Cardinal Overpower Cougars, 80-43Cardinal Overpower Cougars, 80-43
Women's Basketball

Cardinal Overpower Cougars, 80-43

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Kayla Pedersen added 13 points and 10 rebounds and No. 2 Stanford rolled to an 80-43 win over Washington State on Thursday night, though it might have been a costly victory for the Cardinal.

Jayne Appel added 14 points, nine rebounds and matched her career-high with six blocks for Stanford (14-1, 4-0 Pac-10), which lost guard Jeanette Pohlen to a right ankle injury early in the second half.

With J.J. Hones out with a sore left knee, the injury to Pohlen thinned Stanford's ranks but it didn't slow the Cardinal down against the smaller, slower Cougars (5-11, 0-5).

KiKi Moore scored 14 points to lead Washington State, which has never defeated the Cardinal in 49 games in a series dating to 1983.

Ogwumike, who was selected Pac-10 Player of the Week on Monday, recorded her sixth double-double of the season despite playing with a sore right elbow she injured midway through the first half. The injury forced the Stanford sophomore sensation to the bench twice for treatment but didn't seem to affect her shot much.

The conference's leading scorer, Ogwumike went 11 of 15 from the field while topping the 20-point mark for the fourth straight game and the ninth time this season.

She had plenty of help while leading Stanford to its 37th straight win at Maples Pavilion.

Pedersen, who is second in the Pac-10 scoring race behind Ogwumike, had her fourth double-double in five games while helping the Cardinal outrebound the Cougars 58-35. Pedersen showed her athleticism late in the first half when she grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled the length of the court and scored on a layup while being fouled.

Her free throw gave Stanford a 40-16 lead with 2:56 to play and she later added a 17-foot jumper to cap a 22-4 run.

The Cardinal have won five straight since an 80-68 loss to No. 1 Connecticut on Dec. 23.

Washington State scored the first six points of the second half but got no closer than 20 points the rest of the game.

The Cougars, 0-25 on the road against Stanford, shot 18.4 percent from the field in the first half and went just 4 of 28 from 3-point range while losing their sixth straight.