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| A tearful Alanna leads the post-game huddle for the last time. |
For slightly more than half of its Elite Eight
game, it looked as though the Stanford women’s basketball team might upset the
defending national champion.
But then the luck of the Irish took over, and
Notre Dame won 84-68 on April 1 in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena.
Stanford outscored Notre Dame in the first two
quarters and led 33-26 at the half and by as much as nine early in the third
quarter before ND began chipping away.
Farm
team leads over 22 minutes
Stanford actually led for slightly more than half
the game, just over 22 minutes. The game was tied for just over a minute.
It marked the Cardinal’s 12th trip to
the Elite Eight in the past 16 years and 20th overall. It ended the
team’s season at 31-5.
It also marked the end of the line for two of the
team’s seniors, forward Alanna Smith and center Shannon Coffee. The third
senior, guard Marta Sniezek, didn’t play all season because of injuries.
Earlier in the day, Alanna was named to an AP second team All American.
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| Kiana drives downcourt. |
Kiana
scores 20 points
Sophomore guard Kiana Williams led the team with
20 points, followed by junior guard DiJonai Carrington with 18 and Alanna with
14.
Thirty of the team’s points came from three’s.
Kiana poured in four, while Alanna, DiJonai and freshman guard Lexie Hull had
two each.
Despite the loss, it was a refreshing change from
the team’s less-than-stellar 55-46 over Missouri State in the Sweet 16 on March
30.
That victory came even though the team shot only
25 percent overall and just 10.3 percent on three’s.
Its 55 points tied its fewest in an NCAA
tournament victory since Stanford beat Xavier, 55-
53, in the Elite Eight in
Sacramento on March 29, 2010.
Remember that thriller? That’s when Jeanette
Pohlen, ’10, streaked across the entire court with only 4.4 seconds left to
score the winning basket and send her team to the Final Four.
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| Alanna leads the post-game celebration, quite a contrast from two days later (see top photo). |
Alanna
leads scoring against Missouri State
In the Missouri State game, Alanna scored a
team-leading 13 points. Coming off the bench, junior guard Anna Wilson provided
a needed spark with 11, the only other player in double figures.
One might chalk up the nine-point win on two
statistics: The Cardinal made 18 free throws, the Bears 12. That’s six points.
The other winning points came from the Cardinal’s
three three’s versus the Bears’ two. Stanford’s three’s came from Anna, Lexie
and Shannon with one each.
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| Shannon sets a screen while Anna goes for three. |
Shannon does seem to have a knack for helping to
knock off Bears with three’s, a la Baylor and others, according to head coach
Tara VanDerveer.
Now it’s back to the books with spring quarter
under way. Fans will have one last chance to see the players at the annual
banquet April 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Arrillaga Alumni Center.
After that they can look forward to what appears
to be a highly promising 2019-2020 with 11 returning players and four highly touted
freshmen.
Photos by Bob
Drebin/ISIPhotos.com
