Coasting to a 69-43 victory over Cal State
Northridge in Maples on Dec. 29, the Stanford women’s basketball team completed
its pre-conference schedule and 2018 with a 10-1 record.
All 12 available players had at least five minutes
on the court. Everyone except sophomore guard Kiana Williams scored, something
unusual for the usually prolific shooter.
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| Head coach Tara VanDerveer gives Maya some tips before she returns to action in a previous game. |
Sophomore forward Maya Dodson led the way with 16
points, most of them in the paint. She blocked three shots and had one steal.
Also in double figures were senior forward Alanna
Smith with 14 and freshman forward Lacie Hull with 10.
With three each, Lacie
and junior guard DiJonai Carrington accounted for six of the team’s seven
steals, while DiJonai was the leading rebounder with 12.
Rebound
total exceeds visitors’ point total
The Cardinal were so dominant around the basket
that they snared more rebounds, 53, than the Matadors had points, 43.
Unavailable players were senior guard Marta
Sniezek, who hasn’t played at all this season; junior guard Anna Wilson, who
had missed three games previously; and freshman forward Lexie Hull, who had
missed the past seven games. CSUN had only 10 available players.
Starters were Alanna, junior forward Nadia
Fingall, DiJonai, Lacie and Kiana.
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| Jenna and Tara show off Jenna's USA Basketball plaque. |
Jenna
honored for USA U18 play
Prior to the game, freshman guard Jenna Brown received
a USA Basketball plaque honoring her role with the gold-winning U18 team during
the summer. Jenna played the point for much of the CSUN game.
Stanford fans among the 2,520 people at the game
got a bit of a scare early in the first quarter when Alanna limped toward the
locker room. However, she returned to action a few minutes later.
The first quarter ended with Stanford up 19-4.
Then came the traditional Conga on the Court.
Usually it’s led by Stanford students like the cheerleaders or Dollies, but no
student groups were at the game because of the holiday break. Therefore, a
young girl led the way.
Halftime saw the host team up 41-12, while the
third quarter ended with a 31-point lead, 54-23.
Starters
rest during the fourth quarter
With no doubt about the outcome, some fans started
leaving early, and all of the team’s starters were on the bench for the entire
fourth quarter.
Both teams made only five of 21
three-pointers. Stanford’s total was below
its average of 10+ per game, but 46 points in the paint helped to fill the gap.
Lacie had two of the three’s. The others came from
DiJonai and sophomore forwards Alyssa Jerome and Estella Moschkau.
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| Jennifer Azzi gives the team some advice after the game. |
After the game, Jennifer Azzi, ’90, who attended
the game with her wife and their infant son, talked to the team in the locker
room.
The arrival of 2019 will signal the start of the
Pac 12 season, beginning with USC at 8 p.m. Jan. 4 and UCLA at 1 p.m. Jan. 6,
both at Maples. The latter game will feature a Behind the Bench afterward.
