Sweet but not easy victory over BYU

Jubilant players gather in a circle to celebrate their pending trip to the Sweet 16.

The Stanford women’s basketball team had its hands full as it hosted Brigham Young University on March 25, but in the end the Cardinal conquered the Cougars 72-63 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

With this win, Stanford advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 12th straight year.

Stanford started slowly and fell behind 11-15 in the first quarter.

BYU’s zone defense mostly prevented Stanford from penetrating into the paint, forcing three-point clunkers or air balls.

DiJonai drives against BYU.

DiJonai sparks team in second quarter

That scenario changed in the second quarter, when junior guard DiJonai Carrington provided the spark for the team to lead 31-29 at the half. By then she had scored 14 points, including six from threes, in this seesaw, physical game.

BYU also outrebounded Stanford in the first half, but Stanford’s rebounding improved, starting in the third quarter, to give it a 43-40 advantage by the end of the game.

After halftime, the ball went inside more, giving senior forward Alanna Smith a chance to show her scoring prowess, not only inside but from the perimeter.

The third quarter ended with Stanford up 53-38. It led 68-55 with under two minutes to go in the game, but scrappy BYU never gave up. It applied pressure and stole the ball three times, scoring each time. But it was too little too late as Stanford made four free throws to seal the win.

Alanna prepares to score against a BYU defender.

Alanna records double-double in final home game

Playing her final game at Maples, Alanna recorded 23 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and a steal.

DiJonai wasn’t far behind with 19 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Also in double figures was sophomore guard Kiana Williams with 13 points, four rebounds and a team-high five assists.

Those three were the starters along with sophomore forward Maya Dodson and freshman guard Lacie Hull.

Despite so many misses, the team wound up with 12 threes. Alanna, DiJonai and Kiana all had three. Chipping in one each were senior center Shannon Coffee, also in her final game at Maples; junior guard Anna Wilson and freshman guard Lexie Hull.

The crowd of 2,450 included a vocal contingent of BYU fans. Among them was former Forty-Niners quarterback Steve Young, a BYU alum.

The game started relatively late, 8 p.m., on a rainy evening, but that didn’t dampen spirits inside.

Lacie scraps for a loose ball, resulting in a jump ball.

Everyone helps out

Although the big three of Alanna, DiJonai and Kiana might get all the headlines for scoring, their teammates helped out in numerous ways that don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.

For example, Anna played tough defense against BYU’s leading scorer. Shannon set screens, snared rebounds and assisted while sometimes helping to direct the ball to open players, all thanks to her 6’5” height.

Actually, nearly everyone played tough defense, a hallmark of this team, especially in its later games.

This 30th season victory was the 15^th in program history and the first since the team went to the Final Four in 2017.

It also was the team’s 18^th straight NCAA win at home, improving its all-time tournament record at Maples to 38-4, according to Stanford Athletics.

Now it’s on to the Sweet 16 in the Chicago regional. No. 2-seeded Stanford will face No. 11-seeded Missouri State at 3:30 p.m. March 30. The game will be shown on ESPN2.

Stanford will be on spring break until spring quarter starts April 1. That could pose a bit of a conflict if the team advances to the Elite Eight to face either Notre Dame or Texas A&M on April 1, but worth it for a chance to advance to the Final Four.

Photos by Bob Drebin/ISIPhotos.com

Déjà vu for Davis

Players celebrate as they head to the locker room after the win. (Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle)

When the Stanford women’s basketball team hosted the UC Davis Aggies to open the regular season on Nov. 7, the Cardinal prevailed 71-43.

The result was quite similar on March 23 when 2-seeded Stanford hosted 15-seeded UCD for a first-round game of the NCAA tournament and won 79-54.

Stanford dominated from the start, taking the opening tip and scoring 15 points before Davis got its first basket with 4:05 to go in the first quarter. Freshman guard Lacie Hull started the scoring parade with a three.

By the time the game was over, the Cardinal had swished 10 threes. In addition to Lacie’s one, there were three each from senior forward Alanna Smith and sophomore guard Kiana Williams and one each from junior guard Anna Wilson, sophomore forward Alyssa Jerome and freshman guard Lexie Hull.

Alanna, Kiana and Lacie started the game along with junior guard DiJonai Carrington and sophomore forward Maya Dodson.

Everyone gets to play

All 12 available players got into the game, and only Kiana played 30 minutes.

Alanna led the scoring with 21 points in just 21 minutes. She got the third quarter going by scoring the team’s first nine points.

Two of them came when she stole the ball and streaked to the basket for a layup. That play merited a Play of the Game on the video board.

Alanna goes for a layup. (Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle)

Alanna in distinguished company

According to Stanford Athletics, Alanna joined three legends -- Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart and Elena Delle Donne -- as the only players in the past 20 years with 1,600 points, 200 blocked shots and 150 made 3-pointers. All three have gone on to  success in the WNBA.

Also in double figures were Kiana with 19 and DiJonai with 12.

The Cardinal dominated the Aggies in nearly every category: rebounds, 42-32; assists, 16-6; and steals, 11-5. The team had 12 turnovers to Davis’s 14.

The only area where Davis was better was fouls, 14 to Stanford’s 20, resulting in 15 of 16 free throws to Stanford’s five of nine.

Overall, Stanford shot 49.2 percent, Davis 29.1 percent.

The crowd of 3,456 naturally had a majority of Stanford fans, but Davis had a quite a few, too, many of them coming on a chartered bus.

Also in the crowd were some vocal fans for the earlier Brigham Young-Auburn game, won by BYU 73-64.

