No. 18 Stanford 73, Pacific 65

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) â€” Nicole Powell scored 26 points as 18th-ranked Stanford defeated Pacific 73-65 Sunday, giving coach Tara VanDerveer her 500th career victory. <br><br>Millie Kimpton scored 14 points

Monday, November 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) â€” Nicole Powell scored 26 points as 18th-ranked Stanford defeated Pacific 73-65 Sunday, giving coach Tara VanDerveer her 500th career victory.

Millie Kimpton scored 14 points to lead Pacific (2-2), whose two-game winning streak was snapped. Ahsalic Johnson added 12 points.

Susan King added 16 points for the Cardinal, winners of three in a row after a season-opening loss.

VanDerveer, honored by the crowd which held up flash cards with ''500'' written on them, became the 17th coach in women's basketball history to reach 500 career wins.

``It just means I've been around a long time and coached a lot of great players,'' said VanDerveer, in her 22nd season, and 15th at Stanford.

VanDerveer, 500-143 (.778) overall, has collected 348 of her victories with the Cardinal. Stanford is seeking their 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament this season.

The Tigers opened the second half with a 9-2 run, and took a 45-42 lead four minutes into the half on a jumper by Johnson.

Pacific still led 50-46 with 13:48 remaining to play, but then went seven scoreless minutes, allowing Stanford to build a comfortable 60-50 edge. Powell's 3-pointer at 11:17 put the Cardinal ahead to stay.

Pacific held a 28-27 edge following a pair of free throws by Johnson with 5:56 left in the half, but Stanford went on a 12-2 run to make it 40-34 at the break.