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| Anna displays the kind of determination that helped her team to win. |
Despite missing three players and being down by as many as seven points in the second quarter, the No. 1 Stanford women’s basketball team kept its record unblemished at 10-0 by defeating No. 11 Oregon 70-63 on Jan. 8.
Listed as a Stanford
home game, it took place in the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz. Home of
the Golden State Warriors’ G League team, it’s also home for the Cardinal
because of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Santa Clara County.
Stanford Athletics had
announced that because of COVID-19 protocols and contact tracing after the
Arizona State game Jan. 3, three players would miss this game.
They were senior
forward Alyssa Jerome, junior guard Lexie Hull and sophomore guard Hannah Jump.
Head coach Tara
VanDerveer said after the game that “they’re doing very well.” AP reported that
it was hoped they would return to practice next week and the Utah game on Jan.
15.
All three missing
players have been key contributors. Lexie has been a starter all season, but
she was replaced by her sister, junior guard Lacie, in the starting lineup.
Otherwise the starters were the same with senior guard Kiana Williams, fifth-year guard
Anna Wilson, sophomore guard Haley Jones and sophomore forward Fran Belibi.
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| Haley goes for the basket. |
Haley leads in her hometown
Haley, whose home is close
to the arena, led the relatively balanced scoring with 18 points. Kiana had 14
and Anna 11. The other five players who got into the game all scored.
Notably, freshman guard
Jana Van Gytenbeek chipped in eight points on 3-3 shooting, and freshman
forward Cameron Brink, who had missed the last game with an injury, returned to
action with four points plus six rebounds and two blocks.
Oregon had seven 3’s,
while Stanford had five. Anna contributed three, and Jana had two.
Stanford had the
advantage with six blocks to Oregon’s one. And it had fewer fouls, seven to
Oregon’s 18, several of them deliberate in the final minutes to try to stop the
clock and perhaps gain possession.
On the other hand,
Oregon had 15 turnovers, Stanford 17. Oregon made 12 steals, Stanford six.
Rebounding was close,
39-37 in Stanford’s favor.
Lead changes six times
It was a seesaw game
that saw the lead change six times. The Ducks outscored the Cardinal in the
first and fourth quarters, but leads in the second and third quarters were
enough to clinch the win.
This was the first time
this season that an opponent posted more than 61 points against Stanford.
There was no official
word on the status of four staff members, including coaches, who had missed the
two previous games because of COVID-19 protocols.
However, it appeared
from the TV broadcast that assistant coach Britney Anderson was back. Associate
head coach Kate Paye was not seen. It was difficult to discern much about the
Stanford sideline because the TV cameras focused mainly on the Oregon sideline.
Haley’s mom supplies goodies
Interviewed after the
game, Haley said that her mother was helping to fuel the team with oatmeal
cookies and brownies. “My mom’s an elite baker,” she said.
It was reported that
the team would have a practice in Santa Cruz on Jan. 9, then stay in San Mateo
before leaving for Salt Lake City on Jan. 13.
The Cardinal visit Utah
at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 15 and Colorado at 11 a.m. Jan. 17.
The team will host UCLA
on Jan. 22 and USC on Jan. 24. Times and locations haven’t been
announced.
The Jan. 10 game
against Oregon State was postponed because of COVID issues at OSU.
Photos by Jed Jacobsohn/Associated Press
