Victory over Vanguard ends exhibition season

The Stanford women’s basketball team completed its exhibition weekend with a sweep – defeating Corban 117-33 on Nov. 1 and following up with an 82-47 defeat of Vanguard on Nov. 3. Both games were at home in Maples Pavilion.

Unlike Corban, which hadn’t faced the Cardinal before, Vanguard was making a return visit to the Farm. Both teams play at the Division II level, but meeting an elite squad like Stanford’s is a good experience for them.

It’s also a good way for the Stanford players to get a little more playing time and to learn while the coaches continue to evaluate plays and players.

Once again Stanford’s victory included a barrage of 3’s. Sophomore forward Bonnie Samuelson started it right away when she delivered the team’s first score with a 3-pointer and went on to lead the team with five of its 13 for the night. Sophomore forward Taylor Greenfield and junior guard Sara James added four each.

The starting lineup featured three returning starters – senior forward Joslyn Tinkle, junior forward Chiney Ogwumike and sophomore guard Amber Orrange – along with Bonnie and redshirt freshman guard Jasmine Camp. As was true against Corban, the other returning starter, junior guard Toni Kokenis, was in uniform and warmed up with the team but sat at the end of the bench all afternoon.

Head coach Tara VanDerveer substituted freely, starting with Sara for Jasmine. Then came Taylor and redshirt junior guard Mikaela Ruef for Bonnie and Sara. Others who played during the first half were freshman forward/center Tess Picknell and sophomore forward Erica Payne. Freshman guards Kiran Lakhian and Denia Ebersole got in during the second half.

Outsized and out-defended, the opponent didn’t score until the clock hit 13:26, when a Vanguard player hit a 3 to make the score 13-3. The second Vanguard score, also a 3, came at the 9:45 mark to make the score 25-6. By the time the clock hit 8:22, Amber had made her third shot in a row. The half ended 44-21.

Whereas much of the offense seemed to come from the perimeter during the first half, it appeared that more plays were designed to go inside to Chiney and Joslyn or the other bigs during the second.

Several times during the second half, the lineup included just one guard and four forwards. For example, the second-half starters were Amber at the point plus Joslyn, Chiney, Bonnie and Taylor. Late in the second half, there was an all-forward lineup with Taylor presumably at the point.

Bonnie was the game’s high scorer with 18, followed by Taylor with 16, Sara with 14 and Chiney with 11.

The team pulled down a total of 55 rebounds, led by Joslyn with 10, and Chiney, Mikaela and Tess with eight each. Chiney was credited with five of the team’s 12 blocks. Amber contributed seven of its 17 assists, followed by Mikaela with four.

Vanguard did better in the turnover department, registering just 11 compared with Stanford’s 14. Fouls were fairly even – 14 for Vanguard, 15 for Stanford.

For the game, Stanford shot 42.6 percent overall, 37.1 percent for 3’s and 68.8 percent for free throws.

Except for Kiran and Denia, who entered late in the game, everyone else played between 15 and 23 minutes.

With two exhibition wins under their belts, the Cardinal will start the regular season at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, when Fresno State comes to Maples. Then it’s just a short jaunt down the road for a visit to Santa Clara at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11.