Playing to Pac-perfection

 

The team celebrates with T-shirts, hats and a banner after the Washington game. (Stanford Athletics)

The Stanford women’s basketball team capped off its eighth perfect Pac-12 season and its 25^th conference championship with two close home games.

Defeating Washington State 61-54 on Feb.24 and Washington 63-56 on Feb. 26, the team clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Pac. 12 tournament March 2-6 in Las Vegas.

Before both games, a video featuring head coach Tara VanDerveer and assistant coach Katy Steding paid tribute to WSU’s late head coach, June Daugherty. Tara and Katy knew her well from her stint as an assistant Stanford coach when Katy was a player there. Tara added that they had maintained a friendship after that.

Lexie out of action against WSU

Attended by just over 3,000, the WSU game began minus one of Stanford’s usual starters: Senior guard Lexie Hull was in street clothes. It was reported that she had an injury. Junior guard Hannah Jump replaced her in the starting lineup.

Although Stanford led by 10 or so points throughout the game and outscored WSU in the first three quarters, the visitors tightened it in the fourth quarter by scoring five more points than Stanford, but they weren’t enough to overtake the Cardinal.

On her way to 16 points, Cameron shoots against WSU. (John Hefti/AP)

Sophomore forward Cameron Brink led the team with 16 points and 15 rebounds and four blocks, but she also had five of the team’s 17 turnovers and four of its 13 fouls.

Junior guard Haley Jones also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with four of the team’s 13 assists.

Three-pointers were hard to come by with two by Hannah and one each by Cameron, senior guard Lacie Hull and sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek for a total of five. WSU had eight, helping to keep the game relatively close.

Washington proves worrisome

Played before the season’s largest home crowd, 3,777, the Washington game was even more worrisome. It began well enough with Lexie back in the starting lineup and Cameron opening the scoring with a 3-pointer.

However, the first quarter ended with Washington up 17-16 and the second quarter with Washington ahead 34-32. Stanford suffered from poor shooting, just under 33 percent versus the Huskies’ 50 percent. Washington also had more rebounds, but Stanford had only two turnovers to the Huskies’ 10.

Lexie brightened the picture in the third quarter by scoring the team’s first seven points, leading to a 47-46 advantage by the quarter’s end.

With just over six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Washington was up 53-49.

It mainly led by a point until the final 42 seconds, when the score was 56-55 in the visitors’ favor.

Anna drives past a Washington player. (Scot Tucker/AP)

Anna helps to save the day

That’s when sixth-year guard Anna Wilson’s heroics helped to save the day. After stealing the ball, she made one basket and three free throws, putting her team up 60-56.

Cameron helped to cement the win with two defensive rebounds and a free throw, while Haley topped it off with two more free throws.

Cameron finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds plus five of the team’s six blocks, all with only one foul. Lexie had 15 points plus five of Stanford’s 13 steals.

The team had five 3’s: two each by Lexie and Hannah plus Cameron’s one.

Thus the team capped off its perfect Pac-12 season and received championship hats and T-shirts along with a banner. And it gave Tara the 1,150^th win of her career.

From left: Jordan, Lexie, Lacie, Anna and Alyssa on Senior Day. (John Hefti/AP) 

Senior Day celebrated

Next came lots of flowers, hugs, tears and expressions of love and thanks as the team and fans celebrated Senior Day.

The five honorees -- Anna, fifth-year forward Alyssa Jerome, fifth-year guard Jordan Hamilton, Lexie and Lacie – were accompanied by their parents and other relatives as their accomplishments were enumerated.

Each was honored by a teammate: Anna by Jana, Alyssa by junior forward Ashten Prechtel, Jordan by Haley, Lacie by junior forward Fran Belibi, and Lexie by Hannah.

Since this was Anna’s third Senior Day, it was noted that she had played in 152 games and counting.

Jordan was the team’s first graduate transfer, coming from Northwestern.

Tara commented on Alyssa’s basketball acumen and said she’d be a good coach.

