BYU prepares for Paris; Stanford gets ready for Florida State

3/19/2006 7:17 PM

DENVER (AP) - Oklahoma's Courtney Paris is used to being the focus of opponents' defenses. It hasn't fazed the freshman yet this season and she doesn't plan on it bothering her in the NCAA tournament.

``Playing in the Big 12 Conference. I got to see a lot of everything as far as how people defended me,'' Paris said Sunday, a day before the second-seeded Sooners' game against seventh-seeded BYU. ``I feel well-prepared for any situation and I'm not worried about it.''

Paris set 36 school records and ended the regular season three rebounds shy of becoming the first player in NCAA women's basketball history to have 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a season.

Now it's up to the Cougars (26-5), the regular-season Mountain West Conference champs, to see if they can stop Paris.

``I've had a lot of thoughts going through my mind and I've watched a lot of film the last day to see how teams have played her,'' BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. ``We have some ideas and we're going to try a lot of different things to see what works.''

Not much has this season against Paris, who has 26 consecutive double-doubles and was drawing comparisons to Shaquille O'Neal from Judkins.

``Like Shaq, she is a great passer, a good rebounder and very physical inside,'' Judkins said. ``She scores everything.''

For her part, Paris credits the talent around her.

``With us, it is pick your poison,'' she said. ``We have good shooters and are a well-rounded team.''

Paris had her way in an abbreviated 21-minute appearance in Oklahoma's 78-66 victory over Pepperdine in the first round of the San Antonio Regional. She had 27 points and 11 rebounds by the time coach Sherri Coale decided to clear the bench with 9:50 left and the Sooners holding a comfortable 59-33 lead.

BYU had trouble keeping its two centers, Dani Kubik and Lauren Riley, out of foul trouble in its 67-62 first round victory over Iowa. Both fouled out while defending Iowa center Megan Skouby, who still managed 19 points.

But the Sooners are still concerned about the Cougars, who are led by forward Ambrosia Anderson. The Colorado native averages 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and led all scorers with 20 points in the Iowa win.

``We faced BYU several years ago in the NCAA tournament and they're a nightmare to defend,'' Coale said. ``They probably have the best offensive spacing of any team I've watched this year.''

In Monday's other game, third seed Stanford (24-7) faces the sixth-seeded Florida State (20-9).

The Cardinal advanced by routing Southeast Missouri, 72-45. Pac-10 player of the year Candice Wiggins had 21 points, but Stanford had 17 turnovers, a face which troubled coach Tara VanDerveer.

``I saw some really uncharacteristic things, too, and I'm glad we got those out of our system,'' VanDerveer said. ``I think we can do a better job offensively.''

Florida State moved on after beating Louisiana Tech 80-71. Holly Johnson had 25 points and Alicia Gladden added 20 in the first-round game.