 |
| Freshman guard Agnes EmmaNnopu (right) and Kiana slap hands in the USC game. |
After losing to Colorado on Jan. 17 and to UCLA on Jan. 22, the Stanford women’s basketball team bounced back by soundly defeating USC 86-59 on Jan. 24 at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz.
It seemed as if much of what had gone wrong in the
70-66 loss to UCLA went right against USC.
For example, the Cardinal had 53 rebounds against
USC versus 31 against UCLA.
Bright
spots against USC
Fouls were another area of improvement,
12 on Jan. 24, 18 on Jan. 22. Stanford cashed in on USC’s 14 fouls by making 10
of 12 free throws, or 83.3 percent.
And then there were the three-pointers.
After making only two against UCLA, the Cardinal women made 10 against USC.
Senior guard Kiana Williams contributed
five of those 3’s on her way to 16 points. Also getting into the trey game were
junior guard Lexie Hull and sophomore guard Hannah Jump with two each, plus
fifth-year guard Anna Wilson with one.
Kiana was second in scoring to sophomore
guard Haley Jones, who had 18. Also in double figures were Lexie and sophomore
forward Fran Belibi with 12 each.
The first quarter started slowly with
the teams trading the lead until Stanford came out ahead 22-18. The Cardinal
led in each quarter thereafter.
 |
| Cameron aims to score against USC. |
Starting
lineup changes
Head coach Tara VanDerveer tweaked the starting lineup, inserting freshman forward Camero Brink in place of Fran. Cameron produced eight points to go with nine rebounds and three of the team’s six blocks.
The team’s substantial lead gave Tara a
chance to use all 12 players. No one played more than 30 minutes (Kiana).
Foul trouble had
hampered Stanford against UCLA. Three of the team’s most prolific players,
Fran, Haley and Cameron, amassed four fouls each, thus limiting their playing time.
In the second quarter, for example, both Fran and Haley had to sit out for several minutes because they already had two fouls apiece.
Although the Stanford bench is usually regarded as
deep, this time it added only eight points.
Three
games slated in Washington
Giving everyone a chance to play against USC was
helpful because with only a few days’ rest, the team travels to the Evergreen
State for three games.
Washington State is on tap at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 and
noon Jan. 29. One of those games makes up for a game postponed because of COVID
issues at WSU.
Then the team will cross the state to play
Washington at 1 p.m. Jan. 31.
Pac-12 Networks will televise all three games.
Maya
to play elsewhere
Maya
On another note: As allowed by a COVID-related NCAA policy,
senior forward Maya Dodson isn’t playing this season. Instead she’s home in
Georgia and taking her classes online.
She recently announced that she will graduate in
March with a degree in engineering and ethics and will enter the graduate
portal. That means she’ll play elsewhere next season.
“During these tumultuous times, I have found a new
perspective on what matters to me the most. Family is the strongest of these
things,” she tweeted. Therefore, she wants to play closer to home. “Even though
my Stanford journey is coming to an end, Stanford will always have a piece of
my heart no matter where I go,” she concluded.
USC photos by Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
