Did someone say "formidable Gonzaga"? Apparently, Stanford didn't buy into that and buried the Zags 83-60. Now the Cardinal goes on to Indianapolis for the Final Four.
A couple of impressive stats: Gonzaga was the highest-scoring team in NCAA Division I this year, averaging 86 points a game. Stanford's defense smothered that scoring machine. Gonzaga made just 33.8 percent of its field goal attempts (23-68) and 28.6 percent of its three-point tries. The Cardinal made 57.4 percent of its field goal attempts and 45 percent of its three-point hoists.
The key to the game? We'll defer to the experts. But Elliott Almond, covering The Cardinal for the San Jose Mercury News, told KQED's Kelly Wilkinson during our 5:30 p.m. newscast this evening that Coach Tara VanDerveer was confident going into the game. "Sometimes the tournament just gives you terrible matchups," VanDerveer told Almond after Stanford squeaked by North Carolina over the weekend. She paused, then added: "We match up well against Gonzaga."