 |
| Lexie is all alone as she adds a trey to her 21 points. |
During the third quarter of the team’s 88-69 victory
over the visiting Buffalo Bulls on Nov. 24, for example, I thought of
“Hot-handed Hull” after sophomore guard Lexie Hull went on a spree to help boost
the score from a tight 49-45 at the 5:01 mark to a more comfortable 56-45 at
3:27. Altogether she scored 11 points during that quarter.
I scrapped that headline because everyone had contributed
in some way by the time the final buzzer sounded.
“A
great win,” Tara says
“This was a great win for us,” head coach Tara
VanDerveer said during the Behind the Bench that followed the game.
Lexie wound up with 21 points, three rebounds, four
assists and one block during her 31 minutes.
 |
| Going for a layup, Ashten soars over her defender. |
Freshman forward Ashten Prechtel, a major force under the basket, recorded her career-first double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in 22 minutes.
Also in double figures was junior guard Kiana
Williams with 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists in 39 minutes. There
were loud cheers for her and Lexie when they returned to the bench with about
minute left to go.
Finally, freshman guard Haley Jones was in double
figures, too, with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a
steal in 26 minutes.
Team
makes a dozen 3’s
The now 5-0 team showed its 3-point shooting prowess
with a total of 12: four by Lexie, three by freshman guard Hannah Jump, two
each by Kiana and junior forward Estella Moschkau, and one by junior forward
Alyssa Jerome.
 |
| Alyssa gets her hand on an attempt by Buffalo's Theresa Onwuka. |
It also buffaloed the Bulls in several categories:
rebounds, 44-38; assists, 21-14; and blocks, 10-0.
On the other hand, Stanford had 15 turnovers to
Buffalo’s 10 and only five steals to Buffalo’s 10.
Free-throw shooting was mediocre at 6-of-13, or 46.2
percent.
The starters were senior forward Nadia Fingall,
Alyssa, Lexie, senior guard DiJonai Carrington and Kiana. All 13 available
players got into the game.
 |
| Mikaela (left) and Maya rebound for their teammates during warmups. |
Junior forward Maya Dodson was still wearing a boot,
but senior forward Mikaela Brewer had shed hers.
Associate head coach Kate Paye started the Behind
the Bench by saying, “We have a tremendous amount of respect” for Buffalo.
Buffalo
keeps the game tight most of the way through
Although Buffalo never led, it kept the game tight
with the first quarter ending at 19-17, the second at 35-32 and the third at
63-52. It was during that quarter that the Bulls launched a full-court press
that was only partially effective and was soon abandoned.
This game was “a great experience for our team,”
Kate said.
She was joined by three of the freshmen, Hannah,
Haley and forward Fran Belibi. They said they call themselves the Funky Four.
(Ashten arrived a few minutes later after a press conference.)
Although they were highly touted during their
recruitment, “they’re better than advertised,” Kate said. They caught on fast
to the college game, and “they each bring different strengths to the game.”
 |
| The Stanford women cheer as Fran dunks during warmups. |
Unlike her classmates, who said they had started
playing basketball in about third or fourth grade, Fran said she didn’t start
until her freshman year. Now she can dunk.
Both Kate and Tara praised the returning players for
their leadership in helping the freshmen. “It’s really fun to see how much
they’re improving,” Tara said, referring to the freshmen.
Hannah said she was surprised at how quickly they
became friends with the rest of the team.
One fan asked why DiJonai has played limited minutes
– 16 in this game. Noting that she had off-season surgery and couldn’t practice
during the summer, Tara said, “DiJonai will be there when we need her.”
 |
| Estella |
Reflecting on the game, Tara said, “The highlight
for me was Estella’s two 3’s.”
Estella usually doesn’t get much playing time, but
she made the most of her six minutes in this game, making both of her 3’s, much
to the delight of her teammates.
Team
to travel north to Canada for Thanksgiving
Looking ahead to the Greater Victoria Invitational
tournament in British Columbia during the Thanksgiving break, Nov. 28-30, Tara
said it “will be extremely competitive. That’s what we want in November.”
Stanford will play California Baptist at 7:30 p.m. Thanksgiving
Day and either Syracuse or Houston on Nov. 29 and another game on Nov. 30.
Times for the second two games will be determined by the outcomes of preceding
games.
Also in the tournament are Green Bay, Bowling Green,
Mississippi State and the University of San Francisco.
After Dead Week for final academic preparations and finals the week of Dec. 9-13, the Cardinal will return to Maples to play Ohio
State at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 15 and Tennessee
at 7 p.m. Dec. 18. Both will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
(Photos by Erin Chang/ISIPhotos.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment