Wiggins’ 44 lead Stanford victory

Candice Wiggins scored a school-record tying 44 points in her final game at Maples Pavilion as she led Stanford to an 88-54 victory over Texas El Paso on Monday in a second-round Spokane Regional game at Palo Alto.

It was the third-most points scored in NCAA women’s tournament history and the most since Sheryl Swoopes had 47 in the 1993 championship game for Texas Tech. Lorri Bauman of Drake has the all-time record of 50, set in 1982 against Maryland. It also tied Kate Starbird’s record at Stanford.

Wiggins scored 24 points in the first half against the seventh-seeded Miners (28-4) and made 15 of 27 shots overall, including six three-pointers. She added 10 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and a block.

The second-seeded Cardinal led, 40-29, at halftime. Stanford (32-3) will play Pittsburgh in the regional semifinals.

At Albuquerque, Shavonte Zellous, a former track sprinter turned shooting guard, scored 19 points and grabbed a key late rebound to lead sixth-seeded Pittsburgh to a 67-59 victory over third-seeded Baylor (25-7).

Also at Albuquerque, fourth-seeded Vanderbilt pulled away in the second half for a 64-46 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia (25-8).

The Commodores (25-8) next play the winner of today’s game between Nebraska and Maryland.

Greensboro Regional

Sarah-Jo Lawrence rebounded an airball and beat the buzzer with a baseline shot that gave sixth-seeded George Washington an improbable 55-53 victory over third-seeded California at Palo Alto.

The winning shot was set up by a disputed call when Natasha Vital was whistled for traveling while trying to call timeout for the Bears (27-7) with less than six seconds left. Lawrence made the game-tying shot moments earlier.

Cal, which had a 31-23 halftime edge, led most of the game, including a 53-47 advantage with 3:20 left. The Bears didn’t score again.

“I thought I called time out,” Vital said, fighting tears while being consoled by assistant coach Charmin Smith. “I feel like we should have won the game. We didn’t. During the game, we could have done a lot more.”

Ashley Walker led Cal with 19 points and nine rebounds. Alexis Gray-Lawson added 14 points and a career-high nine boards. Devanei Hampton was limited to four points and committed six of the Bears’ 14 turnovers. George Washington (27-6) next will play Rutgers.

Second-seeded Rutgers (26-6) advanced to the regional semifinals with a 69-58 victory over seventh-seeded Iowa State (21-13) at Des Moines.

New Orleans Regional

Andrea Riley sank a free throw with 0.7 of a second left in overtime to give third-seeded Oklahoma State a 73-72 victory over 11th-seeded Florida State (19-14) at Des Moines.

The game appeared headed to a second overtime when Riley was trapped 18 feet from the basket with time about to run out. She went up for what would have been an awkward shot and official Teresa Dahlem whistled a foul just as the buzzer sounded.

Riley, who had missed two free throws on her previous trip to the line, missed the first but hit the second, then intercepted Florida State’s long inbounds pass.

The Cowgirls (27-7) will play second-seeded Louisiana State (29-5) in the regional semifinals Saturday.

At Baton Rouge, La., Sylvia Fowles had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Louisiana State over seventh-seeded Marist, 68-49, ending a 22-game winning streak for the Red Foxes (32-3).

Oklahoma City

Regional

Danielle Gant scored 21 points on nine-for-11 shooting to lead second-seeded Texas A&M; to a 63-39 victory over 10th-seeded Hartford (28-6) at Baton Rouge, La.

The Aggies (28-7) will next play the winner of today’s Duke-Arizona State game.