Lady Longhorns fall to Sanford 93-78

Published Nov. 28, 2010 4:09 p.m. ET

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By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Kayla Pedersen had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and No. 3 Stanford held off 16th-ranked Texas 93-78 on Sunday in a matchup of unbeaten teams.

Nnemkadi Ogwumike added 22 points and seven boards and her freshman sister, Chiney, scored 14 for the Cardinal, who moved coach Tara VanDerveer (798-195) within two victories of joining the elite 800 club. She is trying to become the fifth women's coach to do it. VanDerveer is 646-144 in her 25th year at Stanford.

Stanford took a 2-0 lead before tipoff of the nationally televised game because Texas received a technical for failing to get its lineup turned in to the scorer's table on time.

Chassidy Fussell scored 17 points, Kathleen Nash 14 and Ashleigh Fontenette 11 for Texas (4-1).

Sarah Boothe had 14 points and six rebounds as a reserve for Stanford (5-0), playing its second straight in Maples Pavilion.

The Cardinal shot 57.4 percent and converted 11 of 12 free throws on a day former Stanford stars Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel sat together courtside. The fifth-ranked Cardinal football team was recognized during a timeout late in the first half. Players holding up the Axe they won by whipping rival California 48-14 in the Big Game on Nov. 20.

After a slow start, Texas scrapped its way back into the game helped by nine 3-pointers. This was the first road game of the season for the Longhorns, who have a tough stretch with three out of four games against Top-25 teams -- including a home date with No. 4 Tennessee on Dec. 12. The Lady Vols then host Stanford in Knoxville on Dec. 19.

Fontenette, the Longhorns' second-leading scorer, went down with 12:38 left grabbing at her right knee, but returned.

Stanford made 14 of its first 22 shots and used a 28-9 run midway through the first half to take a 34-18 lead. VanDerveer has one of her deepest teams yet at Stanford and regularly switched players in and out to keep them fresh -- getting balanced contributions from throughout the lineup.

Stanford's stingy man-to-man defense caused Texas trouble and made it difficult to penetrate against the taller, more athletic Cardinal. Stanford held a 39-32 rebounding edge but committed 17 turnovers.

Texas ended the first half with a 15-7 spurt to pull within 49-39 at the break, then scored the first four points of the second half.

Stanford has won the last four meetings between the schools and leads the series 4-2 overall. But this was the teams' first meeting since Dec. 30, 1995, when the Cardinal won 72-68 in Austin, and the first visit by Texas to Maples since Jan. 5, 1993.

Texas senior Nash extended her streak with at least one 3-pointer to 17 straight games, connecting with 1:58 remaining after missing her first two attempts from long range.

Updated November 28, 2010