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Lady Cardinal: Powell era over
By Jeremy Kahn March 31, 2004 |
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Stanford women ousted in NCAA Tournament Tasha Butts hit a bank shot over Stanford All-American Nicole Powell, to propel the number one seed Tennessee Lady Vols to a 62-60 victory in the Midwest Regional Final at the Lloyd Noble Center at the University of Oklahoma. After the shot by Butts, the Cardinal had one more chance at either tying the game or sending it into overtime, or sending the Cardinal to their first Final Four since 1997; however Powell’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim and onto the floor. Stanford players and coaches thought Powell was fouled as she took the shot. “I felt like I was fouled a lot of times tonight,” Powell said. “It's the NCAA tournament and that's the way it is.” In the loss, Powell went 14-of-24 from the floor including 3-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc for a game high 31 points. Powell also pulled down 10 rebounds for Tara VanderVeer’s team, in what proved to be her final game in a Cardinal uniform. Kelley Suminski, the heroine of the Sweet 16 upset of the second seeded Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday, was held to 2-9 shooting and scored only four points. Butts led the Lady Vols with 14 points, Shyra Ely scored 12 and LaToya Davis added 10 for Pat Summitt’s team who will be making their third consecutive trip to the Final Four. Tennessee has won eight straight games against Stanford and holds a 16-4 edge in the rivalry that has grown as the teams played at least once every year since 1988. Two of Stanford's wins came on the way to championships in 1990 and 1992. The Cardinal has lost each of the last six games by six points or less. “We've unfortunately been on the very close losing end,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I think that by being that close our team has really overachieved.” The Lady Vols will face their SEC rivals from LSU in one semifinal. This will be the first Final Four appearance for LSU and acting coach Pokey Chatman. Chatman, a former player at LSU replaced longtime coach Sue Gunter. While in the other semifinal, the two-time defending champion Connecticut Huskies led by All-American and Naismith Player of the Year Diana Taurasi will face the upstart Minnesota Golden Gophers, who also will be making their first ever appearance. The Golden Gophers led by senior Lindsay Whalen and junior Janel McCarville upset the number one seeded Duke Blue Devils 82-75 in the Mideast Regional final in Norfolk, VA. Suminski wins it March 29 Add Kelley Suminski’s name to the list of players who hit game-winning shots of a big game this season for Stanford Basketball. Yes, Josh Childress, Matt Lottich and Nick Robinson hit game-winning shots for the men; however none was as big as the shot by Suminski. Suminski’s three pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining in the game lift the Stanford Cardinal to a stunning 57-55 upset of the second seeded Vanderbilt Commodores at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. “I don’t know whether to cry of celebrate,” said Suminski, after hitting the 3-pointer that propelled the Cardinal in their first Elite Eight appearance since the senior years of Kate Starbird, Jamila Wideman, Charmin Smith and Tara Harrington in 1997. That team went 34-2, but lost to Old Dominion 83-82 in overtime. Waiting for the Cardinal in the Elite Eight to see who will advance to New Orleans for the Final Four will be the number one seeded Tennessee Lady Vols, who defeated the Baylor Bears 71-69 on two free throws by Tasha Butts with 0.2 seconds remaining in the game. The Cardinal have a 4-15 record all-time against the Lady Vols, including a devastating 70-66 overtime loss on December 14 at Maples Pavilion. This will be the first match up between the two legendary coaches, Tara VanDerveer and Pat Summitt in the NCAA Tournament since the 1991 Final Four. Ironically, that Final Four that Final Four took place in New Orleans, the site of this year’s Final Four. The Lady Vols ended the Cardinal season with a 68-60 victory. At one point in the game, the Cardinal had a 12 point lead; however the Commodores came all the way back to take a 55-54 lead, and had the lead with 11.2 seconds remaining in the game. After a 30 second shot clock violation on the Commodores, the Cardinal got the ball for one final play. Nicole Powell dribbled up the court, and when the defense collapsed on her, Powell found the wide-open Suminski who hit the three-pointer that gave the Cardinal the eventual 57-55 win. Powell led the Cardinal with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Associated Press contributed to this report Lady Cardinal 2004 post-season results March 6: Cal 80-55 (Pac 10 Tournament) March 7: UCLA 70-66 (Pac 10 Tournament) March 8: Arizona 51-46 (Pac 10 Tournament) March 20: Missouri 68-44 (NCAA Tournament) March 22: Oklahoma 68-43 (NCAA Tournament) March 28: Vanderbilt 57-55 (NCAA Tournament) March 30: Tennessee 60-62 (NCAA Tournament) |
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