Lexie and Lacie are both graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees earned in four years while maintaining high grades.

Their mom, Jaime, said that when Tara was visiting the Hulls on a recruiting trip, Jaime asked what she does to promote team bonding. Tara responded, “We win.”

Next up: the Pac-12 tournament

That’s what the team hopes to do as the Pac-12 tournament gets under way in Las Vegas starting March 2. Since Stanford has a bye as the top seed, its first game is at 2:30 p.m. March 3 against either No. 9 Arizona State or No. 8 Oregon State.

Assuming it wins then, it plays at 6 p.m. March 4. The championship game is set for 3 p.m. March 6.

The Pac-12 Network will televise all of the games except the championship, which will be aired by ESPN2.

The complete bracket is on this FBC site.

In the meantime, Lexie was named Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Feb. 28.

 

 

 

 

 

Team has a new trophy and two more wins

 

Happy players and staff with their new Pac-12 trophy. (Stanford Athletics)

The Stanford women’s basketball team has returned from Oregon with two more wins and a shiny new trophy.

With an 87-63 victory over Oregon State on Feb. 18, the team clinched its 25^th conference season championship and received the trophy.

It went on to top Oregon 66-62 on Feb. 20, thus upping its overall record to 23-3 and its Pac-12 record to 14-0.

Depth played a major role in the Oregon State game as all 15 available players got onto the court and 12 scored. Senior guard Jenna Brown and freshman guard Jzaniya Harriel, who haven’t played all season, didn’t make the trip.

Lexie leads with 21 points

Senior guard Lexie Hull led the scoring with 21 points, followed by junior guards Haley Jones and Hannah Jump with 13 each. Haley also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. Junior forward Fran Belibi contributed 10 rebounds plus seven points.

Sophomore forward Cameron Brink, normally one of the team’s best players, had only five points and two rebounds because foul trouble kept her on the bench for all but seven minutes.

Eight 3-pointers helped the cause with three by Hannah, two by Lexie and one each by sixth-year guard Anna Wilson, Haley (a rarity for her) and sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, returning after an absence due to COVID protocols.

Playing in front of a crowd of just over 5,000, Stanford dominated in all statistical categories, most notably rebounds, 37-29, and assists, 17-9. Free-throw shooting could have been better, only 15 of 23, but the team limited its turnovers to 10.

Although Stanford led after every quarter, the game was relatively tight until the fourth quarter, when the Cardinal scored 27 points to OSU’s 14.

Haley makes an unbelievable shot in the final minutes against Oregon. (Thomas Boyd/AP)

Team comes from behind to beat Oregon

With the arena filled with nearly 9,000 people, the Oregon game was a come-from-behind nail-biter as Stanford had trouble scoring initially and trailed throughout much of the game, sometimes by as many as 11 points. It led for only 84 seconds during the game, AP reported, but the final seconds clinched the game.

It took some late heroics by Haley. For example, in a highlight play, she made a layup while falling and added a free throw to put the Cardinal up 63-60. She wound up with 18 points.

Lexie made some clutch free throws and finished with nine.

Bench players help out

The Cardinal got some key contributions off the bench, especially by freshman forward Kiki Iriafen, whose 11 points made her the only other Cardinal in double figures; and by sophomore guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu, who, among others, played tight defense. She also added one of the team’s three 3’s. The others came from Anna and senior guard Lacie Hull.

Cameron fouled out in the fourth quarter after playing only 19 minutes and adding just eight points and three rebounds.

Stanford wraps up its regular season by hosting Washington State at 8 p.m. Feb. 24 and Washington at noon Feb. 26, Senior Day. Pac-12 Network will carry both games.

 

 

Team maintains Pac-12 perfection with 3 more wins

Hannah shoots against OSU on her way to 19 points. (Tony Avelar/AP)

 

Chalk up three more wins for the Stanford women’s basketball team.

The first came Feb. 9, when Oregon State fell 82-59.

The second was Feb. 11, when the team beat Utah 91-64. The third was Feb. 13, when the team prevailed over Colorado 63-46. All three games were at home.

