COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT : Stanford Shoots Over Zone, Puts USC Under

USC Coach Marianne Stanley weighed her options, aware that she was taking a risk when she chose to go with a variety of zone defenses against Stanford during the West Regional final.

Certainly the inside threat of center Val Whiting and forward Rachel Hemmer was a valid one. Whiting and Hemmer combined for 38 points during Stanford’s easy victory over Texas Tech in the semifinals.

The best outside shooter for the Cardinal was point guard Molly Goodenbour, but Stanford’s other perimeter threats had been struggling.

Until Saturday, that is.

The third-ranked Cardinal (28-3) ventured into three-point range and never looked back, defeating No. 23 USC, 82-62, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion before 3,477.

Leading Stanford into its third consecutive Final Four was Goodenbour’s barrage of three-pointers. She went six of nine from behind the stripe, finishing with a game-high 22 points.

Her teammate, guard Christy Hedgpeth, joined Goodenbour in the three-for-all, going five for 10 from that range as she finished with 21 points.

The victory puts Stanford into theNCAA semifinals against East Regional champion and top-ranked Virginia. Last season, the Cardinal lost to eventual champion Tennessee during the semifinals.

“They just started to shoot the ball--it was a huge gamble,” Stanley acknowledged.

“And I said if they were going to beat us, it wasn’t going to be the way they beat us before.”

Stanford never shot that way from three-point territory against anyone else, either.

The Cardinal actually was better from three-point range (12 for 23, 52%) than from two (29 for 56, 51%). And the 12 three-pointers broke the NCAA tournament record of 11 set by Alabama this season and Tennessee Chattanooga in 1989.

All Stanley could do was shake her head.

“They weren’t shooting eight-footers,” she said. “Those shots were coming from Tacoma.”

Would she play so much zone again?

“I’d probably mix in a little more man-to-man,” Stanley said.

USC finally abandoned the zone during the last few minutes of the game. Hedgpeth thought the Trojans would have changed strategy much earlier.

“It (the zone) really surprised me when they made a little bit of a run in the second half,” she said. “I expected to see a press or man-to-man.”

But USC (23-8) was having its own problems on offense. Lisa Leslie and Tammy Story both got in early foul trouble and weren’t offensive factors during the second half.

Leslie, who had 10 points during the first half, was held scoreless in the second by Whiting and fouled out with 8:40 remaining. Story fouled out with 5:55 to play and finished with five points. Leading USC was forward Jualeah Woods with 12 points and KimGessig and Joni Easterly with 10 each.

The game essentially turned during the final five minutes of the first half, when Stanford made three three-pointers and USC’s offense dwindled to a trickle.

Goodenbour started Stanford’s final 15-3 run with a three-point baskets with 4:50 to play and the Cardinal added two more three-pointers by Hedgpeth.

During that stretch, Stanford’s lead expanded from five points to 46-29 at halftime. The Cardinal shot eight for 16 from three-point range during the first half as Goodenbour went four for five.