Candice Wiggins 41 takes Stanford to Final Four

Candice Wiggins dominated yet another game, scoring 41 points to defeat #1 seed Maryland, 98-87, to reach the Final Four. All around Stanford was tremendous, shooting 51% as a team including 14-28 from three point range. Wiggins made 5 threes of her own as well as making 16 of Stanford’s 20 free throws. J.J. Hones scored a career-high 23 points, including 4 threes to help lead Stanford behind Wiggins performance. The game was close between the top two teams in the Spokane region during most of the first half, but Stanford took over late in the half to gain a 10 point lead at intermission, 51-41. Wiggins scored 17 of her teams points during that half to put her on her way for another big scoring performance. Stanford kept up the tempo in the second half, with Wiggins and Hones leading the way. Wiggins scored 24 points in the second half for a Stanford team that led by as much as 17 points, 75-58, on a lay-up by Wiggins with 10:22 left. Over the last 11 minutes Wiggins scored 18 of the teams last 26 points, leading her team to an easy victory. J.J. Hones also hit a couple of threes to help put the game out of reach during the final period. Kayla Pedersen chipped in 15 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists for the high scoring Cardinal.

Maryland tried to claw back in the final minutes, but couldn’t withstand the powerful play of Wiggins and Stanford. Kristi Toliver nearly matched Wiggins production, scoring 35 points of her own to go with 5 assists. Maryland shot 54% from the field, but couldn’t match Stanford three point shooting, by being outscored by 24 in that category.

With the win Stanford reached the Final Four for the first time in the past 11 years, the 7th time in school history. Throughout the past tow games, Stanford has taken its cue from Wiggins, with her leadership and the scoring ability, she has utterly dominated the past two wins for Stanford, allowing her team to be one of the four teams remaining.