From Sweet to Elite to sweet … revenge

 

Tara and the team celebrate with a line dance after the Texas win. (Young Kwak/AP)

Texas had dealt Stanford one of its only three losses this season, 61-56 on Nov. 14, taking away some of the joy that followed the home game when the Cardinal players received their 2021 national championship rings.

Stanford got revenge in the Elite Eight by defeating the Longhorns 59-50 in Spokane on March 27 to advance to the Final Four in Minneapolis April 1 and 3.

Maryland game gets tight

This victory followed a 72-66 Sweet 16 win over Maryland on March 25. That  game had appeared headed for a blowout with Stanford enjoying a 26-point lead with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter. 

The players huddle after the Maryland victory. (Stanford Athletics)

This big lead resulted from Stanford's shooting a sizzling 71.4 percent in the first quarter, while holding Maryland to 18.8 percent.

Next came a so-so 33.3 percent in the second quarter and a respectable 50 percent in the third. In the fourth, however, Stanford shot 20 percent while Maryland shot 43.5 percent.

Thus the game turned into a nail biter as Maryland outscored Stanford 30-13 in the last quarter, but it wasn’t quite enough to overcome the previous quarters, giving the Cardinal a victory.

Haley gets things started

Junior guard Haley Jones gave her team a good start by nailing two 3’s in the first three minutes. She finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Lexie Hull led Stanford with 19 points, while sophomore forward Cameron Brink had 15points and five of the team’s 10 blocks.

Cameron’s production was limited not only by foul trouble (she fouled out in the fourth quarter, as did senior guard Lacie Hull) but also by a shot to the ribs in the second quarter, briefly sending her to the locker room. Therefore, she played only 19 minutes.

Stanford has advantage on the glass

Stanford out-rebounded Maryland 50-32 and had more assists, 15-8. On the other hand, the Cardinal committed 18 turnovers to the Terrapins’ seven. Free throws also were an issue, only 14 of 21.

Maryland also had lost to Stanford 86-68 on Nov. 27 in the Bahamas.

Besides Haley with two, others contributing to the team’s six 3’s were Cameron, Lexie, Lacie and junior guard Hannah Jump with one each.

Since Spokane is the Hulls’ hometown, their Stanford-backing family and friends comprised a sizable contingent of the crowd of 7,142.

Crowd gets bigger for Texas game

The crowd was even larger, 7,739, on March 27 when Stanford downed Texas 59-50.

In this tight contest, the lead changed six times, and the score was tied six times, including 14-14 after the first quarter. Stanford then outscored Texas in the next three quarters.

Haley shoots over a Texas player as Cameron awaits possible rebound. (Young Kwak/AP)

Lexie led the team with 20 points. Haley was close behind with 18 points and 12 rebounds for another double-double.  Cameron rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers with 10 points and six of the team’s 11 blocks.

Free throws make a difference

In a game that saw 24 fouls by Texas and 22 by Stanford, the free-throw line was a huge difference maker. The Cardinal made 18 free throws, the Longhorns 11, a seven-point difference and very close to the margin of victory.

Stingy defense by Texas limited Stanford to just three 3’s: two by Lexie and one by Cameron. It also led to 20 Cardinal turnovers while Texas had 10.

Although Lacie didn’t score, she played all 40 minutes and contributed five rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

The Hulls had the honor of cutting down the nets in Spokane. (Young Kwak/AP)

Hulls cut down the nets

In honor of the Hull twins’ playing in their hometown, head coach Tara VanDerveer asked them to complete the traditional post-game ritual of cutting down the nets.

The team also celebrated with the Electric Slide line dance. According to ESPN, Tara had “proposed a group dance if the team advanced to the Final Four.

“After an individual session with Jones as VanDerveer’s lead teacher among a group that also included  (fifth-year guard) Jordan Hamilton and (freshman forward) Kiki Iriafen, the whole team went through practice after watching film Saturday.”

Also after the game, Haley was named the regional’s most outstanding player. She, Cameron and Lexie were named to the all-tournament team.

Win streak rises to 24 games

This win extended Stanford’s win streak to 24 games, longest in the country. It ended Texas’ second-longest streak at 14 games.

