BERKELEY, Calif. — Iowa State's scheme was obvious to Jayne Appel even before the opening tip. The Cyclones put all their energy into guarding the Stanford center's teammates, forcing Appel to try to beat them herself.

And what a beating it was — one that will forever have a prominent place in Stanford's illustrious basketball history, long after the resulting Final Four trip by the Big Appel and her Cardinal.

Appel scored a school-record 46 points in the third highest-scoring effort in NCAA tournament annals, overwhelming Iowa State's single-coverage defense and securing Stanford's second straight Final Four appearance with a 74-53 victory in the Berkeley Regional final last night.

Stanford's imposing 6-foot-4 junior with neon-pink fingernails and a dancer's grace broke Candice Wiggins' single-game school scoring record with her final basket for the Cardinal (33-4). Dominating from the first possession, she made 19 of her 28 shots and with 16 rebounds nearly outrebounded Iowa State (27-9) by herself before being mobbed by teammates at the final buzzer.

"I came into the gym with the mind-set that I wasn't going to leave without the net," said Appel, the Pac-10 player of the year who erased her previous career high by 13 points. "We weren't going to leave here without cutting down those nets. It just wasn't an option."

Appel dazzled the supportive Bay Area crowd with one beguiling move after another, seemingly oblivious to Iowa State's sadly inadequate low-post coverage.

During warmups, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer told Appel she might have a chance to score 50 points, given the Cyclones' plan to counteract what hurt them in the teams' meeting in November.

Stanford routed Iowa State, 83-45, during a tournament in Hawai'i, getting just six points from Appel, who set up her teammates for 13 3-pointers.

"I don't question what they did," VanDerveer said. "Jayne had to deliver. We knew what we had to do."

At the Final Four in St. Louis, the Cardinal will meet the winner of Connecticut's Trenton Regional final meeting with Arizona State.