STANFORD — Stanford used its height, strength and physicality Friday night to beat Norfolk State 79-50 at Maples Pavilion and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 2 seeded Cardinal improved to 29-5 and will play at a time to be determined Sunday against No. 7 Iowa State (21-11), which registered a stirring 93-86 come-from-behind victory over Maryland (19-14) in the early game.
The win puts Stanford in the same situation as a year ago, when as a top seed it dispatched with No. 16 Sacred Heart only to lose in the second round 55-49 in an upset to No. 8 Mississippi.
Cameron Brink, the Stanford post and first-team All-America selection, had 17 points and 15 rebounds, with Kiki Iriafen adding 17 with nine boards as the Cardinal had its way with the smaller Spartans inside.
Elena Boscana had 18 points for Stanford including four 3-point baskets and Hannah Jump had four 3-pointers and 13 points.
Diamond Johnson, the 5-foot-5 guard who was the focal point of Stanford’s defensive attention, scored 19 points for Norfolk State (27-6) but needed 23 shots to do it.
Stanford took its biggest lead through three quarters on the last basket of the quarter with Elena Bosgana scoring on a fastbreak off an outlet pass from Brink.
Iriafen converted a driving layup a split-second before the halftime buzzer to give Stanford a 32-19 lead.
The junior post had 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half, with Stanford enjoying a 23-16 advantage on the boards. Brink had eight points before departing with 4:41 left in the half after picking up her second foul. She also had nine rebounds as any quickness advantage enjoyed by Norfolk State was more than offset by Stanford’s length and inside prowess.
Johnson led the Spartans with nine points and four rebounds at the half and was 4-for-11 shooting while being shadowed by the Cardinal’s Talana Lepolo.
An Iriafen basket gave Stanford its first double-digit lead at 22-12 with 7:53 left in the half.
Stanford led 15-12 after the first quarter but wasn’t particularly impressive, turning the ball over six times but outrebounding the Spartans 11-6. Iriafen had five points for Stanford, with Brink adding four. Johnson had six points for Norfolk State, which had five first-half steals.
Iowa State 93, Maryland 86
The No. 10 Terrapins (19-14) got off to a torrid start and led by as many as 21 points in the first half, but couldn’t contend with Cyclones freshman center Audi Crooks in the second half. The win for No. 7 Iowa State (21-11) was the second-biggest comeback in women’s NCAA Tournament history.
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Crooks scored a game-high 40 points on 18-for-20 shooting and added 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. She had 22 points in the second half, making all 10 of her shots as her Iowa State teammates delivered the ball to hear near the basket. Guard Emily Ryan had 18 points for the Cyclones.
Maryland jumped to a 33-20 first-quarter lead and hit six of its first seven 3-point shots, but were 5-for-17 for the remainder of the game. Allie Kubek never did cool off for Maryland, finishing with 29 points including 10 of 12 from the floor and 7-for-8 on 3-point shots.