Gonzaga women lose to Stanford again

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Gonzaga set a school record for wins last year and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in history. Three starters are back, along with a pair of key transfers, and the Bulldogs remain the underdog.

"Gonzaga always has a way of flying under the radar," Stanford Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer said after watching her fifth-ranked Cardinal struggle early before beating the Bulldogs 76-61 Sunday afternoon. "They have an excellent team, are very well-coached and they are hard to guard."

VanDerveer should know. Gonzaga gave Stanford all it could handle in two meetings last year before losing both contests. The Bulldogs finished 31-4 and their coach, Kelly Graves, is on the cusp of his 300th career victory.

"I told the team before the game it was a win-win situation for us," Graves said. "As long as we went out and competed we'd learn something about ourselves."

Gonzaga, the seven-time defending WCC champions, showed plenty in the first half, outscoring Stanford 18-7 over the last 6:05 of the first half to take a 32-31 lead into the intermission.

"You never really know until you play a good team," said Gonzaga guard Haiden Palmer, who scored a team-high 13 points. "The way we competed in the first half gives us something to shoot for. We're in a good spot."

Gonzaga (1-1) just didn't have an answer for Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who finished with 33 points and 18 rebounds. Then again, not many teams have slowed her down. The preseason All-American sat out Friday night's win at Texas with an upper body injury. In her first game of the season, she had a double-double by halftime.

The Bulldogs lost their All-American point guard Courtney Vandersloot to the WNBA but have good enough players to compete with some of the nation's top teams.

VanDerveer pointed to Kayla Standish and Katelan Redmon, in particular, saying they "can play at the next level."

Palmer, who sat out a year after transferring from Oregon State, and Kansas State transfer Taelor Karr gives Gonzaga a solid backcourt presence.

"There's a reason I schedule good teams," said Graves, who also has No. 13 Georgia and No. 23 Southern California coming up. "We can get a good idea of how we stack up. It also helps us make improvements."

Chiney Ogwumike added 19 points for the Cardinal (2-0), who extended their home winning streak to 64, now entering its fifth season. Toni Kokenis added 14 points.

"They're just a great team," Graves said. "We did a good job for a portion of the game but their big bodies kind of wore us down."

Kokenis' 3-pointer with 13:04 remaining to play highlighted a 20-9 start to the second half, putting Stanford in charge.