Stanford women survive scare, beat New Mexico St. in NCAA opener

Stanford University women's basketball's Briana Roberson (center) joins teammates in reacting to a surprising seed before the Cardinal's NCAA Tournament seeding was announced. The team watched the bracket announcement on television in their locker room at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., on Monday, March 13, 2017. less Stanford University women's basketball's Briana Roberson (center) joins teammates in reacting to a surprising seed before the Cardinal's NCAA Tournament seeding was announced. The team watched the bracket ... more Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Stanford women survive scare, beat New Mexico St. in NCAA opener 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Had the second-seeded Stanford women opened the NCAA Tournament at home, maybe things would have been a little easier for them.

Or maybe not.

“It would have been great to be home,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said, “but maybe our team would have felt more pressure.”

As it was, the Cardinal — pushed out of Maples Pavilion because of the Pac-12 women’s gymnastics meet — were outplayed for three quarters by a much smaller but quicker New Mexico State. But they took control in the final eight minutes for a 72-64 win Saturday.

Until then, it was starting to look like it could become Stanford’s first first-round loss since it lost to Maine in 1999.

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Stanford (29-5) will play Monday, at a time for the TV gods to determine, against host Kansas State (23-10). The seventh-seeded Wildcats beat 10th-seed Drake 67-54 behind 23 points from 6-foot-5 center Breanna Lewis and 16 from guard Kindred Wesemann.

For the Cardinal, the opener might not have been a nightmare, but it was plenty scary. They were torched for 26 points by sophomore guard Brooke Salas, and 5-foot-8 guard Moriah Mack worked her way inside for 15 points and seven rebounds.

“You could tell we’d been off for two weeks,” VanDerveer said. “Hopefully we got the rust off and we’ll play better on Monday.”

After trailing most of the game, Stanford took a 55-54 lead on a basket by Brittany McPhee with 7:50 left. McPhee and Erica McCall then converted three-point plays around a basket by Salas for a 61-56 bulge.

It was 63-58 when the Cardinal tightened the defensive screws and forced the Aggies into a shot-clock violation with 4:15 left. McPhee hit a jumper, and super-sub Alanna Smith added another.

“It’s an old joke,’’ said Aggies head coach Mark Trakh. “At the end of the game they can be tired and we can be tired, but they’re still going to be 6-4 and tired and we’re going to be 5-10 and tired. Their size kind of wore on us at the end.”

Smith, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward from Australia, continued her late season emergence, with 19 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. She has averaged 14 points over the last 11 games after averaging 5.7 in the previous 23 games.

New Mexico State (24-7) had won 17 in a row, including all its games in the Western Athletic Conference regular season and the conference tournament. It jumped to a 21-15 lead and led at the end of the first quarter 23-20 after shooting 63 percent.

Here’s how well things were going for the Aggies: In the closing seconds of the first half, Tyler Ellis made one of two foul shots. The second one clanged off the front of the rim but went right to Zaire Williams, who scored her only points of the game on a buzzer-beating three for a 38-31 lead. The Aggies even forced Stanford to play with four guards in the first half to contend with their quickness.

At halftime, the Cardinal regrouped. “We definitely didn’t want this to be the last 20 minutes of our season,” McPhee (16 points) said. “So we really buckled down.”

In the second half Stanford stuck with its size. It finished with a 39-30 rebounding advantage, including 17 offensive boards and 17 second-chance points. McCall had 12 rebounds.

“I think we keep our composure well,” said guard Karlie Samuelson, who hit 5 of 9 threes and scored 17 points. “We’ve been down plenty of times this year and come back from big deficits. I think we can yell at each other and have a sense of urgency, but we’re never going to panic and we know we can come back from anything.”

The Cardinal received a boost from the Stanford band in its first appearance at a sporting event since its December suspension for a violation of school rules. “It was great to have the band,” VanDerveer said. “Great to have that energy.”

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald

Monday’s game

Who: No. 2 seed Stanford vs. No. 7 Kansas State

When: TBD

Where: Manhattan, Kan.

TV: TBD