 |
| Jubilant players gather in a circle to celebrate their pending trip to the Sweet 16. |
The Stanford women’s basketball team had its hands
full as it hosted Brigham Young University on March 25, but in the end the
Cardinal conquered the Cougars 72-63 in the second round of the NCAA
tournament.
With this win, Stanford advanced to
the Sweet 16 for the 12th straight year.
Stanford started slowly and fell
behind 11-15 in the first quarter.
BYU’s zone defense mostly prevented
Stanford from penetrating into the paint, forcing three-point clunkers or air
balls.
 |
| DiJonai drives against BYU. |
DiJonai
sparks team in second quarter
That scenario changed in the second
quarter, when junior guard DiJonai Carrington provided the spark for the team
to lead 31-29 at the half. By then she had scored 14 points, including six from
threes, in this seesaw, physical game.
BYU also outrebounded Stanford in the
first half, but Stanford’s rebounding improved, starting in the third quarter,
to give it a 43-40 advantage by the end of the game.
After halftime, the ball went inside
more, giving senior forward Alanna Smith a chance to show her scoring prowess,
not only inside but from the perimeter.
The third quarter ended with Stanford
up 53-38. It led 68-55 with under two minutes to go in the game, but scrappy
BYU never gave up. It applied pressure and stole the ball three times, scoring
each time. But it was too little too late as Stanford made four free throws to
seal the win.
 |
| Alanna prepares to score against a BYU defender. |
Alanna
records double-double in final home game
Playing her final game at Maples,
Alanna recorded 23 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and a steal.
DiJonai wasn’t far behind with 19
points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Also in double figures was sophomore
guard Kiana Williams with 13 points, four rebounds and a team-high five
assists.
Those three were the starters along
with sophomore forward Maya Dodson and freshman guard Lacie Hull.
Despite so many misses, the team wound
up with 12 threes. Alanna, DiJonai and Kiana all had three. Chipping in one
each were senior center Shannon Coffee, also in her final game at Maples;
junior guard Anna Wilson and freshman guard Lexie Hull.
The crowd of 2,450 included a vocal
contingent of BYU fans. Among them was former Forty-Niners quarterback Steve
Young, a BYU alum.
The game started relatively late, 8
p.m., on a rainy evening, but that didn’t dampen spirits inside.
 |
| Lacie scraps for a loose ball, resulting in a jump ball. |
Everyone
helps out
Although the big three of Alanna,
DiJonai and Kiana might get all the headlines for scoring, their teammates
helped out in numerous ways that don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.
For example, Anna played tough defense
against BYU’s leading scorer. Shannon set screens, snared rebounds and assisted
while sometimes helping to direct the ball to open players, all thanks to her
6’5” height.
Actually, nearly everyone played tough
defense, a hallmark of this team, especially in its later games.
This 30th season victory was the 15th
in program history and the first since the team went to the Final Four in 2017.
It also was the team’s 18th
straight NCAA win at home, improving its all-time tournament record at Maples
to 38-4, according to Stanford Athletics.
Now it’s on to the Sweet 16 in the
Chicago regional. No. 2-seeded Stanford will face No. 11-seeded Missouri State
at 3:30 p.m. March 30. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
Stanford will be on spring break until
spring quarter starts April 1. That could pose a bit of a conflict if the team
advances to the Elite Eight to face either Notre Dame or Texas A&M on April
1, but worth it for a chance to advance to the Final Four.
Photos by Bob
Drebin/ISIPhotos.com
