Someone must have left a door open at Hec Ed, because the cold weather found its way to the basketball floor, turning Husky shooting hands that were hot as ever last weekend ice cold.

For the first time this season, the women’s basketball got blown out of the gym, falling to No. 10 Stanford 77-56, and the game wasn’t even as close as the final score.

The loss ended an 11-game home winning streak for the UW, and gave Stanford (13-3 overall, 6-0 Pac-10) 11 wins in a row.

The problem for the Dawgs was not their inability to see the forest through the trees, as Stanford’s forest of five players 6 feet 3 inches or taller and the accompanying shorter Cardinal were clearly visible. Washington even knew the key to victory was to keep Stanford out of the paint. They could not, and the result was an inside pounding that left coach June Daugherty and her Husky starters watching the final seven minutes of the game sitting on the bench.

“Obviously it’s very disappointing,” Daugherty said. “We got overwhelmed inside, and we didn’t help our post players enough. We should have done something different defensively the first half.”

The Dawgs (12-6 overall, 5-2 Pac-10) missed their first seven shots from the field — five of which were 3-pointers — and never led or even threatened to tie after Stanford’s Brooke Smith sank a hook 31 seconds into the game, starting a rout the likes of which the Huskies hadn’t suffered all season.

“I didn’t think that we executed the game plan,” Daugherty said. “We wanted to move the basketball a little bit more and try to break down the defense. We didn’t do a good job of moving people and screening and slipping and doing some things that we’ve done in the past against teams that show us the same defensive sets.”

At halftime, Stanford had more points in the paint (30) than Washington had on the board (28), and the Cardinal put up 41 points. The Dawgs trailed by just one rebound, but they simply could not find a way to get the ball into the basket. The UW finished the first half shooting less than 29 percent from the field.

“I think they had a great inside presence, inside and out,” senior Cameo Hicks said. “It was hard to stop them. You try to limit their shots on the outside and limit (Candice) Wiggins’ touches and then they just dump it down right inside. Great team, you know elite, one of the best in the world.”

While Washington couldn’t buy a bucket, Stanford was getting inside freebees nearly every trip down the floor. Reserve Jayne Appel was as deadly as any of Stanford’s inside weapons, and for the last four-and-a-half minutes of the half, it was like she was the only player on the court for either team. Appel scored 15 points during the span, and all seven of her baskets were in the paint, including a lay-in at the buzzer. She finished with a game-high 19 points. Smith added 12, while the All-American Wiggins netted 17.

“They’re big inside; they’re strong. We weren’t physical enough,” said forward Breanne Watson. “Really that was it: We just weren’t physical enough, and we were giving them everything they wanted, and they did a great job; they converted all of their shots.”

Stanford scored the first 10 points of the second half, putting the game out of reach.

“We’re very disappointed, especially after the tight game at Arizona State,” Watson said. “It’s tough but we have to move on. We’ve got California Saturday. They’re another great team with another great frontline so we just have to bounce back and play hard against them.”

The Dawgs host the Golden Bears Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Reach reporter Sam Cameron at samcameron@thedaily.washington.edu.