Stanford Comes Up a Point Short in National Semifinals of NCAA Tournament, 83-82 (OT)

CINCINNATI -- Clariesse Machanguana poured in 18 points after a scoreless first half and Ticha Penicherio had the final three points in overtime as Old Dominion edged Stanford, 83-82, in the national semifinals of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Cincinnati.

Old Dominion posted its 33rd straight win and defeated Stanford for the second time this season. The Lady Monarchs (34-1) advance to the national title game in their first Final Four since capturing the championship in 1985. They will face Tennessee in Sunday's final.

Penicherio made one of two free throws with 50.4 seconds left to give Old Dominion an 83-82 lead. After Penicherio missed a free throw with 17 seconds left, Stanford had three chances to win. Jamila Wideman missed from the lane, Vanessa Nyggard could not put in the rebound and Wideman missed again as time expired.

"I think there was contact, but there was contact all game," Wideman said of the final sequence. "I just didn't get the call."

Charmin Smith made two free throws with 10 seconds left to the game, 76-76. Penicherio missed a short jumper as regulation ended.

"This is everything that we worked on since the beginning of the season," said Penicherio. "We sat down and said we have got to go to the Final Four. We've got to win the national championship. We were confident because we beat them before. We just played our game and we won."

Old Dominion was down by as many as 15 points in the first half, making this the biggest comeback in Final Four history. Stanford, whose two losses this season came against Old Dominion, was beaten in the semifinals for the third straight year.

"My team is very disappointed," said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. "We came out at the beginning and did a good job of playing the way we wanted to. Unfortuately, we didn't take care of the ball."

Naismith Award winner Kate Starbird scored 21 points in the first half to help Stanford to a 37-30 lead at the break. But she was held to five points in the second half.

"I was just a little too hot in the first half and went cold in the second," said Starbird. "It's easy to relax when you have a big lead. When they caught up, I think I really just went tight."

Kristin Folkl added 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Cardinal (34-2) before fouling out with 1:48 left in the second half. Wideman added 13 points.

Penicherio scored 18 points for Old Dominion and Nyree Roberts chipped in with 17.

Old Dominion outscored Stanford in the paint, 61-38. The Cardinal also committed 29 turnovers, one more than in the first meeting between the teams.

STANFORD (82)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Scott           42  4-10   3-4  2-10  1  4   11
Nygaard         19   1-7   0-0   1-3  0  0    2
Mulitauaopele   20   3-5   0-0   2-3  0  1    6
Wideman         45  4-11   3-4   2-5  6  3   13
Starbird        45  7-14   8-8   1-4  3  4   26
Flores           4   1-1   0-0   0-0  1  0    2
Smith           23   1-2   2-2   2-4  3  2    4
Folkl           24   8-8   2-3  4-10  2  5   18
Owen             3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         225 29-58 18-21 14-39 16 20   82
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.857. 3-Point Goals:
6-17, .353 (Nygaard 0-5, Wideman 2-3, Starbird
4-8, Smith 0-1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots:
2 (Scott, Folkl). Turnovers: 29 (Scott 6, Nygaard
5, Starbird 5, Folkl 4, Wideman 4, Flores 2,
Mulitauaopele 2, Smith). Steals: 6 (Folkl 2,
Scott 2, Starbird, Wideman).
OLD DOMINION (83)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Andrade         37   3-9   5-6   4-7  5  5   11
Machanguana     42  9-16   0-2   5-8  0  3   18
Roberts         31  8-10   1-2   6-8  1  5   17
Himes           17   1-1   0-0   1-2  1  1    2
Penichiero      43  7-19   4-7   2-5  6  1   18
Eller            9   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Eblin           19   1-8   2-3   1-1  0  0    5
Small           13   1-4   0-0   1-4  1  0    2
Diaz            14   5-8   0-0   0-0  0  3   10
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         225 35-75 12-20 20-35 14 18   83
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.467, FT-.600. 3-Point Goals:
1-12, .083 (Andrade 0-1, Penichiero 0-3, Eblin
1-6, Diaz 0-2). Team rebounds: None. Blocked
shots: 2 (Roberts 2). Turnovers: 14 (Machanguana
4, Himes 2, Penichiero 2, Roberts 2, Andrade,
Eblin, Eller, Small). Steals: 17 (Andrade 5,
Roberts 3, Diaz 2, Eller 2, Machanguana 2, Eblin,
Penichiero, Small).
_______________________________________
Stanford           37   39    6  -   82
Old Dominion       30   46    7  -   83
_______________________________________
Technical fouls: None. Officials: Sally Bell,
Carla Fujimoto, Ray Bomeli.

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