Berkeley, Calif. — Stanford center Jayne Appel not only knocked Iowa State out of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, she almost knocked Drake’s Lorri Bauman out of the record book.
Appel was unstoppable tonight. She posted up for 46 points, four under Bauman’s 1982 tournament record, as the second-seeded Cardinal (33-4) defeated the Cyclones 74-53 in the title game of the Berkeley Regional to earn their eighth Final Four appearance.
Fourth-seeded Iowa State finishes 27-9, equaling the school record for victories and making the Elite Eight for the second time in its history.
“This team, especially down the stretch, played with an amazing amount of chemistry and energy and cohesiveness,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “There’s a lot of things that are hard to quantify now when you’re disappointed and your season’s over, but I think when everyone tales a step back, I think they have every right to be very proud of what they accomplished.”
Stanford routed Iowa State 83-45 in the Waikiki Beach Classic on Nov. 29. Appel had to play only 18 minutes and scored six points in that game, but she made her presence felt immediately in the rematch tonight.
Appel dropped in 27 points in the first half as Stanford built a 38-25 lead and tallied the first seven points of the second half.
Fennelly’s plan was to let Appel operate one-on-one while concentrating on shutting down Stanford’s outside shooters. He said the bigger key was Iowa State shooting just 36 percent and Stanford finishing with a 47-18 rebounding advantage.
“I wasn’t worried about how many points she scored,” Fennelly said. “Our plan was to make 10 or 11 3s, take away the 3 from them. We tried to double- and triple-team her in Hawaii and just got annihilated.
“Our guards went 1-for-15 from the 3-point line, so we needed to score when we had open looks. But the (Stanford) offensive rebounds and putting her on the line 10 times were the bigger concerns that I had.”
Appel is listed at 6-foot-4, the same as Iowa State centers Nicky Wieben and Jocelyn Anderson, but she appeared to be an inch or two taller and much more powerfully built. Posting up, she used her size and strength to back in once she got the ball or to go from one side to the other and the lay the ball in.
“Tara (Stanford coach VanDerveer) told me that she was pretty sure that they were not going to double me, so we knew immediately that we were going to go inside,” Appel said. “That was the game plan from the very beginning and it worked for us.”
Amanda Nisleit did her best to keep Iowa State close with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, but Stanford otherwise clamped down on the Cyclone shooters.
The Cardinal led 55-34 when Iowa State tried to fight back, getting within 57-44 after two Heather Ezell free throws with 7:18 to play.
Stanford answered with the next eight points, six by Appel, to make it 65-44, and the closest Iowa State got after that was 18 points.
“There was still a big hill to climb,” Ezell said. “We cut it to 13 and couldn’t get a stop at the defensive end. Then we came down and missed a couple shots and lost the little momentum that we were getting.”
It was the final game for Iowa State’s five seniors — Nisleit, Ezell, Wieben, Anderson and Toccara Ross. They were part of teams that went 92-44 the past four seasons and made three NCAA tournaments.
“We made it to the Elite Eight,” Wieben said. “I don’t know if a lot of people thought we would do that. It was a good run for this team and we’re all happy to be a part of it.
“It’s pretty tough right now, for me personally thinking about I have to go out to the real world and what’s next. Right now, I just want to enjoy the moment and the rest of the time I have with my teammates.”
Nisleit made the all-tournament team while Appel was named the outstanding player. Also on the team were Stanford’s Jeannette Pohlen and Jillian Harmon, Michigan State’s Allyssa DeHaan and Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis.
The game was really fantastic, this is one of the great game I watched and it took me to the top of my momemtom to watch another game. I encourage everyone to watch the game too.
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