An all-Big 12 women's NCAA basketball title game is not to be. And for most of the night, on an unfortunate frilly-painted court, following some really unfortunate player intros*, Stanford's victory was all but assured. Oklahoma couldn't crack ten points for more than twelve minutes to start the game, and the Cardinal led 34-21 at half.
The She-Sooners cut the double-digit lead to eight with 13:48 remaining in the game, and again at 2:40. Again and again, Stanford pulled away. But with a flurry of Danielle Robinson-related action, the latest Cardinal comfort zone slimmed to three points with just sixteen seconds remaining. And that's all, she wrote: Nnemkadi Ogwumike remembered that this was her show and sunk her fourth and fifth free throws of the game's remaining minute with a layup tossed in for good measure. Final score, Stanford 73, Oklahoma 66.
About this being Nnemkadi Ogwumike's show: 38 (THIRTY-EIGHT) POINTS, 16 rebounds. Jayne Appel added a double-double of her own (13 points, 10 rebounds). The Lady Cardinal have a date with an astonishingly vicious opponent Tuesday night, and if Ogwumike can pull off a repeat performance, it just might be more of a game than we've all been thinking.
*Seriously, that clothes-spinny animation went out with Smallville, and wasn't great shakes even then.
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