Appel, Cardinal roar back to beat Bears
Jayne Appel had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Jillian Harmon added 18 points, and No. 6 Stanford overcame its lowest-scoring half of the season to beat No. 3 California, 58-41, last night.
The host Cardinal snapped the Golden Bears' 12-game winning streak and put the Bay Area rivals into a tie for first place in the Pac-10.
Appel scored 5 points in the first half when Stanford (20-4, 11-1) was held to 18. But the junior center went 5 for 7 from the field in the second half, allowing Stanford to avoid being swept by Cal for the first time since 1985-86.
Ashley Walker and Laura Greif scored 10 points apiece for the Bears (20-3, 11-1).
Oklahoma 69, Kansas 54 - Courtney Paris had 15 rebounds and 9 points, coming up short of a double-double for only the second time in her career, and the No. 2 Sooners (22-2, 10-0 Big 12) beat the Jayhawks (13-10, 2-8) in Lawrence, Kan.
Baylor 72, Missouri 43 - Danielle Wilson finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots to lead the No. 7 Lady Bears (21-3, 9-2 Big 12) over the Tigers (11-12, 2-8) in Waco, Texas.
Louisville 67, Cincinnati 52 - Angel McCoughtry scored 33 points and made the decisive plays down the stretch, leading the No. 10 Cardinals (23-3, 10-2 Big East) over the Bearcats (13-11, 3-8) in Cincinnati.
Texas A&M 79, Colorado 50 - Tanisha Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds to power the No. 12 Aggies (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) past the Buffaloes (10-12, 2-8) in College Station, Texas.
South Dakota St. 93, UMKC 61 - In Brookings, S.D., Ketty Cornemann and Kristin Rotert each scored 16 points and the No. 23 Jackrabbits (24-2, 13-1 Summit) tied a school record with 16 3-pointers to extend their winning streak to 10 games.
Villanova 50, DePaul 46 - Maria Getty scored 12 points and Laura Kurz added 10 points and nine rebounds as the host Wildcats (17-8, 9-2 Big East) won their seventh straight game, beating the No. 25 Blue Demons.
Duquesne 75, UMass 61 - Stefanie Gerardot poured in 28 points for the Minutewomen (10-15, 3-7 Atlantic 10), but it wasn't enough as the Dukes (15-10, 5-5) ran past them in Amherst.
Vermont 48, Albany 32 - The Catamounts (14-10, 8-3 America East) held the Great Danes (3-20, 1-9) to 18.9 percent shooting in their victory in Burlington, Vt.
Stonehill 72, Southern Conn. 67 - Megan Methven came off the bench and scored 16 of her team-high 20 points in the second half to rally the No. 20 Skyhawks (19-5, 14-5 Northeast-10) past the Owls (6-18, 3-16) in New Haven.
Franklin Pierce 86, New Haven 78 - The No. 25-ranked Ravens (18-5, 15-4) outscored the Chargers, 24-11, over the final 6:36 to erase a 5-point deficit and claim an NE-10 victory in West Haven.
Assumption 59, UMass-Lowell 53 - Bethany Plasski scored 14 points as the Greyhounds (15-9, 13-6 NE-10) held off the River Hawks (8-16, 5-14) in Worcester. Jen Valente led UMass-Lowell with 14 points.
Pace 72, Merrimack 64 - The game was tight throughout until the Setters (15-8, 12-7 NE-10) scored 10 of the final 12 points to edge the Warriors (7-17, 6-13) in Pleasantville, N.Y.
AIC 59, Southern N.H. 57 - Laechia Conley scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half and the Yellow Jackets (18-9, 13-6) tallied the game's final 14 points in an NE-10 win over the Penwomen (14-10, 9-10) in Manchester, N.H.
Saint Rose 80, Bentley 76 - Kristy McLean had 22 points to reach 1,000 for her career, but it wasn't enough as the Falcons (16-10, 12-7 NE-10) were edged by the Golden Knights (16-8, 11-8) in Waltham.
Amherst 71, Middlebury 49 - The No. 9-ranked Jeffs (23-1, 8-1 NESCAC) took a 35-18 halftime lead and were never threatened in running past the Panthers (8-15, 2-7) in Middlebury, Vt.
