The Associated Press
First Marist, then Florida State. It was a night of upsets at Stanford. After watching the Red Foxes beat Middle Tennessee 73-59, the Seminoles knew they could upend the host Cardinal in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Florida State then advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time with a 68-61 victory. Alicia Gladden scored the final seven points of an 11-0 run that frustrated the Cardinal and sent Florida State to the first second-round win in school history. After Candice Wiggins’ 3-pointer gave Stanford a 50-49 lead with 8:40 left, the 10th-seeded Seminoles (24-9) took charge to avenge an 18-point loss in the same round last March. And Sue Semrau’s in-your-face squad featuring one senior, Gladden, gets to play out West in the Fresno Regional later this week. “Ten years ago, this program was 0- 16 in our conference,” Semrau said. “It took a lot of players to come and believe that this could be a good basketball school, and not just a football school. These are three of them right here (Gladden, Shante Williams, Mara Freshour). It was fun to see them succeed tonight. These players all have a lot of courage.” Williams scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Freshour had 15 and Gladden added 12 points, six rebounds and four steals, scoring the first of her seven consecutive points with 6:46 left. Secondseeded Stanford (29-5) never recovered, making an early exit in Maples Pavilion just the way the Cardinal did four years ago against Minnesota in a heartbreaking defeat that kept them from playing on campus the next week in the regionals.
