By Elliott Almond
Mercury News
SPOKANE, Wash. - Candice Wiggins winced Sunday when accidentally bumping her hand on a podium while seated at a news conference.
"Ow," she said, then giggled.
It wasn't a comic moment for Coach Tara VanDerveer, who took exception to the play that caused the tenderness in her star guard's hand.
Taneisha Harrison's hard foul near the end of the Pittsburgh game Saturday knocked Wiggins into the paddled backboard pole and resulted in a jammed thumb.
"I thought it put her at risk to get hurt," VanDerveer said of the foul with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in the Cardinal's 72-53 victory.
Referees didn't cite Harrison with a flagrant foul. And Wiggins said she's fine, though her hand throbbed after the foul that prevented an easy layup.
The play was a souvenir from Pitt's aggressive defense, employed to stop one of the country's most dynamic guards.
Wiggins can expect similar attention tonight when second-seeded Stanford faces top-seeded Maryland in the Spokane Regional final. After watching Pitt hold the Cardinal's leading scorer to 14 points, Maryland Coach Brenda Frese could borrow a page from the Panthers' defensive playbook.
"I wouldn't be surprised by seeing a box and one" defensive scheme, Wiggins said. "Nothing is going to change in this game."
Wiggins, who averages almost 20 points a game, has seen it all this season. She has learned patience, to let the offense come to her and rely on teammates
when the shot isn't there.
Maryland center Crystal Langhorne, who has played on U.S. teams with Wiggins, doesn't think the Stanford guard can be shut down.
"You can only contain her," she said.
Maryland plans to throw changing matchup defenses against Wiggins tonight.
"You don't want her to get too comfortable," Langhorne added.
Those who face Wiggins in practice all season don't have answers, either.
"Stop Candice?" Stanford point guard JJ Hones said. "I wouldn't want to be the coach to try to figure out how to stop her."
Terrapins guard Mareh Strickland knows it all too well. She has played against Wiggins since they were eighth-graders and is expected to draw the job of guarding her childhood friend.
"She's an active player, so I have to be an active defender," Strickland said.
Maryland's other leading post player, Laura Harper, also played with Wiggins on U.S. teams. Her advice?
"Chase her around the court," Harper said. "If she catches the ball, she scores."
For all the talk about the three-time All-American, Maryland players are painfully aware Stanford doesn't depend on Wiggins every game.
The senior guard had a season-low four points against Oregon State in January but the Cardinal won 81-45.
"Yeah you can slow Candice, but are you going to leave Jayne Appel one-on-one in the post?" Hones asked.
It's a question teams have faced all season. They've done their best to strike a balance. Pittsburgh decided it wasn't going to let Wiggins beat it the way she did Texas-El Paso with 44 points.
The Panthers made sure one defender stayed with Wiggins all game. When Wiggins went down near the end, VanDerveer rushed to the court to check on her.
"I just had to pull my heart off the floor for a minute," she said.
Wiggins left the game after the foul but returned a half-minute later to make a steal and two free throws.
Just another reminder that when she's on the court, Wiggins is not easily denied.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com