STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 23 points and 11 rebounds and No. 9 Stanford pulled off a surprising rout of fourth-ranked Xavier with an 89-52 victory Tuesday for its 51st straight home win.
What a tuneup for Thursday's highly anticipated showdown with top-ranked Connecticut.
Jeanette Pohlen added 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Cardinal (8-2), who beat the third-seeded Musketeers in the Sacramento Regional last March when Pohlen drove the length of the floor in 4.4 seconds and scored the game-winning layin as time expired for a 55-53 victory. That win sent Stanford back to its third straight Final Four. The play was shown over and over again on the highlight reels.
This game lacked any such drama.
Amber Harris had 18 points and nine rebounds for cold-shooting Xavier (10-2), which lost its second straight game after a 10-0 start.
Special Jennings had 12 points and Ta'Shia Phillips grabbed 12 rebounds for the overmatched Musketeers, who were coming off a 46-45 defeat at Duke on Dec. 21 for their first loss of the season. They committed 30 turnovers and shot 38 percent in that game, then didn't look much better in shooting 30 percent against Stanford.
The Cardinal came out with energy on both ends of the floor in their first game since Tara VanDerveer became the sixth women's coach to get 800 wins with a 100-45 victory over former Stanford stars turned coaches Jennifer Azzi and Katy Steding at San Francisco last Wednesday.
Next up: UConn on Thursday night at sold-out Maples Pavilion. It's a rematch of last year's NCAA championship won 53-47 by the Huskies after Stanford led 20-12 at halftime.
The Cardinal are the last team to beat the Huskies, in the 2008 national semifinals in Tampa, Fla.
UConn was set to play later Tuesday at Pacific in Stockton going for its 90th straight victory in what was expected to be a lopsided warmup for the game with Stanford.
The Cardinal held a 44-41 rebounding advantage against the imposing front line featuring the 6-foot-6 Phillips and 6-5 Harris - who combined for 34 rebounds in the loss to Duke. But Harris, the team's leading scorer at 20.2 points per game, wasn't in the starting lineup Tuesday after sitting out Monday's practice as a medical precaution after she hit her chin on the floor against Duke. Harris checked in at the 16:26 mark, started the second half and wound up 6 for 11 from the floor.
Xavier missed its first 10 field-goal tries before Katie Rutan hit a 3-pointer at the 13:49 mark of the first half. The Musketeers went 2 for 18 from 3-point range in the game and began 5 for 21 to fall behind 37-24 at halftime. Phillips didn't score her first points until a basket with 7:11 left in the opening half.
Ogwumike had 15 points and eight rebounds by halftime, including making 5 of 5 free throws. Stanford got to the line 11 times and converted 10.
The Musketeers didn't look all that inspired considering the way the tournament game ended. Xavier's Dee Dee Jernigan missed two wide-open layins in the closing 12 seconds that likely would have sent the Musketeers to San Antonio for their first Final Four - but they watched as Pohlen won it instead.
Last season's meeting in the NCAA tournament was the only other matchup between these programs.