Alanna's night in the limelight

Although she reportedly had suffered a sprained ankle several days earlier, Alanna Smith led the Stanford women’s basketball team to an 81-60 victory over visiting Oregon on Jan. 6.

The sophomore forward from Australia scored 24 points in just 20 minutes, snared four rebounds, dished two assists and stole the ball twice. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line, helping the team reach 83.3 percent, or 15-of-18 there.

She wasn’t alone in her efforts. Senior guard Briana Roberson chipped in 15 points, followed by senior forward Erica “Bird” McCall with 14. Senior guard Karlie Samuelson and sophomore guard Marta Sniezek had 9 each. Marta had opened the game with a successful drive to the basket.

One of the night’s many highlights came early in the third quarter when Marta took an inbounds pass and lobbed it to Karlie, who in turn lobbed to Alanna for the basket –- all without the ball touching the floor.

Both junior forward Kaylee Johnson and freshman guard Mikaela Brewer were back in action after injuries, but played limited minutes. Junior guard Brittany McPhee was out with a boot, reportedly from a sprained ankle.

The starting lineup featured Bird, Bri, Karlie, Marta and freshman forward Nadia Fingall. All 12 available players saw action before the final whistle.

Scoring included six 3’s, with three from Bri and one each from Karlie, Alanna and Bird.

Assists (17) outnumbered the team’s turnovers (14). Stanford held the edge in rebounds with 41, compared with 36 for the Ducks.

Once again the game was missing the band, Dollies and Tree because the administration has suspended all band activities. Instead too-loud canned music filled Maples.

One well received new twist to the game came between the third and fourth quarters, when T-shirts attached to white mini-parachutes fluttered from overhead into the crowd.

The score was 18-13 after the first quarter, 35-27 at the half and 57-45 after the third.

Oregon State comes calling at 5 p.m. Jan. 8.