AP Photo/Paul SakumaStanford's Kayla Pedersen, right, is one of several Cardinal seniors who finished their careers undefeated at home.STANFORD, Calif. -- Connecticut. Tennessee. Duke. Texas. DePaul. Gonzaga. UCLA. Xavier. Rutgers.
All have been to Maples Pavilion in the last four years. None of them have won.
Now add St. John's to that list.
The Stanford seniors bade farewell to their beloved home court Monday night in impressive style, as the top-seeded Cardinal overcame an early eight-point deficit to blow past ninth-seeded Red Storm, 75-49.
So it's time for the final tally: 63-0. Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen walked off the floor for the last time in their careers never having experienced the disappointment of a home-court loss.
"It's weird," Pohlen said after the game. "We've never had that losing feeling playing at home, and I don't know what that would feel like. I'm sure it would be awful. And I'm glad I didn't have to experience that."
Stanford's senior class includes Pedersen and Pohlen, as well as reserves Ashley Cimino and Hannah Donaghe. And it also includes fifth-year senior guard Mel Murphy. They become the first class in school history never to have lost at home. In fact, Stanford's seniors are the first since the Chamique Holdsclaw-led senior class at Tennessee to accomplish the feat.
It may be matched Tuesday night by Connecticut's senior class at Gampel Pavilion.
But it was a remarkable moment to savor Monday, one that the crowd and the players were anticipating the entire evening, from pregame introductions to the ovations the players received when they left the game.
Pedersen and Pohlen, the two players who have seen the most minutes, sat together on the bench as the final seconds ticked off and smiled at one another. As Pedersen finished a postgame television interview, Pohlen smiled and glanced repeatedly around the gym, clearly taking it in.
"In those last seconds, I thought about what we've done," Pedersen said. "As I was walking off, I took an extra look around and saw Maples packed and all the fans cheering. It was a very special moment."
Stanford (31-2) had the most decisive win of any of the high seeds on Monday night, and the Cardinal move on to the regional semifinals to face North Carolina on Saturday night at Spokane Arena, returning to the place where, as freshman, Pedersen and Pohlen earned their first trip to the Final Four. Call it full circle.
"We wanted to go back there and recapture that spirit," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
VanDerveer said she was "not worried" about Monday night's game.
"I didn't think about [losing]," VanDerveer said. "I knew Jeanette and Kayla wouldn't allow it."
On the court Monday night, Stanford held St. John's to its lowest scoring output of the season and took advantage both inside and out.
Junior Nneka Ogwumike finished with a game-high 22 points. Pedersen added 14 and freshman Chiney Ogwumike added 13.
If there was a dark cloud to the evening, it was an ankle injury to Stanford freshman guard Toni Kokenis, who left the game near the end of the first half after being injured in a scramble for a loose ball. She did not return.
Kokenis is being evaluated and may be available for this weekend's rounds in Spokane.
