Stanford Watches It Slip Away

Old Dominion, after a brilliant comeback, could only watch the last three Stanford shots.

Three shots to make a season, maybe a national championship. Three shots to affirm Stanford’s place in Sunday’s national championship game.

Three shots at the end of overtime in a grinding game against the Monarchs to get out of the semifinals.

And not one of them went in.

So into Sunday’s championship game goes Old Dominion, not Stanford, after holding on for an 83-82 victory before a sellout crowd of 16,714 at Riverfront Coliseum.

Point guard Jamila Wideman and forward Vanessa Nygaard took the three shots, and they’re probably still seeing them banging off iron and glass.

With Old Dominion leading, 83-82, and nine seconds to play, Wideman missed an 18-footer. Her teammate, Vanessa Nygaard rebounded but blew an easy putback.

But luck was still running with Stanford.

In the final second, Charmin Smith leaped for Nygaard’s rebound and passed out to Wideman, who went up for an eight-footer . . . and missed.

The Monarchs (34-1) won their 33rd game in a row and defeated Stanford (34-2) for the second time this season to end the Cardinals’ 25-game victory streak.

In the other semifinal, Tennessee pulled away for an 80-66 victory over Notre Dame.

So on Sunday, before another sellout, Tennessee (28-10) can become the first team since USC (1983-84) to win back-to-back national championships.

Stanford’s script, for 20 minutes, was going the way most people expected. The Cardinal, behind 21 points from Kate Starbird in the first half, had a 15-point lead with 7:40 to play before halftime.

Then Old Dominion’s Portuguese point guard, Ticha Penicheiro, began leading her team, scoring with wild drives to the basket.

If she wasn’t scoring, she was finding 6-foot-5 Clarisse Machanguana with precision, no-look passes.

Starting the second half seven points down, Old Dominion began its rally.

Machanguana scored inside, put back one of her own misses, scored again inside and Penicheiro made an eight-foot pull-up jumper to give Old Dominion a 38-37 lead.

Monarch Coach Wendy Larry later said she told her players at halftime: “We could pack it in and go home, you know. We’ve had a great season. Or we can compete for the national championship.”

Many believed Old Dominion had the best starting five in the Final Four but had doubts that the Monarchs could run with Stanford’s team for 40 minutes.

In crunch time, though, the fiery, vocal Penicheiro wouldn’t let her team quit.

With 14:14 to play, she made a great assist to Machanguana to cut the deficit to 51-46, and added two more critical baskets. The second one pulled the Monarchs to within 62-59.

Kristin Folkl, the 6-2 sophomore drafted out of the Stanford intramural leagues late in the season--and who was eight for eight from the floor--and Wideman seemed to be pulling Stanford from harm’s way in the final minutes.

Folkl made a sudden change of direction baseline drive, scored, and Wideman scored on a drive and added a free throw for a 72-67 Cardinal edge with 2:01 to play.

But Folkl (18 points, 10 rebounds) fouled out seconds later and Old Dominion’s Natalie Diaz made three free throws and a layup to tie the score, 72-72. Then she scored again to put the Monarchs up, 76-74.

Two Smith free throws with 10 seconds to play sent the game to overtime, during which the score was tied three times before a Penicheiro free throw created the final score with 50 seconds to play.

Machanguana scored 18 points and had eight rebounds and was the first topic of conversation by Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.

“We were dead behind her,” she said. “She went right up and over people. She’s really physical. I was saying over and over, ‘Get in front of her!’ And we just didn’t do it.”

Starbird (26 points), the Naismith Award winner, finished her career in tears, saying she “tightened” in the second half.

“It’s easy to play well when you have a big lead,” she said, in a near whisper. “When they caught up, I think I tightened up.”

Tennessee was led into the title game by its rising star, Chamique Holdsclaw.

The 6-2 sophomore had 31 points, three assists, two blocks and four steals in 36 minutes against Notre Dame (31-7). And she was a runaway winner in her matchup with Notre Dame’s Beth Morgan, who scored 18 points but was only six for 21 from the floor.

Notre Dame’s Katryna Gaither scored 28 points.

After the game, Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt was already thinking about Old Dominion.

“You’re talking about a team playing at this level, not shooting particularly well, and still winning,” she said.

“They’re a great defensive team. And [Ticha] Penicheiro played one of her great games against Stanford, I thought. She makes her team play with confidence, with an attitude.

“We’ve got 48 hours to spend on Tennessee playing absolutely its best basketball game of the season Sunday.”