With finals
in the rear-view mirror, the Stanford women’s basketball team drove to a 74-33
victory over visiting UNLV on Dec. 16.
Despite
missing the fire power of senior guard Brittany McPhee again and of sophomore
guard DiJonai Carrington for the first time, both for undisclosed reasons, the
Cardinal boasted balanced scoring.
All 12
available players got at least six minutes of playing time, and all scored. The
most anyone played was 23 minutes by junior forward Alanna Smith.
 |
| Kiana gives an interview after her 14-point performance. (Stanford Athletics) |
Kiana leads with 14 points
Playing 18
minutes, freshman guard Kiana Williams led the team with 14 points. Also in
double figures were Alanna and freshman forward Maya Dodson with 11 points each.
Senior forward Kaylee Johnson led the team in rebounding with 10.
Head coach
Tara VanDerveer rejiggered the starting lineup. Alanna and Kaylee have been
regulars, but this time they were joined by three first-timers: Kiana, who
played the point, along with junior center Shannon Coffee and sophomore guard
Anna Wilson.
Tough
defense figured into the win as the Cardinal held the visitors scoreless for about
the first six minutes of the first quarter, which ended 17-10. The second
quarter was even tougher. UNLV scored
only 3 points while Stanford added 18 to end with a 35-13 advantage.
With
attendance at 2,763 and most students on vacation, the game was missing the
usual
contingent of Tree, band, cheerleaders and Dollies.
Referee cleans up
Still, the
crowd made plenty of noise. For example, during the third quarter, the ball
girls started mopping the floor after a collision. Not satisfied, a referee
took a mop herself and finished the job. The crowd applauded, and she bowed.
In the
Connect with Coach video feature, Tara was asked several questions, one of
which was her pet peeve. Her response, “Rude drivers,” got another round of
applause.
With only
1.6 seconds left in the game, junior guard Alexa Romano grabbed a defensive rebound.
Rather than dribbling it, though, she lobbed it to sophomore guard Mikaela
Brewer, who made an easy layup for her only score.
Besides
tight defense (Alexa was especially persistent), the game was noteworthy for nine
3-pointers. Kiana had three, while Anna and sophomore forward Nadia Fingall had
two each. Alexa and freshman forward Estella Moschkau each had one.
Team tallies 18 assists
Also on the
plus side, the team had 18 assists, led by junior guard Marta Sniezek with four.
The team also had eight blocks, six steals and only seven fouls. The first foul
wasn’t called until early in the third quarter. On the other hand, both teams
had 19 turnovers, many of them on traveling calls.
Since the
band wasn’t there, a recording of “All Right Now” followed the final buzzer.
Perhaps it should have been “Ode to Joy” to mark Beethoven’s 247th
birthday.
Before it
can go off for a quick holiday, the team hosts two more games: Western Illinois
at 7 p.m. Dec. 18 and Tennessee at 6 p.m. Dec. 21.
