Candice is finalist for Wade Trophy

Candice has been named as one of the twelve finalists for the State Farm Wade Trophy, as reported in stanford.com.

Next up, the Pittsburgh Panthers

So who is this team that we're going to play in Spokane instead of the expected Baylor?

• The Panthers got to the Sweet Sixteen with this 67-59 win over Baylor.
  
  
• Two of their key players are Marcedes Walker & Shavonte Zellous, respectively a fantastic offensive rebounder and a dynamic offensive player, according to ESPN's Take on Pittsburgh
  
  
• Here is the Panthers' view of their being in the Sweet Sixteen: Berenato savoring uncharted territory, Paul Zeiss (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  
  
• And Stanford can't wait to get out of town, Janie McCauley (AP)
  
  
• Although he may have confused Ros and JJ, Charlie Creme (ESPN) thinks Pitt will have its hands full against Stanford.
  
  
• Here is the team website

Strange Magic

By Sue Bair (The Bootleg)

Candice Wiggins made some magic in her last game at Maples Pavilion on Monday. Wiggins tied the school single-game scoring record of 44 points and Stanford trounced UTEP 88-54. Jayne Appel added 20 points and Kayla Pedersen had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Read more...

Candice

Candice,

You've played your last game as a Cardinal at Maples Pavilion*. But your college career has not ended yet, your basketball career is only about halfway done, and memories of you will be in the minds and hearts of Cardinal fans forever.

Thank you for four years of your amazing spirit and skill. You gave us so much joy.

Here are tributes from Bay Area sports writers:

Final moment in the hoop spotlight for Candice Wiggins by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)

Leaving a Legacy by John Reid (Palo Alto Daily News)

* See the next post for the game report.

Candice leads Cardinal into Sweet 16

Candice led the 88-54 win over UTEP with 44 points (tying Kate Starbird's Stanford single-game record), ten rebounds, eight assists, three steals and one spectacular block.

The AP game report and photos

Player of the Day: Candice Wiggins by Graham Hayes (ESPN)

Wiggins scores 44 in NCAA tourney romp by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)

Stanford romps; Wiggins scores 44 by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)

Wiggins superb in Maples finale by Michelle Smith (SF Chronicle)

Stanford's Wiggins scores 44, and she's not done yet by Ann Killion (Mercury News)

City watches UTEP Miners NCAA run end by Daniel Borunda (El Paso Times)

Photo gallery from Stanford Photo

Audio Slide Show from Mercury News

The box score and play-by-play

Round 2

• Stanford (2) vs UTEP (7)
  Hoping for fond farewell by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)
  Good matchup: Stanford's Wiggins vs. UTEP guard by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
  UTEP Miners, Stanford meet today in Round 2 by Bret Bloomquist (El Paso Times)
  The matchup: Stanford vs. Texas-El Paso by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
  
  
• California (3) vs George Washington (6)
  Cal ready for inside duel by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
  Cal will try to overcome an injury by Jennifer Starks (Mercury News)
  GW Meets Cal Monday Night for Trip to Sweet 16 from GW Sports
  The matchup: Cal vs. George Washington by Jennifer Starks (Mercury News)

See Jayne score

Every healthy Cardinal played at least five minutes and contributed points and/or rebounds to the win over Cleveland State, but this was largely Jayne's show, with her career-high 33 points.

See Jayne score ... a lot by John Reid (Palo Alto Daily News)

Stanford women advance as Appel scores 33 by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)

Appel plays big - very big - in Stanford rout by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)

Appel has her way, as does Stanford by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)

Real test for Stanford women comes in Round 2 by Ann Killion (Mercury News)

Stanford Cruises Past Cleveland State in Opening Round, 85-47 from the Associated Press

Audio slide show from the Mercury News

Box score and play-by-play

Matchups at Maples

• George Washington (6) vs Auburn (11)
  Auburn gets another crack at Colonials by Evan Woodbury (Alabama Press-Register)
  
  
• California (3) vs San Diego (14)
  Nothing less than winning 2 at Maples will satisfy these Bears by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)
  Cal guards must step up against San Diego by Jennifer Starks (Mercury News)
  The matchup: Cal vs. San Diego by Jennifer Starks (Mercury News)
  
