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| Nadia and fans are fired up with Stanford still in the lead in the final minutes. (Stanford Athletics) |
Riding high after a sweep of the mountain schools
the previous weekend, the Stanford women’s basketball team returned home and
endured some ups and downs in its 63-60 win over Oregon State on Jan. 21.
The ups were first that the team won, but it nearly
blew a 14-point lead with about seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The
game had seemed well in hand before OSU mounted a comeback but fell short.
Still, OSU outscored Stanford by 6 points, 15-9, in that quarter.
Also on the plus side was the team’s defensive
intensity, often preventing OSU from shooting until the shot clock had nearly
expired.
OSU
perfect at the stripe
On the other hand, that tough defense led to 12
fouls (some protested vociferously by the crowd of 3,745). When those fouls led
to free throws, OSU didn’t miss a one, going 12-for-12 at the line.
OSU had 11 fouls, but Stanford made only eight of 12
free throws. Its first free-throw opportunity didn’t come until early in the
third quarter.
Two of the eight made free throws came from junior
guard Kiana Williams after a technical on an OSU coach later in the third.
Rebounds also were a sore point, with OSU gathering
in 40, 28 of them defensive, to Stanford’s 34, 22 defensive.
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| Kiana drives against an OSU defender.(AP Jeff Chiu) |
Kiana
leads the team
As she was at the mountain schools, Kiana helped to
save the day by playing all 40 minutes and scoring 24 points. Thus she scored
20 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time this season,
according to the Associated Press.
No other Cardinal player was in double figures.
Senior guard Anna Wilson came closest with 8 points. Sophomore guard Lexie Hull
added 6 as did junior forwards Alyssa Jerome and Maya Dodson.
Playing in only her third game this season, Maya was
in the starting lineup along with Kiana, Lexie, sophomore guard Lacie Hull and
senior forward Nadia Fingall, who, uncharacteristically, didn’t score.
Tara praises Maya
Head coach Tara VanDerveer credited Maya’s defense for helping the
No. 4 Cardinal hold off the No. 15 OSU, AP reported.
“Maya is a difference
maker,” Tara said in the post-game press conference. “She changes things for
us.”
Very much on the
bright side, the team had only one turnover in the first three quarters and
only four turnovers for the game, while OSU had 10.
Kiana made three of
the team’s seven 3-pointers. Anna and Alyssa had two each.
Jenna joins the injured list
Attrition also could
have hurt the Cardinal as sophomore guard Jenna Brown, who has looked good in
recent games, joined freshman guard Haley Jones and senior guard DiJonai
Carrington in street clothes.
Haley, who was
injured five weeks ago at Oregon State, was still wearing a leg brace, but it looked
different from the one she had worn previously, and it allowed freer but still
limited movement.
Leading off the 8
p.m. game, the St. Simon Parish School chorus of Los Altos sang the national
anthem. It merited a roar of approval when the youngsters lifted small USA
flags about two-thirds of
the way through the song.
The crowd also
applauded timeout appearances by the women’s softball and lacrosse teams as
well as a videoboard shot of Kayla Pedersen, ’11.
Rocky
Mountain highs
The team had returned from its trip to the mountain
schools not only with two wins but with some very happy memories.
For example, the 97-64 score over Utah on Feb. 14
marked the most points an SWBB team had made in a conference game since 2011.
That Valentine’s Day total included 15 3’s recorded
by seven players, led by Kiana and Lexie with four each. They were among four
players in double figures.
Maya
makes welcome return
Perhaps the happiest event of all was Maya’s game
debut after missing all previous games this season because of an injury.
Playing a cautious nine minutes, she nevertheless contributed 7 points on
perfect shooting, plus a rebound, a steal and a block.
Against Colorado on Feb. 16, she played 15 minutes
and again was productive with six points and four rebounds. She had no
turnovers in either game.
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| Jubilant coaches and staff exult as her teammates engulf Kiana (seen above the ref's head) after her 13 seconds of game-saving heroics against Colorado. (Photo by Cliff Grassmick/Boulder Daily Camera) |
However, the most memorable part of that game was
what Kiana did. It probably will take its place among legendary individual accomplishments
like Jeanette Pohlen’s, ’11, 4.4-second cross-court run to make the
game-winning layup against Xavier in 2010. This victory sent Stanford to the
Final Four in San Antonio.
Kiana
saves the day
With a mere 13 seconds to go, Kiana hit a game-tying
3, then stole the ball and hit a 3 from 40 feet out with just 4 seconds left,
giving the team a 69-66 win.
She finished the game with career highs of 29 points
and seven 3’s. Together, she and five of her teammates had 14 3’s.
The two mountain victories boosted Stanford to No. 4
from No. 8 in AP’s weekly poll, released Feb. 17.
Next up for the Cardinal is Oregon in Maples at 6
p.m. Feb. 24. ESPN2 will televise the game.