Tempie scouts the Brigham Young-Auburn game. (Bob Drebin/ISIPhotos.com)

Coaches scout BYU

During that game, head coach Tara VanDerveer was joined by assistant coaches Tempie Brown and Lindy La Rocque to scout Stanford’s potential next opponent.

Associate head coach Kate Paye was in the lower stands with the players and, like Tara, joined them in going to the locker room shortly before the end of the third quarter.

Seating was somewhat different for these two games. Each band sat in the lower stands across from its team’s bench.

Therefore the Stanford band was in the stands where players’ families usually sit, while the families sat behind the bench.

Stanford will meet BYU at 8 p.m. March 25. The game will be shown on ESPN2.

Players perfect their steps for Big Dance

Confetti rains down on the Pac-12  reigning champions.

After waltzing through and winning the Pac-12 tournament championship in Las Vegas, the Stanford women’s basketball team looks ahead to the NCAA tournament.

Well, the team didn’t exactly waltz, but it did win three games in fairly impressive fashion. 

Thus its AP national ranking rose to No. 6 from No. 7 while Oregon dropped to 7 from 6.

Stanford holds Cal to 28.8 percent shooting

The first win came with a 72-54 victory over cross-bay rival Cal on March 8. While shooting 52.9 percent, the Cardinal held the Bears to 28.8 percent. Cal star Kristine Anigwe was held to, for her, an unusually low 14 points.

Next to fall was Washington, 72-61, on March 9. Washington, the tournament’s No. 11 seed, faced No. 2 seed Stanford after besting No. 6 Utah and No. 3 Oregon State.

The TV announcers said Washington apparently had expected to play two games at best and had packed only two sets of uniforms. Therefore, the team managers had to scramble to launder a set to face Stanford.

Clean uniforms weren’t a problem for the Cardinal, which wore its white uniforms as the higher seed in the first two games, then switched to black road uniforms for the expected game against No. 1 seed Oregon on March 10.

Stanford wins 13^th Pac-12 championship

Otherwise, that game didn’t turn out as seeded. Stanford defeated Oregon 64-57 to cut the nets and take home the championship trophy, its 13^th in 18 years. Oregon had advanced to the final game by defeating UCLA in overtime the previous night.

The Cardinal win helped to erase memories of Stanford’s 40-point loss to Oregon in February and its loss to the Ducks in last year’s championship game.

Most outstanding player Alanna looks up at the score and clock and knows victory is at hand.

Also garnering trophies were senior forward Alanna Smith, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player; and junior guard DiJonai Carrington, who was named to the all-tournament team.

DiJonai displays her all-tournament team trophy.

As has been the case for most of the season, Alanna, DiJonai and sophomore guard Kiana Williams led the team in scoring.

Defense credited for three-game sweep

And yes, Stanford did outscore its three opponents, but the real key to its success was defense. There’s an old saying that offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships. The Cardinal’s defense was stellar in all three games.

Everyone did well, but some less-heralded players stood out, especially on defense, players like senior center Shannon Coffee, junior guard Anna Wilson and freshman forwards Lacie and Lexie Hull.

They also made some key plays, such as Shannon’s trey near the end of the Cal game to spark the final push to victory.

In the Washington game, sophomore forward Maya Dodson scored a career-high 14 points. She had four blocks against Oregon.

Everyone joins in the celebration and deserves Tara's praise. (That's DiJonai off to the left.)

In her comments after the Oregon game, head coach Tara VanDerveer lavished praise on everyone, including the bench players who don’t get much on-floor time but who are vital in the practice. She lauded associate head coach Kate Paye for her scouting report on Oregon.

NCAA to unveil seedings, bracket March 18

Stanford won’t know its next opponent until the NCAA selection committee announces seedings and the tournament bracket at 4 p.m. March 18 on ESPN. 

Most predictions see Stanford as a No. 2 seed hosting the first two rounds. They would be in Maples on March 23 and 25, according to the Stanford ticket office. 

In the meantime, the team can working on improving even more. The players also can focus on end-of-quarter projects and can study for finals, which are March 18-25. Therefore, finals will be behind them and spring break under way when tournament play begins.

Photos by Stanford Athletics

Team has head of steam heading into tournament

Stanford women’s basketball wrapped up its regular season with a six-game win streak that left it with a 25-4 overall record.

Going 15-3 in Pac-12 play, the Cardinal ranked second in the conference behind Oregon and earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

The tournament starts March 7 in Las Vegas. Stanford’s first game is at 6 p.m. March 8 against the winner of the previous day’s Cal-Washington State game. 

Stanford beat WSU twice and split with Cal, losing the first there by one point and winning the second at home by 25 points.

Washington teams fall

Two easy wins marked the end of the season in the Evergreen State. WSU fell 67-42 on March 1, and Washington lost 72-53 on March 3.

Scoring in double figures in both games were senior forward Alanna Smith with 18 against WSU and 12 against Washington, sophomore guard Kiana Williams with 11 and 13, and junior guard DiJonai Carrington with 19 in each. Both games used all available players.

Freshman forward Lexie Hull was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after scoring a total of 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and five steals in the two games.

When she and twin sister Lacie, also a forward, were on the floor at the same time against Washington, the TV announcers didn’t try to distinguish them. Each was one of “the Hull kids.”

Five earn conference honors

More individual honors followed in short order. On March 4, Alanna was named Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition to her feats on the court, she’s a psychology major with a 3.47 cumulative GPA.

The next day, the Pac-12 announced even more honors: DiJonai, Alanna and Kiana were named to the 15-woman All-Pac-12 squad, and Alanna was named to the All-Defensive team.

Lacie was named to the All-Freshman team and received honorable mention for the Pac-12 All-Defensive team. Lexie received honorable mention for the All-Freshman team.