AMES, Iowa - Stanford is halfway home.
With Chiney Ogwumike leading the way, as usual, the Cardinal opened the NCAA Tournament with an 81-62 victory over gritty South Dakota at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday night. They need another victory Monday against Florida State to play in the Sweet 16 on its home court at Maples Pavilion.
“Our team is on a mission coming here,” Coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It’s not a secret we want to go back to Stanford and play at Stanford.”
Ogwumike scored 23 points to become the Pac-12’s career scoring leader, and second-seeded Stanford (30-3) used a couple big runs to pull away from No. 15 South Dakota.
“It was very disappointing for us to not win the Pac-12 tournament. It was disappointing in some respects to not be a 1 seed,” VanDerveer said. “But every disappointment is a blessing. We’ve got to turn that around to something very positive for our team, and I think we have.”
Stanford kept all the Coyotes under wraps except Australian guard Nicole Seekamp, who made 9 of 13 shots and finished with 22 points.
The loss by the Summit League’s Coyotes (19-14) dropped No. 15 seeds to 0-82 all-time in first-round games.
South Dakota made four of its first five shots, forced Stanford into a shot-clock violation and led 13-12 5 1/2 minutes into the game.
Stanford took over from there. Ogwumike hit a go ahead jumper to start a 19-4 run that put the Cardinal up 31-17. A 17-5 run spanning the halves made it 48-27. The Cardinal led by as much as 25.
FLORIDA STATE 55, IOWA STATE 44
AMES, Iowa - Natasha Howard scored 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as 10th-seeded Florida State defeated cold-shooting Iowa State.
The Seminoles (21-11) won their 11th consecutive tournament opener since 1991, prevailing in a game in which turnovers outnumbered field goals 44-36. They’ll play No. 2 seeded Stanford on Monday night.
Cheetah Delgado had 10 points and six assists and Ivey Slaughter grabbed 13 rebounds for the Seminoles.
Hallie Christofferson scored 13 points, Brynn Williamson added 12 on four three-pointers, and Jadda Buckey had 10 for the Cyclones (20-11).
Sports, Pages 29 on 03/23/2014