Dec. 2, 2007

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. -- All-America Candice Wiggins hit five three-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points while center Jayne Appel had 17 points and a game-best eight rebounds as the No. 6/5 Stanford Cardinal beat UC Davis 62-41 in a nonconference women's basketball game played before 3,200 fans on Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion.

The loss was the first of the season for the Aggies, who fell to 5-1. Stanford won its fourth straight game, improving to 7-1. Redshirt freshman Paige Mintun scored a career-high 14 points - 10 of them in the second half - while adding a career-best six rebounds to pace the Aggies whose 5-0 start entering the game was their first since 2001-02.

Stanford led 32-15 at halftime but only outscored the Aggies 30-26 after intermission. The Cardinal were dangerous from beyond the arc, making eight three-pointers in the game including five from Wiggins - a three-time All-American - who was 5 of 10 from long distance. Rosalyn Gold-Onwude made two treys for the Cardinal.

"It's a 'pick your poison' against Stanford," said UC Davis coach Sandy Simpson. "Statistically, the one area they had struggled in was their three-point shooting. We wanted to make them prove it outside and they did."

UC Davis, which has never faced a women's basketball team as highly ranked as Stanford, led twice in the early going. Jessica Campbell scored on a layup less than a minute into the game to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead while Porshneva's jumper two minutes later returned a 4-3 lead to UC Davis after Cassy Pierce made Stanford's first three-pointer earlier.

Wiggins' three-pointer started an 8-0 Cardinal run that made it 11-4 while another 8-0 surge later - keyed by four points from Appel - made it 22-7 with 7 minutes, 22 seconds to go. Campbell hit a pair of free throws as UC Davis got the lead back to single digits at 22-13 with 4:39 left but Stanford scored 10 of the next 12 points for a 32-15 halftime lead.

The Cardinal led by 33 points twice in the second half, the final time coming 62-29 with 5:36 to go. The Aggies, though, held Stanford without a point the rest of the game with Heather Bates and Genevive Costello made three-pointers as UC Davis outscored Stanfod 12-0 down the stretch.

"The respect I have for Stanford has grown exponentially," said Simpson. "They prepared extremely well to take away our offensive options."

Mintun made 6 of 12 shots from the field - including a three-pointer - while grabbing three boards on both the offensive and defensive glass. UC Davis committed 25 turnovers in the game while Stanford had 21. Both teams had 10 steals but the Cardinal held an 18-7 advantage in assists.

The game also provided the first collegiate matchup between the Aggies' Haley Donaghe and her sister, Hannah, who is a freshman on the Stanford squad. The players were on the floor at the same time during the latter stages of the game and went head-to-head on several plays.

The matchup with the Cardinal was the second for UC Davis against a Pac-10 school after beating Washington 69-58 on Nov. 18. It was also the first of three straight against teams that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament. The Aggies will host Gonzaga on Thursday at 7 p.m. before traveling to face No. 15 Arizona State next Sunday.