The Aggies were a scrappy, disciplined group, but couldn’t overcome Stanford’s superior size and skill.
Four Stanford forwards – one from each class – scored in the double digits. They were led by senior Nneka Ogwumike with 20. She was closely followed by junior Joslyn Tinkle with a career-high 19. Next came sophomore Chiney Ogwumike with 18 and freshman Bonnie Samuelson with 15.
All of Bonnie’s points came from five of the team’s 11 3-pointers. Also scoring from beyond the arc was sophomore guard Sara James with two 3’s. Joslyn, freshman forward Taylor Greenfield, sophomore guard Toni Kokenis and freshman guard Amber Orrange had one each.
With senior guard Lindy La Rocque sidelined by what was reported to be a sore foot, Amber did the honors of leading the team onto the floor for pre-game drills. Freshman guard Jasmine Camp took Lindy’s place in the starting lineup. She was joined by regulars Nneka, Chiney, Taylor and Toni.
Even though Lindy didn’t play, she apparently had some influence on hairstyles. Bonnie, Joslyn and Nneka all sported Lindy’s signature long braid rather than their usual ponytails.
Junior forward Mikaela Ruef, who has had a sore foot and leg, was dressed but didn’t participate in the warmups or play. However, she was kept busy with the traditional high-fives along the bench after each 3-pointer.
As the buzzer signaled 10 minutes to go before the start of the game, the players lined up as usual for the national anthem. However, it was preceded by a minute of silence to honor Chester McGlockton, the Stanford assistant football coach and former pro player who had unexpectedly died that morning at the age of 42.
Although the score stayed close during the first few minutes of the game, Stanford began pulling ahead, ending the half up by 51-23. Things were so comfortable in the second half that Nneka went to the bench with 17:24 to go. She had played only 21 minutes.
None of the starters played more than 25 minutes (Chiney). Joslyn logged the most time with 31 minutes. With 3:19 to go in the game, announcer Betty Ann Boeving told that crowd that Joslyn had reached a career high with 17 points. Joslyn then added 2 more for her 19 total.
The Cardinal outrebounded the Aggies 47-16, led by Nneka, Chiney and Joslyn with nine each. Stanford won the assist battle, too, 24-10. Jasmine with six and Amber with five were the leaders in that category. Stanford had only nine personal fouls to the Aggies’ 14. The turnover numbers were exactly the same in Stanford’s favor.
Freshman guard Alex Green, who had surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon last week, rejoined her teammates after missing the road trip to UConn and Xavier. She was on crutches and is expected to miss the rest of the season. She had just recently begun playing after recovering from an ACL injury that kept her out of action during her senior year of high school. Several fans stopped by to wish her well before the game, and various teammates and staff members talked with her during the game.
The scoreboard was still set up for volleyball because the women’s team will be in action this weekend as Stanford hosts first-round action in the NCAA tournament.
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