Winning weekend in Vegas

Lindy coaches her current team against her former team. (Las Vegas Journal-Review)

Settling in at the University of Las Vegas after COVID-related cancellations, the Stanford women’s basketball notched back-to-back wins over the first weekend in December. Both games were streamed live.

First the team defeated UNLV 101-54 on Dec. 5. Washington was next to fall, 83-50, on Dec. 6.

Lindy’s team falls to alma mater

However, Lindy’s knowledge wasn’t enough to keep her team from being overpowered by the No. 2-ranked Cardinal.

Sophomore guard Haley Jones led four Cardinal players with 25 points, a career high. She was followed by sophomore forward Fran Belibi with 15, junior guard Lexie Hull with 13 and freshman forward Cameron Brink with 10.

Ashten adds a block to her stat line.
(Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Stanford dominated most aspects of the game: rebounds 46-31; assists 23-6; blocks 10-1; turnovers 12-19; and steals, 14-6. On the other hand, Stanford had 22 fouls to UNLV’s 13 and made only 63.6 percent of its free throws, compared with UNLV’s 69 percent.

The Cardinal had eight 3-pointers, with two by Lexie and fifth-year guard Anna Wilson; plus one each by senior guard Kiana Williams, sophomore forward Ashten Prechtel, sophomore guard Hannah Jump and senior forward Alyssa Jerome.

Washington wasn’t as easily dominated, especially in the first quarter, which ended 19-14. Stanford then led by double digits the rest of the way.

In both games, the starters were Haley, Fran, Lexie, Anna and Kiana.

Based on her weekend excellence, Haley was named Pac-12 Player of the Week. (John Locher/AP)

Haley leads the way twice

And in both games, Haley dominated, reaching another career high with 29 points to go with 13 rebounds for a double-double against Washington. Consequently, she was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.

Fran and Hannah with 12 points each were the only others in double figures.

Once again the team had eight 3’s, with four by Hannah and one each by Anna, Kiana, Ashten and Cameron.

The UNLV game was scheduled at the last minute after Stanford’s home games against Pacific and San Diego University were cancelled because of Santa Clara County’s COVID-related restrictions and other COVID issues.

COVID impacts schedule

The Washington game also was scheduled at home, but the Huskies agreed to travel to Las Vegas. The team’s next scheduled game against Washington State on Dec. 8 was postponed for COVID reasons at WSU.

 Although the team was scheduled for a home contest against UC Davis on Dec. 11, it was cancelled.

In the meantime, with 1,097 career wins, head coach Tara VanDerveer is only one win away from tying the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee as the all-time winningest Division 1 women’s coach.

Moreover, the team’s strong start moved it into AP’s No. 1 weekly ranking on Dec. 7.