TAMPA, Fla. — Senior guard Candice Wiggins refused to let Stanford lose to Connecticut. Not again.
The Cardinal star continued her electrifying run through the NCAA Tournament, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while getting some timely help from Kayla Pedersen and JJ Hones as Stanford defeated UConn 82-73 in Sunday night’s national semifinals.
Back in the Final Four for the first time in 11 years, the Cardinal (35-3) avenged an early-season loss to the Huskies (36-2) and advanced to Tuesday night’s championship game, where Stanford will put a 23-game winning streak on the line against Tennessee.
The first player to have two 40-point performances in the same NCAA Tournament, Wiggins seemed to be everywhere on the floor and finished five assists shy of the first triple-double in women’s Final Four history.
She didn’t shoot particularly well, going 7-for-19, but made two huge 3-pointers to help Stanford pull away for good after UConn trimmed a seven-point halftime deficit to 47-46 and appeared to be taking control.
“We got killed by Connecticut back in November (a 66-54 win for UConn), just absolutely killed,” Wiggins said. “So we grouped before the game and we said, ‘Let’s see how much better we’ve gotten.’ “
