Parker, Lady Vols show they're human

STANFORD, Calif. -- Finally, it was Candice Wiggins' and Stanford's turn in the long rivalry with Tennessee.

Rosalyn Gold-Onwude scored nine of Stanford's 10 points in overtime late Saturday night, Wiggins sunk one of two free throws with 28.6 left and finished with 22 and the No. 5 Cardinal shocked previously unbeaten and top-ranked Tennessee 73-69 on Saturday night to end an 11-game losing streak in the series.

"I just want to say one thing," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Tonight Candice is spelled with an 'i.'"

Tennessee All-American Candace Parker missed the first of two free throws with 30.5 seconds left after scoring the tying basket with 7.4 seconds remaining in regulation to force OT. Tennessee had a chance in the final 30 seconds of overtime but Shannon Bobbitt turned the ball over with 8 seconds left.

The Cardinal rushed the court to celebrate when the buzzer sounded.

Wiggins scored Stanford's final six points of regulation, then missed two free throws with 16.9 seconds to go and Parker answered with the tying score on the other end, sending the game into extra time at 63 all.

"The overtime game, I blame that totally on myself," Wiggins said. "I have to hit those free throws."

Jayne Appel had 19 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three steals and freshman Kayla Pedersen's outstanding defense on Parker was a key factor in the upset, Stanford's first win over Tennessee since an 82-65 victory on Dec. 15, 1996, in Knoxville -- during the Cardinal's last Final Four season. Onwude had 13 points.

Parker finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals and Alexis Hornbuckle had 15 in the first defeat for Tennessee (10-1).

The Cardinal (10-1) won their seventh straight game and earned VanDerveer her 699th career victory, and she will try to become the seventh Division I coach to reach the 700 mark in the Pac-10 opener next Friday against Washington State.

Candace vs. Candice -- or "Ace" vs. "Ice" as some prefer to call the matchup between two of the country's top players -- was a thriller as expected.

"It took four years," Wiggins said. "It's definitely nice to beat the No. 1 team in the country. There's something special about this team. We are so tough. We stayed together through the whole game."

Pat Summitt's defending champion Lady Vols shot 59 percent in the first half and crashed hard to the offensive glass to create second and third chances, but couldn't sustain that level of play for the entire game.

"We had a lot of breakdowns and they came together, made passes and shots they needed to make," Hornbuckle said. "It's disappointing, but Stanford is great. It's hard to hold them down. You saw that tonight."

This was the best atmosphere for a women's game on The Farm since Tennessee last came on campus two years ago -- and fans waited in long lines outside for a chance to see this one. The game attracted about a half dozen WNBA representatives, too.

Stanford's lively fans waved white rally towels at packed Maples Pavilion, where a crowd of 7,172 -- just shy of a sellout -- watched Stanford's final non-conference test before opening Pac-10 play.

"We have had games just like this one that have gone the other way," VanDerveer said. "Playing Tennessee is always good for us."

Parker was Player of the Week for the Southeastern Conference after reaching the 1,500-point mark when she scored 34 points to match her career high Dec. 13 against Middle Tennessee.

Summitt thought her star player got beat up and didn't receive enough calls.

"I'm going to take my time and watch every possession," Summitt said. "This happens to her all the time. That comes with being the best player in the game. At some point in time, it doesn't quite seem appropriate."