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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
