NCAA tournament marks first meeting between Stanford and Southeast Missouri State

3/16/2006 2:28 AM

Last season, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was upset when her top-ranked team received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

This time around, she is all smiles.

VanDerveer's third-seeded Cardinal begin their quest for their first national championship since 1991-92 on Saturday when they face 14-seeded Southeast Missouri State in the first round of the San Antonio Regional in Denver.

Stanford, which is 43-17 all time in the tournament, is making its 19th consecutive appearance and 20th overall.

The 13th-ranked Cardinal (23-7) entered last year's Kansas City Regional with a 29-2 record, including a 17-1 mark in the Pac-10. However, they weren't awarded a No. 1 seed, which admittedly was on VanDerveer's mind when this year's selections were made.

''(Creating the bracket) is a really tough job,'' said VanDerveer, who recently was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year. ``There's always controversy, and this year it's about Tennessee being a two-seed and Ohio State being a one-seed. Honestly, I'm just glad none of it was about us.''

Stanford, which won the conference for the sixth straight year, was one of a record six Pac-10 teams chosen for the tournament.

The Cardinal lost to eventual runner-up Michigan State 76-69 in the regional final last year and will rely on the duo of sophomore Candice Wiggins and junior Brooke Smith to get back there.

Wiggins, named Pac-10 player of the year, leads the team in scoring (21.2), assists (3.6), steals (2.07) and free-throw percentage (.822), while Smith is tops in field-goal percentage (.573) and second in scoring (16.6).

Senior Krista Rappahahn, third on the team in scoring at 9.2 points per game, thrives from the outside. She made a school-record 83 3-pointers on 43.9 percent shooting to tie Wiggins for the team high.

Wiggins and Smith combined for 45 points in the Pac-10 title game, but the Cardinal blew a 13-point lead and lost 85-76 to UCLA in overtime March 6.

While the loss denied Stanford an automatic bid, Wiggins feels it only makes her team stronger in the tournament, especially if games go down to the wire.

``It made us more aware of end-of-game situations,'' she said. ``That's what we've been working on all week.''

Southeast Missouri State (22-8) is making its first tournament appearance after it received an automatic bid by beating Tennessee Tech 71-50 in the Ohio Valley Conference championship March 4.

The Redhawks, winners of four straight games and 16 of their last 17, finished tied atop the OVC with the Golden Eaglettes at 16-4.

Tatiana Conceicao had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Simone Jackson chipped in 10 points for the Redhawks, who outscored Tennessee Tech 40-18 in the second half. Southeast Missouri State had a 43-26 advantage in rebounds and held the Golden Eaglettes to 40.0 percent shooting, including 23.1 percent after the half.

``Our defense was the key to the victory,'' said coach B.J. Smith. ``We kept them off the boards and I thought our shot selection was better in the second half.''

Conceicao, averaging 25.5 points in her last five games, averages a team-high 19.6 points and 7.0 rebounds. She twice scored a career-high 30 points in wins over Southern Illinois on Nov. 29 and Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 2.

Fellow senior Natalie Purcell is tops on the Redhawks in 3-pointers (65) and free-throw percentage (79.4), and ranks second in scoring at 11.5 points per game.

The winner of this game will face No. 6 seed Florida State or 11th-seeded Louisiana Tech in the second round Monday.