Washington Stuns Stanford

Cameo Hicks scored 23 points and Washington answered Stanford’s 14-0 scoring run in the second half with one of its own to upset the 10th-ranked Cardinal, 77-72, in a Pacific 10 Conference game Thursday at Seattle.

Brooke Smith scored a career-high 24 points for Stanford but missed a free throw with 9.8 seconds left that would have cut Washington’s lead to three. The Huskies’ Andrea Plouffe then made two free throws to secure the victory.

Washington, 9-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference, won its 11th game in a row at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Its last home loss was Jan. 27 to Stanford, 82-60. The Huskies’ only two losses this season have been on the road, against Texas A&M; and national-champion Baylor.

Stanford (6-3, 1-1), winner of the last five Pac-10 regular-season championships, had beaten Washington four consecutive times. The Cardinal also split its first two games of a conference-opening trip last season -- yet ended up 32-3 and in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.

“This is the way it is going to be for us,” Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I try to stay positive about this team, but we don’t have a lot of room for error -- especially with Candice [Wiggins] in foul trouble.”

Wiggins spent much of the game on the bench with four fouls.

Washington finished seventh in the Pac-10 and was 14-16 last season, its first losing finish in five seasons. But the Huskies won five of their last seven games, including a win at NCAA tournament-qualifier Arizona.

That set up the eyebrow-raising start to this season -- punctuated by Thursday’s win.

“Just look out for Washington,” Hicks said. “We’ve known we’re one of the top contenders in the nation. This just lets everyone else know that.”

No. 2 Duke 99, Colorado State 52 -- Freshman Abby Waner had 23 points, including five three-point baskets, and six assists to lead the Blue Devils (9-0) past the Rams (5-4) at Durham, N.C.

No. 6 Maryland 70, George Mason 33 -- Ashleigh Newman scored 21 points at Fairfax, Va., and the Terrapins (10-1) held the Patriots (4-5) to 20% shooting from the field.

No. 7 Ohio State 90, Canisius 58 -- Jessica Davenport had 29 points and 10 rebounds to help the Buckeyes (8-1) get past the Golden Griffins (6-6) at Columbus, Ohio.

No. 8 Connecticut 86, Hofstra 49 -- Mel Thomas scored a career-high 25 points and Barbara Turner had 16 rebounds at Hartford, Conn., to help lead the Huskies (9-1) to their ninth win in 10 games. The Pride (4-4) managed only two field goals in the final 12:49 and committed a season-high 33 turnovers.

No. 12 Arizona State 83, Arizona 59 -- Kristen Kovesdy had 13 points and eight rebounds and the Sun Devils (10-1) won a Pac-10 opener at Tucson. The Wildcats (4-6) lost their fourth in a row.

No. 14 DePaul 78, Northwestern 58 -- Allie Quigley scored 22 points and Khara Smith had 18 points and 17 rebounds at Chicago to lead the Blue Demons (12-1) past the Wildcats (4-6).

No. 17 Minnesota 66, Iowa State 61 -- Liz Podominick scored 18 points at Minneapolis and the Golden Gophers (7-2) rallied to defeat the Cyclones (7-2).

No. 19 Vanderbilt 70, La Salle 57 -- Nicole Jules scored a career-high 21 points at Philadelphia and the Commodores (9-3) cruised to a victory over the Explorers (3-6).

No. 25 Temple 52, Villanova 43 -- Kamesha Hairston scored 14 points to lead the Owls (8-2) past the Wildcats (7-3) at Philadelphia.