Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored 22 points, little sister Chiney added 13 points and 12 rebounds and top-seeded Stanford overcame a slow start to reach the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 with a 75-49 win over St. John’s last night in Stanford, Calif.
The Cardinal (31-2) captured their school-record 63rd straight victory at Maples Pavilion, capping a perfect run by the seniors on their home floor for their careers — the first group in school history to accomplish that feat.
Stanford advances to play Saturday against No. 5 North Carolina in the semifinals of the Spokane Regional.
Centhya Hart scored 15 points to lead scrappy St. John’s (22-11), which fell in the second round for the second straight year and never has won twice in the tournament.
The Red Storm began the game 12-for-21 after shooting 35 percent and committing 21 turnovers in a 55-50 win against Texas Tech in their NCAA opener.
But St. John’s couldn’t sustain the pace, missing 18 of their first 20 shots after the break while getting pounded on the boards — finishing at 36.7 percent from the field after a 50 percent first half.
After Stanford went ahead 14-11 on Kayla Pohlen’s 3-pointer with 13:20 left in the opening half, Da’Shena Stevens scored back-to-back baskets to start an 11-0 Red Storm run. Then Nneka Ogwumike made four straight baskets as Stanford built a 38-30 halftime lead.
“We weren’t knocking down shots. We made shots early,” Red Storm coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “Their depth and their length and the little combination of everything they have wore us down. I think we got really tight. We got tired.”
*
Marist saw its 27-game winning streak end in a 71-66 loss to Duke (31-3) in a second-round game in Durham, N.C. Corielle Yarde had 25 points for the 10th-seeded Red Foxes (31-3).
*
In other second-round NCAA games last night: Tennessee (33-2) topped Dayton, 79-70, Ohio State stopped Georgia Tech, 67-60, Notre Dame (28-7) beat Temple, 77-64, Gonzaga (30-4) bounced UCLA 89-75, DePaul edged Penn State, 75-73 and North Carolina (27-8) held off Kentucky, 86-74.