Freshmen come up big in rout of Eastern Washington

Tara with the freshmen before the game. From left Haley, Hannah, Fran, Ashten. (Stanford Athletics)

After several sloppy minutes in the first quarter and probably a few choice words from head coach Tara VanDerveer, the Stanford women’s basketball team sharpened up, looked more like an elite squad and wound up beating Eastern Washington University 92-27 on Nov. 5 at Maples.

Freshmen led the way with forward Ashten Prechtel scoring 15 points. Forward Fran Belibi and guard Hannah Jump had 12 each. Also in double figures were junior guard Kiana Williams with 11 and sophomore forward Lexie Hull with 10.

The starters were Ashten, Lexie, Kiana, junior forward Alyssa Jerome and senior guard DiJonai Carrington.

During the first quarter, the Cardinal outscored the Eagles by 8, 18-10. After that,  the visitors from the state school in Cheney, Wash., never again reached double figures in a quarter, nor did any player score in double figures, leading to the 65-point loss.

Almost total dominance

Fran heads for the basket. (John P. Lozano/Stanford Athletics)

Stanford dominated in nearly every category, including rebounds, 59-32, with 15 by Fran for a double-double. The host team also did better in assists, turnovers, blocks and steals.

Ashten’s four blocks and senior guard Anna Wilson’s six assists led the team.  The one area where the visitors did better was fouls. They had nine, the Cardinal 13.

Sophomore guard Lacie Hull logged the most minutes, 20. Senior forward Nadia Fingall, cleared to play only a few days before, logged a team-low nine minutes yet tallied 6 points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist.

All 13 available players had a role in securing the win. Senior guard Mikaela Brewer and junior forward Maya Dodson were still out because of injuries.

Hot hands produce 13 treys

Helping to boost the score were 13 3-pointers. Hannah with her quick release had four, Ashten and Kiana three each, junior guard Estella Moschkau two and Anna one.

Besides superior fire power, Stanford also had better defense, often forcing the Eagles to take desperation shots just before the clock expired.

As they prepared to complete their warmups with free throws, Fran’s teammates formed an aisle for her to head for the basket and dunk, earning cheers from the crowd.

Helping to boost the home team were the band, Dollies, Tree and cheerleaders. One band member adorned the bell of his saxophone with a red flower amid greenery.

Fans get to guess the year

The video board featured a new contest of guessing the year. In this case, it was 2009-10.

That’s when the team, led by Jayne Appel, compiled a 36-2 record, averaged 76.1 points per game and fell to UConn 47-53 in the national championship game in San Antonio.  

Stanford fans still say their team would have won if Jayne hadn't been playing with a painful ankle injury.

Also harking back to the past, the game camera focused on another esteemed alum, Kate Starbird, ’97, with just under five minutes to go and Stanford up 76-21.

Next up: the team travels north to the city to face the University of San Francisco in the new Chase Center at 3 p.m. Nov. 9.