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| Lexie tries to shoot over an Oregon defender. (AP Photo/John Hefti) |
After a prolonged absence because of the holiday
break and road trips, the Stanford women’s basketball team made a welcome return home
to Maples by defeating Oregon 80-68 on Jan. 7 and Gonzaga 66-50 in a
nonconference rematch on Jan. 9.
Gonzaga was a last-minute fill-in for Oregon State,
which had to cancel because of COVID issues there. In its first game against
Gonzaga, Stanford won 66-62 in Spokane on Nov. 21.
In the Oregon game, the undoubted highlight was the
game-high, career-high 33 points scored by senior guard Lexie Hull, who seemed
almost unstoppable.
Lexie
and Lacie open with 3’s
She and her twin sister, senior guard Lacie, opened
the game by each launching a 3-pointer. Lexie went on to make seven of the
team’s season-high 12 3’s. Besides Lexie and Lacie, the others came from junior
guard Hannah Jump with three and sixth-year guard Anna Wilson with one.
Because of COVID rules imposed by Stanford,
attendance was limited to players’ family and friends only. That meant 42 for
the Oregon game and 32 for the Gonzaga game. Others had to be content with the
Pac-12 Network telecast for Oregon and live streaming for Gonzaga.
It’s not known when all fans will be allowed to
return.
Six
players carry most of the load
Although Stanford built up what seemed to be
comfortable leads, Oregon kept coming back. Therefore, head coach Tara
VanDerveer stayed with a core of six players augmented by four others with no
more than five minutes, but most of them contributed in some way.
Besides Lexie, those in double figures were Hannah
with 11 and junior guard Haley Jones with 12.
The team was back with a nearly full contingent
after missing six players for the Washington State win on Jan. 2. Tara
attributed five of these absences to COVID protocols and one to an auto accident, but that player's OK, she said.
Stanford bested Oregon in most statistical
categories, but had 18 turnovers to Oregon’s 14.
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| Hannah launches a shot on her way to 21 points against Gonzaga. (Stanford Athletics) |
Hannah
scores 21 against Gonzaga
Hannah led the way against Gonzaga on Jan. 9 by
scoring 21 points. Haley had 15, and Cameron had a double-double with 14 points
and 16 rebounds.
A big chunk of Hannah’s points came from five of the
team’s seven 3’s. Haley and Anna had the other two.
One key difference between this game and the Oregon
game is that Stanford had only five turnovers, while Gonzaga had 16.
Defense
leads to 10 steals
Credit solid defense, such as 10 steals, for most of
the visitors’ turnovers.
Other advantages for the Cardinal were eight blocks
to Gonzaga’s one and 12 assists to Gonzaga’s six.
Although Stanford seemed to have comfortable leads,
Gonzaga kept chipping away, but timely Cardinal baskets kept the visitors at
bay.
It appeared that 15 players were in uniform, and 12
got into the game. Redshirt junior guard Jenna Brown was still in street clothes.
Assuming there are no postponements or cancellations,
a road trip to Colorado is scheduled at 6 p.m. Jan. 14 and Utah at 11 a.m. Jan.
16. The Pac-12 Network will televise both games.
