No. 2 Stanford Women Cruise Past Utah 69-42
STANFORD (CBS/AP) -- Chiney Ogwumike scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds, older sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike added 15 points and five blocks and No. 2 Stanford beat Utah 69-42 on Saturday, giving coach Tara Vanderveer her 700th career victory with the Cardinal.
The Hall of Fame coach is fifth on the all-time coaching list with 852 wins.
Joslyn Tinkle had 12 points and nine rebounds for Stanford, which won its 78th straight game at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal (26-1, 17-0 Pac-12) led the entire way and ran their conference winning streak to 74 despite going just 2 of 12 on 3-pointers.
Taryn Wicijowski scored 16 points and Iwalani Rodrigues had 12 for Utah, which has lost two straight after winning three in a row. The Utes trailed by as much as 27 and never recovered after shooting 23.8 percent in the first half.
VanDerveer became just the seventh coach to win 700 games at one school with Stanford's 23rd straight victory this season. She joined a list that includes Tennessee's Pat Summitt and Connecticut's Geno Auriemma.
Even in the milestone victory - which came on Senior Day at Stanford - VanDerveer was her typical fiery self.
She yelled at her players for a mistake on an inbounds play with the Cardinal leading by 17 in the second half, then later shook her head emphatically as she questioned Nneka Ogwumike during a timeout.
VanDerveer was also the first to notice when the scoreboard malfunctioned with 3 1/2 minutes remaining - only after a Stanford basket failed to register.
The crowd at Maples Pavilion rose in unison to give VanDerveer a standing ovation after the final buzzer sounded, though the veteran coach showed little emotion.
Instead, she seemed more caught up in the postgame ceremony honoring Stanford's four seniors, including Nneka Ogwumike.
Utah (13-14, 6-10) made one run and pulled within 50-34 when Wicijowski scored on a three-point play midway through the second half but wilted down the stretch and remained winless in 14 games against Stanford.
The Cardinal got their normal scoring from the Ogwumike sisters, who combined to go 12 of 23 from the floor. Stanford also got a big lift from freshman guard Amber Orrange, who had 12 points and four rebounds.
Now it's just a matter of Stanford tightening up things in their bid for a fifth straight appearance in the Final Four.
The second-ranked Cardinal host Seattle University in a non-conference game on Wednesday before closing out the Pac-12 slate on the road against California on March 4.
Stanford had no problem scoring against Utah and rode one of its best defensive efforts of the season to the lopsided win.
The Utes were called for shot clock violations on their first two possessions, made just five field goals in the first half and trailed 36-14 at the break.
Utah coach Anthony Levrets, frustrated by his team's lack of offense, repeatedly yelled at officials throughout the first half and was whistled for a technical foul with 2:22 left.
Tinkle, who had six points during an 18-3 run, made both free throws to give the Cardinal a 35-10 lead. The Utes never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
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