Revenge of the nerds

Lexie goes for a jump shot over two Bulldog defenders. (Mike Rasay/isiphotos.com)

In a game that was a nail-biter right down to the last few seconds of overtime, the Stanford women’s basketball team gutted out a 76-70 victory over the visiting Gonzaga Bulldogs on Nov. 17.

Sophomore guard Lexie Hull, who with her twin, Lacie, shares her hometown of Spokane with Gonzaga, helped greatly by scoring 8 points and making an important rebound in the final three minutes of OT.

Anna 

Senior guard Anna Wilson then helped to ice the game by making three free throws during the final minute or so to score her only points of the night – but they were crucial, too.

Thus the Cardinal remained unbeaten at 4-0 and avenged a 79-73 loss to Gonzaga in Spokane in December.

Lead changes, ties keep the game tight

It was a tight game from start to finish. The lead changed 10 times, and the score was tied 13 times.

Gonzaga prevailed 17-16 after the first quarter and 31-28 at the half. 

Then the Cardinal returned from the locker room with seemingly renewed purpose, prevailing 45-43 after the third quarter and tying the score at 62-62 after the fourth quarter to send the game into the five-minute OT.

Gonzaga’s biggest lead was 5 points with just over a minute to go in the second quarter, while Stanford enjoyed its largest lead, 8 points, with under a minute left in overtime.

Lexie drives to the basket. (George Nikitin, AP)

Kiana, Lexie, Haley all in double figures

Lexie finished with 20 points in 41 minutes, while junior guard Kiana Williams had a team- and game-high of 22 points in 43 minutes. Freshman guard Haley Jones also was in double figures with 11. Some fans in the southwest corner held up posters spelling out “HALEY” every time she was in action.

The game lasted nearly 2 ½ hours, in part because of numerous jump balls plus all the fouls, 25 for Gonzaga and 26 for Stanford, indicative of a very physical game that saw players hitting the deck time and again.

Two Gonzaga players fouled out, as did sophomore guard Lacie Hull. There also were numerous time outs, especially in the last few minutes.

Hannah returns with face mask

Freshman guard Hannah Jump, wearing a face mask, was back in action after missing the last game. She played only four minutes but had 2 points. Senior forward Maya Dodson and senior guard Mikaela Brewer, both wearing walking boots, were still out.

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

In keeping with the close score, rebounds were almost even with 40 by Gonzaga and 39 by Stanford. Gonzaga had 14 turnovers, while Stanford had 15.

Each team managed five 3-pointers. Lexie and Kiana had two each while Lacie had one.

Free throws prove problematical

The game probably wouldn’t have been nearly as close if Stanford had had more success with free throws. The Cardinal hit only 17 of 29, or 58.6 percent, while the Bulldogs made 23 of 29, or 79.3 percent. That’s 12 points that the Cardinal potentially could have had.

One statistic that really stands out in Stanford’s favor is blocks. Gonzaga had none, while Stanford had seven, thanks to one each by Alyssa, Nadia, DiJonai, Haley, freshman forward Ashten Prechtel, freshman forward Fran Belibi and sophomore guard Jenna Brown. Stanford also had nine steals (three by Kiana) to Gonzaga’s six.

Although attendance was only 2,863, the crowd was often loud, sometimes to express displeasure with the officiating, but more often to appreciate good plays or to urge the team toward success, especially near the end.

It was a long afternoon for some fans who had attended the women’s volleyball game against UCLA at noon. However, they saw both teams win, as the volleyball team outscored UCLA 3-0.

After a well-deserved week off from competition, SWBB players will return to action by hosting Buffalo at 2 p.m. Nov. 24.