The last game

Chopped down

By: Michelle Smith, San Francisco Chronicle

Stanford's rock-and-roll hopes collapsed into a pile of rubble Monday night at Maples Pavilion.
The season with Final Four potential ended with another stunning second-round disappointment on the Cardinal's home floor. (More ...)

---

Stanford falls flat once again at Maples

By: Mechelle Voepel, ESPN

I gave a quick call Monday night to a friend who is -- or was -- a Stanford fan. "It's officially over," she said. "They're dead to me."
She doesn't really mean it but … it was that kind of horrible night for those who love -- but now don't want to love -- the Cardinal. Some Stanford fans probably feel like they simply can not take any more. (More ...)

---

Home groan

By: Ann Killion, Mercury News

This was a two-year deal for Stanford: Host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament this year, and the university gets the privilege of hosting the first and second rounds next year, too.
Here's some advice for Stanford: politely decline. (More ...)

---

Stanford women shocked at home

By: Dylan Hernandez, Mercury News

Jayne Appel was crying, her face as red as the letters on her jersey. Nearby, Candice Wiggins held an equally distraught Brooke Smith.
The unthinkable happened Monday night at Maples Pavilion: No. 2 seed Stanford's season ended with a 68-61 loss to 10th-seeded Florida State in the second round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. (More ...)

---

Reflections on a painful loss

By: Warren Grimes, The Bootleg

Every team but one in the NCAA Tournament will finish with a defeat, and every season-ending loss hurts. Why do Cardinalmaniacs feel so uniquely pained today? Warren Grimes gives a voice to why Stanford's second-round exit Monday night to Florida State, and other losses in recent years of the NCAAs, are so painful to endure. (More ...)

---

FSU Post-Game Quotes: Wiggins & Smith

By: Mike Eubanks, The Bootleg

Anyone who has closely followed the Cardinal the last three years knows the tearful and difficult post-game interviews for Brooke Smith after rare defeats. Monday night was the ultimate hammer, ending Smith's career with an early exit in the NCAAs, so Candice Wiggins took most of the questions on what happened offensively, defensively and emotionally in the 68-61 upset loss to Florida State.t (More ...)