These wins raised the team’s overall record to 21-3 and its Pac-12 record to 12-0.

Haley,  Hannah, Agnes return

Among the noteworthy aspects of the Oregon State game is that junior guards Haley Jones and Hannah Jump along with sophomore guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu returned after missing the two SoCal games the previous weekend.

On the other hand, sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who had filled in so well for Hannah, was absent. COVID protocols were blamed for all of the absences.

COVID protocols also led to the OSU game being rescheduled to Feb. 9 after issues with the Beavers.

Balanced scoring makes a difference

Another noteworthy aspect of the OSU game was balanced scoring. Five players were in double figures: Hannah with 19, junior forward Fran Belibi with 16, sophomore forward Cameron Brink with 12, senior guard Lexie Hull with 11 and freshman forward Kiki Iriafen with 10.

This was accomplished with only six turnovers, compared with 17 for Oregon State. Then there were the 39 rebounds, 15 assists, four blocks and 11 steals (a career-high four by sixth-year guard Anna Wilson). Twelve of 13 free throws were nice, too.

Except for the first quarter, when Oregon State was up 25-22, Stanford dominated throughout the game.

Everyone plays

All 14 available players got into the game, and no one played more than 29 minutes (Lexie).

Three players launched a total of eight 3’s with five by Hannah, two by senior guard Lacie Hull and one by Lexie.

Even though the game was played on a Wednesday afternoon, the official attendance was 2,354.

Lacie looks to pass against Utah. (John Heft/AP)

Six in double figures against Utah

Defeating Utah 91-64 on Feb. 11, the Cardinal unleashed another balanced attack with six players in double figures.

They included all five starters – Lexie and Haley with 15 points each, Anna with 11 and Cameron and Lacie with 10 each for a total of 61 points.

In addition, Fran had 10 off  the bench, and Hannah was close behind with nine.

The 27-point margin of victory exceeded the Jan. 16 game at Utah, when Stanford prevailed by 10 points, 83-73.

Utah is known for its 3-point prowess but in the current game it had only eight treys while Stanford had 10.

Hannah and Lexie had three each; Lacie had two, and Anna and junior forward Ashten Prechtel one each.

Thirteen players saw action, and all contributed. Jana was still absent.

Real people sing anthem

For the first time since COVID shut everything down some two years ago, the national anthem was sung by real people: young girls from Canyon Heights Academy in Campbell.

The vocal crowd of 3,044 included players from the women’s soccer team plus the band and cheerleaders but no Tree or Dollies.

Because February is Heart Health Month, tips and information about heart health were interspersed throughout the game. Cardiac and vascular health faculty and staff were special guests.

The first quarter was tight, ending 19-17. The gap widened in the second quarter when Stanford scored 22 and Utah had 14, making the total score 41-31. 

The third quarter ended 67-50. With about four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the score 85-55, Lexie was the only starter on the court, and she left about a minute later.

Defense limits Utah

Stanford’s defense often kept Utah bottled up. Hence Stanford had 11 steals (three each by Anna and Fran) to Utah’s five. It had seven blocks (six by Cameron) while Utah had none.

The turnover gap was similarly skewed in Stanford’s favor with 12 by the home team and 20 by the visitors.

Utah had an advantage only in fouls and free throws. Stanford had 19 fouls, Utah 17, but Utah made 16 free throws, Stanford seven.

Anna drives against Colorado. (John Hefti/AP)

Stanford overcomes halftime deficit to defeat Colorado

The Colorado game was a rough-and-tumble affair that saw the Cardinal heading into the locker room in uncharacteristic fashion, trailing 29-30.

Things seesawed in the third quarter, but Stanford finally pulled ahead with just under four minutes left and never looked back, ending that period 43-35, thus holding Colorado to only five points.

Stanford then outscored Colorado in the fourth to clinch the 63-46 victory, much to the delight of the crowd of 3,038.

