NCAA Round 2: Cardinal smothers the Seminoles

The Cardinal is heading home to Maples for the Sweet Sixteen after a definitive 63-44 victory over the Florida State Seminoles.

It wasn't looking good for the Cardinal 11 minutes into the game. The Seminoles' defense had rattled the Cardinal into five turnovers and poor shooting, and the Seminoles had made five of their first six shots and taken a firm grip on the lead.

Then the Cardinal switched to a two-three zone, the Seminoles stopped scoring, and the Cardinal offense (sparked by a 3-pointer by Bonnie) clicked. The Cardinal went on a 22-2 run and led 32-16 at the end of the half.

The Cardinal defense had held Natasha Howard, the Seminole's star player, to zero points and two fouls. The Cardinal had made 55% of their shots, the Seminoles 25%.

The second half was essentially a draw. Both teams continued their smothering zone defense. The Cardinal weathered a few minutes of aggressive trapping defense from the Seminoles and extended its lead by three points.

The Cardinal victory was a great team effort. They had 17 assists on 23 field goals.

In spite of the Seminoles' double- and triple-teaming, Chiney made 73% of her shots and scored the game-high 21 points. She didn't quite get her usual double-double — just nine rebounds.

Lili continued her outstanding offense and defense. She scored 14 points, including two 3-pointers, and added two assists, a steal and three rebounds.

Bonnie continued her sharp-shooting. She made three (of eight) treys and stepped in past her defender for a long jumper for a total of eleven points. She also had three assists.

Mikaela looked kind of shaky at the beginning of the game. She turned the ball over a couple of times and was benched. She went back in seven minutes later and gave her usual strong do-everything performance — eight points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Amber was fierce on offense and defense with seven points, four assists, and five rebounds.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Stanford beats FSU 63-44, return home for Sweet 16, the Associated Press game recap by Eric Olson
• Florida State stopped by Stanford zone, a different Associated Press game recap
• Florida State Women's Hoops Ends Season to Stanford, the Florida State Athletics game recap
• Stanford dispatches Florida State to make the Sweet Sixteen by Anthony Zilis (Ames Tribune)
• Stanford wallops Florida State in Ames to reach women's Sweet 16 by John Naughton (Des Moines Register)
• Stanford Regional is next stop for Cardinal women's hoops from Palo Alto Online
• Stanford women cruise into NCAA Sweet 16 by Dan Wright (Mercury News)
• Stanford women win to reach Sweet 16 by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)

The box score and play-by-play,

A postgame interview of Tara and Chiney from espnW,

The Stanford postgame press conference with Tara, Chiney and Lili,

The Florida State postgame press conference with Coach Sue Semrau, Natasha Howard and Cheetah Delgado

A gallery of team sendoff and game photos by Dave Cortesi,

And photos by Nati Harnik (Associated Press):

Lili goes for a steal

Mikaela eludes Natasha Howard's defense

Amber passes past Cheetah Delgado

Chiney goes for a layup against double-defense

Amber loses the ball to Natasha Howard

Mikaela looks for a receiver

Cardinal defense contains Cheetah Delgado

Chiney contains Natasha Howard

Lili and Cheetah contend for possession

Chiney snags an out-of-bound-bound ball

Mikaela dives for an out-of-bound ball