Sweet 16: Cardinal slips past Tar Heels

That was too tough! The Tar Heels did a great job of keeping the Cardinal from doing what it likes to do. Except for one thing — win, which the Cardinal did 72-65.

I hope we don't have to play them again for another 15 years.

The game reports focus on the major contributions by the Sisterhood (19 points from Nneka, 16 points and 11 rebounds from Chiney) and by Kayla (15 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and a steal) and on the shortcomings — Jeanette's shooting woes, Stanford's -3 rebounding margin.

They fail to report other important contributions:

Joslyn came in for just eight minutes, but she scored seven much-needed points. Late in the first half when the Cardinal were struggling to hold on, she made a layup and then a jumper and then an assist to Toni who sank a 3-pointer. That gave the Cardinal a six-point lead. Although the score was tied five times after that, they never fell behind again except once for 24 seconds.

Joslyn's other three points

Toni scored nine points and played excellent defense, particularly against Italee Lucas. She wasn't as quick as usual perhaps — no fast breaks, no drives to the basket with amazing layups — but she played for 28 minutes.

Sarah helped to thwart the Tar Heel's big, strong, aggressive front court for eight minutes. She didn't score any points, but had three rebounds, a block and a steal.

In the first game of the evening, Gonzaga appeared to have it wrapped up with a bow tied around it for 30 minutes. Then Louisville finally figured out how to defend the Zags and gradually cut the 17 point lead down to three with three minutes left to play. But the Zags hung on and fought back and finished with a 76-69 victory. Most of the 11,339 fans in the Spokane Arena were very happy.

Here are reports of the Stanford/Carolina game:

• Cardinal In Elite 8, Top Tar Heels 72-65 from the Associated Press
• Stanford beats N. Carolina, 1 win from Final Four by Tom FitzGerald, San Francisco Chronicle, includes a gallery of AP photos
• Stanford turns back tough challenge from North Carolina by Elliott Almond, Mercury News
• Ogwumikes help Stanford hold off Tar Heels by Mechelle Voepel, ESPN
• Stanford wins, will play Gonzaga by Greg Lee, The Spokesman-Review
• Tar Heels come close, but fall to Stanford in women's Sweet 16 by Kelly Parsons, The Daily Tar Heel
• Through the wringer by FBC traveller Wally Mersereau

The box score and play-by-play

A gallery of photos by Don Feria, Stanford Photo

The press conference video with Tara, Kayla, Nneka and Chiney