No. 7 Stanford 100, Yale 44

11/9/2007 6:19 PM

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Sports Writer

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -The Stanford Cardinal opened their season with an easy victory. Their first real test will come Sunday.

Jayne Appel scored 20 points to help No. 7 Stanford rout Yale 100-44 on Friday, handing the Bulldogs their worst loss in school history.

Next up for the Cardinal is a showdown with No. 3 Rutgers.

``We'll have a better feel where we are after Sunday,'' Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.

Stanford used its superior talent to dominate Yale from the start, scoring the first 16 points - including six by Preseason All-American Candice Wiggins. She finished with eight points in just 11 minutes.

``We came out and established our inside game early,'' VanDerveer said.

Appel was 9-for-11 from the field, mostly hitting layups.

The Bulldogs didn't score until Sara McCollum hit two free throws with 16 minutes left.

Yale, which was hosting a ranked opponent for the first time, didn't score its first basket until Yoyo Greenfield hit a 3-pointer with 14:11 left in the half. After that basket, Stanford went on a 27-4 run over the next 8 minutes to put the game away.

Stanford held a 56-18 halftime advantage and saw its lead balloon to as many as 56 points in the second half. Freshmen Kayla Pedersen and Jeannette Pohlen each added 15 points for the Cardinal.

``I'm really proud of the freshmen,'' Wiggins said.

Jamie Van Horne scored 15 points to lead the Bulldogs, whose previous worst defeat was a 51-point loss to George Washington on Dec. 20, 2005.

``We took way too long to decide to play,'' Yale coach Chris Gobrecht said. ``I was fearful of that. We were a no-show for 30 minutes.''

Gobrecht is no stranger to Stanford, having coached at Washington for 11 years and Southern Cal for seven.

``It's tough to assess how good this team is,'' said Gobrecht of her former Pac-10 rival.

The only negative for Stanford was that sophomore Michelle Harrison injured her knee on a fastbreak layup midway through the half. She did not return.

``About the only disappointment was to have Michelle get hurt,'' VanDerveer said.

Stanford entered the season coming off a disappointing second-round loss to Florida State in the NCAA tournament. The Cardinal won their seventh straight Pac-10 regular-season title and are favored to do so again.

This was only the second meeting between the schools. Stanford beat Yale 75-61 at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 11, 1979.