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Pondexter, Washington snap skid at Stanford

Feb 9, 2009 - 4:34 AM PALO ALTO, California (Ticker) -- Quincy Pondexter was just 4 years old the last time Washington emerged victorious at Maples Pavilion. One of the junior's best games of the season helped snap that streak Sunday.

Pondexter collected 20 points and six rebounds as 25th-ranked Washington won at Maples for the first time in more than 16 years with a 75-68 triumph over Stanford.

Isaiah Thomas had 17 points, Jon Brockman recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Venoy Overton added 11 off the bench for the Huskies, who last won at Stanford on January 30, 1993.

"Man, it's good to just kind of get that out of the way," Brockman told the Seattle Times after the senior tasted victory at Maples following losses in his first three tries.

Washington (17-6, 8-3 Pac-10) came out of the locker room after halftime and went on a 15-4 run over the first 7:34 minutes of the second half to take a lead it would not relinquish. The Huskies were up, 35-34, at the break behind a 16-4 spurt late in the opening 20 minutes.

But the Cardinal did not go quietly, rallying to within three when a jumper by Landry Fields made the score 66-63 with 2:21 remaining. Thomas responded with a nifty lefthanded layup and Stanford missed its next five field-goal attempts to drop its record at home to 10-3 on the season.

"He (Thomas) just kind of floated in the air and waited for everyone else to land," Brockman told the Times. "He's a tough little guy and he likes taking shots like that when the pressure is on. I feel comfortable when the ball is in his hands."

Pondexter, who entered the contest averaging 10.3 point per game, fell one point shy of his season high thanks to shooting 5-of-11 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. The junior scored 21 points twice this season, most recently in an 86-71 loss at California on Thursday.

Fields scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Stanford (4-7, 17-4), which has lost four of five overall.

"It was interesting," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar told the newspaper of Stanford's attempted comeback. "I would have to admit it did look like some other games we've had here down the stretch."

"I got scared for my life," Pondexter said. "I was like 'not again.'"

Anthony Goods leads the Cardinal with 16.8 points per game, but was limited to 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field.

Stanford shot just 9-of-17 as a team from the charity stripe while Washington converted 21-of-28 chances.