Just as it had done against UConn just three days earlier, the Stanford women’s basketball team scored more than 80 points in a game that ended in overtime, but instead of winning 88-86, the Cardinal lost to Texas 87-81 on Nov. 20 in Maples Pavilion.
And just as it had done against UConn, the team stayed behind but kept the game close until the final few minutes.
Regulation time ended with the score 75-75. Even with 1:27 left in OT, the score was 80-80, but Stanford managed only 1 more point while the Longhorns had another 7. Thus the visitors snapped Stanford’s home winning streak at 28.
Fatigue may have set in
Fatigue may have been a factor in this second OT game in less than a week.
The Stanford starters included two seniors – guard Amber Orrange and forward Taylor Greenfield – along with two sophomores – guard Lili Thompson and forward Erica “Bird” McCall. Freshman forward Kaylee Johnson was the other starter.
Freshman guard Taylor Rooks was in street clothes, but the other 14 players were available. Eleven saw action.
However, most of the heavy lifting on scoring was done by Lili with a career-high 28 points in a team-high 43 minutes
and Amber with 15 in 29 minutes. Amber’s time was limited by fouls. She fouled out in OT after deliberately touching a Texas player in a move designed to give Stanford a chance to get the ball back.
No one else got into double figures. The closest was senior forward Bonnie Samuelson with 8.
Cold shooting hurts
Cold shooting was a major factor in the loss. Stanford was 35.9 percent for the game, compared with 48.5 percent for Texas.
Stanford came away with seven 3’s – three by Lili, two by Bonnie and one each by sophomore guard Karlie Samuelson and freshman Brittany McPhee. However, the team had lofted 27 shots from the arc, giving it only a 25.9 percent success rate.
Texas made four of 11 3’s for 36.4 percent.
Texas had its biggest advantage with 34 points in the paint compared with Stanford’s 24.
Its post players consistently outmuscled their Cardinal counterparts, while its perimeter players limited Stanford guards’ drives to the basket. In short, it played better defense than Stanford did.
Free-throw shooting at 73.7 percent
Stanford’s free-throw shooting improved to 73.7 percent compared with 65.6 percent against UConn, but that still meant that the team scored 28 points on at least 38 tries. Texas was 17 of 23. Texas had 30 fouls, Stanford 21 in this closely called game.
Once again Kaylee was a major contributor on the boards with 13 rebounds, but she scored only 7 points, 5 of them on free throws.
The official crowd count was 3,674.
The usual student contingent of the Tree, band, Dollies and cheerleaders was on hand. Not only does the Tree have a new look with his multi-colored palm fronds, but he knows some of the Dollies’ routines.
Something else new this season: Instead of the traditional handshakes before tipoff, the starters fist-bump.
Next on the agenda is New Mexico in Albuquerque at 6 p.m. PST Monday, Nov. 24, before three games in the three days after Thanksgiving at a tournament in Honolulu.
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