Four in double figures

Four Cardinal players were in double figures with 14 by Lexie, 11 by Cameron (plus 11 rebounds for a double-double) and 10 each by Anna and Haley.

The team’s six 3’s came courtesy of Lexie with three, Hannah with two and Lacie with one.

Thirteen players got into the game (Jana was still absent).

Colorado had 17 fouls, Stanford 15, but the crowd was audibly unhappy with some calls.

Both teams had 39 rebounds, but Stanford had 10 assists (five by Anna) and 13 turnovers, while Colorado had six assists and 21 turnovers.

Cardinal defense led to nine blocks vs. four by the visitors and to 12 steals (six by Lexie) vs. nine by Colorado.

On Jan. 14 at Colorado, Stanford won 60-52.

Next up: The Cardinal head north for rematches with Oregon State at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 and Oregon at 1 p.m. Feb. 20. Pac-12 Network will televise the OSU game. ESPN2 will carry the Oregon game.

 

 

 

  

Team racks up two more wins during SoCal visit

 

On her way to 20 points, Fran goes for a layup against UCLA. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

Making its annual trek south, the Stanford women’s basketball team returned home with two more wins: 76-48 over UCLA on Feb. 3 and 83-57 over USC on Feb. 6.

These victories upped the team’s season record to 18-3 and a Pac-12 best of 9-0.

The UCLA win came without the services of two of the team’s top scorers: junior guards Haley Jones and Hannah Jump. Haley, along with sophomore guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu, was absent in accord with health and safety (COVID) protocols, the Associated Press reported.

Hannah was in uniform but didn’t play after missing the previous two games for the protocols and not having had two practices as required by Stanford. The same was true of freshman guard Elena Bosgana.

Fran starts, leads team in scoring, rebounding

Junior forward Fran Belibi replaced Haley in the starting lineup and proceeded to lead the team with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes.

Also in the double-double category was senior guard Lexie Hull with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Cameron Brink posted 17 points and eight rebounds.

The bulk of Lexie’s scoring came by making four of the team’s 11 3’s. Joining her from long range were senior guard Lacie Hull and sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek with two each; and Cameron, junior forward Ashten Prechtel and freshman guard Brooke Demetre with one each.

Starters steal the ball

The team had five steals, with each of them coming from a starter: Fran, Cameron, sixth-year guard Anna Wilson, Lacie and Lexie.

Also notable were 20 assists (seven by Lacie) with only eight turnovers plus five blocks, two of them by Cameron.

Vanessa Nygaard, new coach of the Phoenix Mercury, joins Tara at UCLA. (Stanford Athletics)

With the game comfortably in hand, head coach Tara VanDerveer cleared the bench, giving valuable playing time to those players. 

One of those cheering for the team and visiting with Tara was distinguished alum Vanessa Nygaard, '98, recently named head coach of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Lexie (12) and Cameron go on defense against USC. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)

Everyone gets in on the win at USC

The same was true in the USC game when everyone who was available got to play.

Those players included Hannah and Elena, who had missed the UCLA game. Haley and Agnes were still out.

Stanford led the entire way as Cameron scored 26 points, snared 14 rebounds and added three assists, three blocks and a steal.

Another Pac-12 honor for Cameron

After her weekend performance,Cameron was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second straight week and the fourth time this season.

Back in action, Hannah goes on defense against USC.  (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)

In her return, Hannah was the only other Cardinal in double figures, 12 points, all of them coming on four 3’s in the third quarter.

Also accounting for the team’s 10 treys were Lacie and Brooke with two each and Cameron and Ashten with one each.

As evidence of the team’s balance, even though only Cameron and Hannah posted double figures, Fran, Lexie and Lacie were close behind with nine points each.

Rebounds abound

Stanford dominated the boards with 48 rebounds vs. USC’s 34. The team had 22 assists (seven by Anna) and 15 turnovers.

Next up is a rescheduled home game, Oregon State, at 2 p.m. Feb. 9.

Two more home games will follow: Utah at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 and Colorado at noon Feb. 13. The Pac-12 Network will televise all three games.