The No. 7 Stanford women’s basketball team established itself as one of the country’s top teams this weekend, using two Candice Wiggins free throws with less than a second left to score a tight 60-58 win over No. 3 Rutgers last night. The win came two days after a 100-44 cakewalk to open the season versus Yale on Friday.

Wiggins, a senior guard, and sophomore center Jayne Appel scored the last four points of the game to deliver the Cardinal (2-0) the win over Rutgers (0-1), the 2007 national runner-up. Wiggins led Stanford with 19 points, while Appel (18 points, 13 rebounds) and freshman forward Kayla Pedersen (15 points, 16 rebounds) each notched double-doubles, playing nearly the entire game in the post for the Cardinal.

Down 58-56 with less than a minute remaining, the Cardinal appeared headed for a heartbreaking loss when sophomore guard Melanie Murphy’s three point attempt hit iron. But Pedersen skied for the rebound, and Appel nailed a jumper seven seconds later to tie the game at 58.

After Rutgers guard Essence Carson missed a three-pointer with five seconds left, Wiggins scrambled for the rebound and was fouled by the Scarlet Knights’ Epiphanny Prince. Wiggins, a preseason All-American, calmly stepped to the line and sunk both free throws with one-tenth of a second remaining to secure the Cardinal victory.

Despite her late-game heroics, Wiggins had somewhat of an off-night from the field. The 5 foot 9 senior hit only 5-of-12 shots and missed all of her three-point attempts, but converted 9-of-11 from the charity stripe. A poor shooting performance from Wiggins might have doomed the Cardinal last year, but this year’s squad has a much deeper arsenal of shooters. Redshirt sophomore point guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude drilled two threes in the first half, and Pedersen stepped outside early and nailed a three as well to balance the Stanford offense.

Neither team led by more than five points at any time during the contest, and defense was the order of the day, with both teams shooting under 40 percent from the field. Stanford had particular trouble with Rutgers center Kia Vaughn, who racked up eight blocks.

Two days earlier, the Cardinal opened the season against Yale (0-1). Stanford completely outmatched the Bulldogs on both ends of the court, shooting at a nearly 57 percent clip while holding Yale to 21 percent shooting.

Wiggins logged only 11 minutes for the Cardinal in the game, scoring eight points, but five others stepped up to score in double-digits in her stead. Appel led the way with 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting, followed by Pedersen and fellow freshman Jeanette Pohlen with 15 points apiece in their first taste of collegiate action.

Sophomore point guard J.J. Hones, who hit a pair of foul shots, made her return to the court against Yale after missing the second half of last season with an ACL tear, sustained at home against California. Stanford lost the services of another player to a knee injury, though, as sophomore forward Michelle Harrison left the Yale game after hurting her left knee on a fast break. The full extent of her injury is not yet known.

Stanford returns to action on Thursday evening with an exhibition match-up against the USA National team at Maples Pavilion. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.