Tufts 62, Bates 51 - Colleen Hart had 17 points for the 18th-ranked Jumbos (19-3, 7-2 NESCAC), who handed the Bobcats (16-8, 5-4) a loss in Medford.
Bowdoin 76, Conn. College 59 - Leah Rubega had 12 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Polar Bears (20-4, 8-1 NESCAC) in New London, Conn.
Williams 75, Trinity 70 - Michelle Royals had 23 points to lead the Ephs (16-7, 4-5 NESCAC) in Williamstown.
Bryant 85, Central Conn. 76 - Kelsey O'Keefe went 8 of 12 from the field and hit 14 of 16 free throws to score 32 points and spark the Bulldogs (7-16) to an upset victory over the Blue Devils (15-9) in Smithfield, R.I.
Babson 76, Coast Guard 47 - In New London, Conn., the Beavers outscored the Bears, 22-3, to end the first half and cruised to their sixth straight win. Kathleen King led Babson (16-7, 9-2 NEWMAC) with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Wellesley 58, MIT 44 - Julia Thomas's game-high 23 points paced the Blue Pride (10-9, 4-7 NEWMAC) in Cambridge. Clara Yuan led the Engineers (4-17, 0-11) with 15 points.
WPI 58, Wheaton 56 - In Norton, Serena Dubois's 3-point play with 2.3 seconds left gave the Engineers (18-5, 10-1 NEWMAC) the win over the Lyons (13-10, 7-4). Dubois finished with 19 points.
Mount Holyoke 56, Smith 52 - In Northampton, the Lyons (7-16, 4-7 NEWMAC) used a balanced scoring attack to beat the Pioneers (8-14, 2-9).
Fitchburg St. 75, Salem St. 60 - Kelley Rogers netted 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the host Falcons (14-9, 7-3 MASCAC) beat the Vikings (8-15, 3-7).
Mass. College 51, Framingham St. 46 - Laura Silverman's layup with less than a minute remaining lifted the Trailblazers (14-9, 4-6) past the Rams (8-15, 2-9) in MASCAC action in Framingham.
Worcester St. 69, Bridgewater St. 49 - Alexis George had 26 points to lead the Lancers (8-15, 4-7 MASCAC) to an upset victory over the Bears (13-9, 6-4) in Worcester.
Eastern Conn. 70, UMass-Dartmouth 50 - The No. 15 Warriors (21-2, 11-1) ran off to a 32-18 halftime lead over the Corsairs (3-20, 0-12) and never looked back in Little East action in North Dartmouth.
Plymouth St. 73, UMass-Boston 60 - Amanda Kania poured in a game-high 34 points to lead the Panthers (15-8, 5-7 Little East) over the host Beacons (4-19, 1-11).
Rivier 72, Simmons 61 - Jessica Mellen had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Raiders (15-8, 7-4 GNAC) past the Sharks (16-7, 7-3) in Boston.
Mount Ida 73, Albertus Magnus 47 - Cherie Parisi had a season-high 27 points to power the Mustangs (9-14, 3-7 GNAC) past the visiting Falcons (7-15, 2-9).
Clark 64, Springfield 54 - Kate Minister had 13 points - including four 3-pointers - and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars (12-11, 8-3 NEWMAC) over the Pride (13-10, 8-3) in Worcester.
N.E. College 60, Anna Maria 38 - Ashley Hutton's 17 points and LaShawnda Wilson's 10 boards paced the Pilgrims (9-13, 3-8 Commonwealth Coast) over the Amcats (3-19, 0-11) in Paxton.
Endicott 77, Salve Regina 63 - Nicole Duchesne scored 22 points to lead the Gulls (19-4, 10-1 CCC) over the Seahawks (15-8, 7-4) in Newport, R.I., for their 10th win in a row.
Curry 59, Wentworth 46 - Jennifer Olejnik and Christina Sancinito each scored 12 points to spark the Colonels (8-15, 4-7 CCC) past the Leopards (5-18, 3-8) in Milton.
WNEC 53, Gordon 37 - Kailah Al-Darraji had 21 points in leading the Golden Bears (11-11, 7-4 CCC) over the Scots (4-19, 3-8) in Wenham.
UNew England 72, Colby-Sawyer 71 - The Nor'easters (17-6, 10-1 CCC) came up with two steals in the final minute to beat the Chargers (14-8, 8-3) in New London, R.I. 