led Washington with 10 points, playing best against Appel, who still finished with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes.

Stanford (22-1, 12-0) wasn't elated with win, however.

"If there was a men's team in the Pac-10 beating teams by 20 points, they'd be happy," said VanDerveer, whose team's sole loss was to No. 1 Connecticut in December. "We're not. It's hard because we always want to be playing better. It's internal pride. We want to play well."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com

STANFORD 58
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Ogwumike	20	6-7	0-0	0-3	1	4	12
Appel	35	7-12	4-8	2-13	2	3	18
Pedersen	28	2-4	3-4	2-8	2	4	8
Gld-Onwude	20	3-5	0-0	0-2	1	2	6
Pohlen	38	4-9	0-0	0-0	5	1	10
Murphy	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Harrison	6	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Hones	21	0-4	0-0	0-1	3	0	0
La	8	0-0	0-0	0-2	0	0	0
Cimino	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Tinkle	17	2-4	0-1	0-2	0	1	4
	200	24-46	7-13	4-33	14	16	58

Percentages: FG .522, FT .538. Three-point goals: 3-15, (Pedersen 1-2, Gold-Onwude 0-2, Pohlen 2-6, Hones 0-3, Tinkle 0-2). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4, (Appel, Pedersen, Harrison, Tinkle). Turnovers: 15, (Ogwumike 2, Appel, Pedersen, Gold-Onwude 2, Pohlen 3, Murphy, Harrison, La, Tinkle 2). Steals: 7, (Ogwumike, Appel, Gold-Onwude, Pohlen, Harrison, Hones, Tinkle). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON 36
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Argens	19	2-6	2-2	0-2	1	3	6
Rogers	17	5-9	0-2	0-1	0	4	10
Kingma	28	0-4	0-0	2-4	3	1	0
Morton	21	0-5	0-0	0-3	3	1	0
Whitcomb	30	3-12	0-0	2-5	2	0	8
McLellan	17	2-6	0-1	1-2	0	1	4
Anderson	15	1-5	0-0	1-3	0	0	2
Rozier	19	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Barlow	7	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Williams	13	0-2	2-4	2-3	0	4	2
Mosiman	14	1-4	2-2	1-3	0	0	4
	200	14-54	6-11	14-35	9	15	36

Percentages: FG .259, FT .545. Three-point goals: 2-10, (Kingma 0-2, Morton 0-2, Whitcomb 2-5, Mosiman 0-1). Team rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 1, (Anderson). Turnovers: 18, (Argens, Rogers 3, Kingma, Morton 4, Whitcomb 2, McLellan 2, Anderson, Rozier 2, Williams). Steals: 7, (Rogers, Kingma 2, Morton, Whitcomb 2, Williams). Technical fouls: None.

Stanford	28	30	—	58
Washington	12	24	—	36

Attendance: 2,581. Officials: Randy Campbell, Brian Hall, Cathi Cornell.