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		Stanford women drop Georgia, move to the Elite Eight By Morris Phillips March 27, 2010

	Stanford’s big-game defense showed up once again in Sacramento, holding fifth-seeded Georgia to six first-half field goals and 15 points in a 73-36 rout. Stanford advanced into an Elite Eight matchup with Xavier, who beat Gonzaga 74-58 on Monday night. The Cardinal will be making their 14th appearance in a NCAA regional final, and they are attempting to advance to the Final Four for the third straight year. Against Georgia, Stanford struggled early with the Bulldog’s energy and pace, but an early timeout, and some terse words from Coach Tara VanDerveer got them going, as a 26-4 run that ended just before halftime, put the game away early. Stanford led 37-15 at halftime. “We persevered through those first five minutes,” Stanford’s Kayla Pedersen said. “Once the media timeout was called, everybody took a deep breath and said, ‘OK, we’re here to play Stanford basketball,’ and we just kept rolling with that.” “In the beginning of the game, we weren’t doing the things we needed to do. But, then it kind of got to be contagious as they struggled on their shots,” VanDerveer said. Stanford was worried about Georgia guard Ashley Houts, a WNBA prospect, that could play with pace and score. But the Cardinal shut her down with taller defenders and defensive pressure that denied passes back to Houts in the halfcourt. Georgia leader managed just seven points, and missed all five of her 3-point attempts. On the other end, Stanford’s offense clicked by making the extra pass and getting the ball inside to Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Jayne Appel, who both had big games. Appel finished with 17 points and Ogwumkie had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Pedersen, playing outside and slashing to the basket at 6’4”, really taxed Georgia’s defense, scoring 13 points and adding 15 rebounds. “We thought we might have the ability if we could disrupt their offensive flow of the game,” Georgia Coach Andy Landers said. “And for the first five minutes of the game, we basically were doing what we thought we could do. But we couldn’t sustain it. They found some high-low plays on us, and they kept getting to the offensive boards on us, especially in the first 10 minutes.” Stanford continues to show tremendous versatility in their NCAA run, by finding offense from different sources. In first and second-round wins over UC Riverside and Iowa, the Cardinal got 13 of 19 shooting, including 10 3-pointers from guards Jeanette Pohlen and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude. But against Georgia, the pair were just ordinary, combining for 14 points, while Stanford scored big inside and got outside shooting from J.J. Hones, who scored eight points off the bench. With the win, VanDerveer moves into the third place on the all-time NCAA tournament list with 57 wins. Georgia’s 36 points was a season-low and the worst offensive showing in their lengthy post-season history.