  
• Stanford (2) vs Cleveland State (15)
  Loose, confident Cardinal targeted by 15th-seed Cleveland State by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle)
  Stanford's VanDerveer is playing a different tune by Ailene Voisin (Sacramento Bee)
  Stanford hopes this march will last awhile by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
  The matchup: Stanford vs. Cleveland State by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
  
  
• UTEP (7) vs Western Kentucky (10)
  UTEP starts first NCAA run against W.Kentucky by Bret Bloomquist (El Paso Times)
  
  

Going to the dance

Three Pac-10 teams are ready to start dancing this weekend

Arizona State

Gina Mizzell (Web Devil) reports that it's finally time to boogie. Jill Noe sees their opening game against Temple on Sunday night as, "... a chance for us to redeem ourselves and prove that we can beat top-ranked teams." Read more...

California

Andrew Kim (The Daily Californian) recalls that it's been 15 years since the Cal women won an NCAA game. Alexis Gray-Lawson says, "... we're gonna, you know, win. That's what we plan on doing." Read more...

The Bears have an excellent chance of doing just that in their opening game against San Diego tomorrow afternoon at Maples. Remember that they're our friends when they're not playing us -- Go Bears!!!

Stanford

The media has inevitably focused on That Game and the "Curse of Maples" in their stories about Stanford in the NCAA Tournament.

Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle) goes on to report that there is no sense of dread as the Cardinal prepare for this weekend. Ros says, "I don't think our main mind-set is just 'getting out of Maples.' That would be short-sighted and we have bigger goals." Read more...

Ann Killion (Mercury News) reports what some of the participants in That Game think about it now, ten years later -- Allison Feaster, Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, Tara VanDerveer, Vanessa Nygaard, Kristin Folkl, Milena Flores. Vanessa concludes (almost), "There's no curse. It has no relevance to this Stanford team." Read more...

Who's playing at Maples this weekend?

It's another hoop junkie's dream at Maples this weekend. Come enjoy the action and help give the Cardinal and the Bears a great sendoff on the road to Tampa Bay. Bring all your friends, noisy or not. If you still need tickets, call 1-800-STANFORD.

These are the games on Saturday:

11:00 am, George Washington (6) vs Auburn (11), Greensboro Region

The Colonials rally before a game From The Daily Colonial: Their all-time assist leader is poised to make one final run deep into the women’s NCAA tournament.
ESPN's Take on the George Washington Colonials
The George Washington roster

The Tigers celebrate their tournament bid From the Huntsville Times: Coach Nell Fortner admits she can't help but wonder what might have been.
ESPN's Take on the Auburn Tigers
The Auburn roster

1:30 pm, California (3) vs San Diego (14), Greensboro Region

Devanei and Joanne are ready to dance From the San Francisco Chronicle: We have new purpose. We have new life going into the tournament.
ESPN's Take on the California Golden Bears
The Cal roster

The Toreros celebrate upsetting the Zags From the North County Times: Everyone is excited that we'll be playing in the West Coast, no matter who it's against.
ESPN's Take on the San Diego Toreros
The San Diego roster

5:30 pm, Stanford (2) vs Cleveland State (15), Spokane Region

The Cardinal await the news From Palo Alto Online: The most important thing is . . .we're healthy and we have a great team. We just want to have a great tournament.
ESPN's Take on the Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford roster

The Vikings celebrate their first-ever Horizon League championship From The Plain Dealer: It's going to be nice going against one of the top programs in the country. We'll just throw everything at them and see what happens.
ESPN's Take on the Cleveland State Vikings
The Cleveland State roster

8:00 pm, UTEP (7) vs Western Kentucky (10), Spokane Region

The Miners team and fans celebrate their first-ever NCAA tournament bid From the El Paso Times: They made us wait until the end, but this is a great seed. This is what you dream about.
ESPN's Take on the UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) Miners
The UTEP roster

The Lady Toppers are the Sun Belt Conference champion From the College Heights Herald: ... the team is confident in its chances to advance past the first round of the tournament for the first time since 2000
ESPN's Take on the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers
The Western Kentucky roster