Next up is a trip to Minneapolis for the Final Four to face a No. 2 seed, UConn, at 6:30 p.m. April 1. ESPN will air the game.

In the meantime, the players returned to campus for the start of spring quarter on March 28.

 

Cardinal cruise into Sweet 16

 

Fran dunks against Montana State. (Stanford Athletics)

With finals in the rearview mirror, the No. 1 seeded Stanford women’s basketball team drove to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament by defeating 16-seed Montana State 78-37 on March18 and eight-seed Kansas 91-65 on March 20.

The talk of the Montana State game was not the lopsided victory or the opponent’s scoreless first quarter, 20-0.

No, it was junior forward Fran Belibi’s dunk that followed a block a few minutes into the second quarter. The crowd and Stanford bench went wild, roaring their approval and giving her a prolonged standing ovation as play continued.

Her teammates mob Fran after her dunk. (Scott Strazzante/SF Chronicle)

With a timeout at 4:55 and the score 34-8, the entire team mobbed her as she headed to the bench. At halftime, that was all anyone could talk about.

Fran usually dunks in practices and warmups, but this was the first time in two years that she has done so in a game. She is the only college woman to do so since Brittney Griner and Candace Parker, who both are taller than she.

She finished the game with 12 points to go with 13 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 15 minutes off the bench.

Fran happy to play in Maples for first time

In an interview after the game, she said how great it was to be playing a tournament game at home for the first time in her years at Stanford.

The Cardinal couldn’t host the first two rounds in 2019 because it conflicted with a women’s gymnastics meet. The 2020 tournament was abruptly canceled because of the onset of the COVID epidemic, and all games in the 2021 tournament took place in a “wubble” in San Antonio for the same reason.

Thus no one except the seniors had played a tournament game at home.

Hannah’s five 3’s lead scoring

Also coming off the bench, junior guard Hannah Jump posted a team-leading 15 points, all from five of the team’s nine 3’s.

The rest came from sixth-year guard Anna Wilson, senior guard Lexie Hull, sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek and fifth-year guard Jordan Hamilton.

Head coach Tara VanDerveer has pledged to donate $10 for every 3-pointer made by every team throughout the tournament to Ukrainian relief, and she has asked others to join her in the effort.

Besides Hannah and Fran, those in double figures were Lexie with 13 and sophomore forward Cameron Brink with 11 plus 11 rebounds, four of the team’s eight blocks and only one foul, a good sign for her.

All 15 players got into the game, and most contributed in some way. All of the starters were on the bench by late in the third quarter. Everyone played at least seven minutes, and no one played more than 21 minutes (Lexie).

Crowd applauds opponent’s first basket

After failing to score in the first quarter, the Bobcats finally got on the scoreboard less than a minute into the second, garnering applause from the reported crowd of 3,648.

Stanford dominated in every statistical category except turnovers, which were too close. The Cardinal had 16 while the Bobcats had 17.

In the earlier game, eight-seed Kansas defeated nine-seed Georgia Tech 77-58.

Kansas seemed to have a good turnout of fans and a very vocal band that frequently and annoyingly chanted “air ball” when Georgia Tech had the ball.

As the Stanford-Montana State game got under way, the Stanford band sat in the bleachers across from the Stanford bench, while the Montana State band was across from the visitors’ bench.

Lexie reacts after making a three against Kansas. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/SF Chronicle)

Toto, they’re not in Kansas anymore

Stanford allowed Kansas to make a game of it in the first two quarters, both of which ended with the Cardinal ahead by only two points. Kansas never led during those quarters but did manage to tie the score three times.

But Lexie and her teammates would have nothing more of that in the final two quarters, which saw Stanford win by 26 points, 91-65.

In 36 minutes Lexie posted a career-high 36 points plus six rebounds, three assists and – as evidence of her defensive intensity, too – six of the team’s 11 steals.

Lexie makes her last Maples game memorable

When she returned to the bench to join the rest of the starters for good with about four minutes left, the crowd of 4,189 gave her a prolonged, loud, standing ovation. It was a great way for her and her fellow seniors to end their last game at Maples.

As in the Montana State game, all 15 available players saw action, and most contributed in some way.

With yet another double-double, 13 points and 12 rebounds, Cameron was the only other Cardinal in double figures. Moreover, she had four assists, two blocks, two steals and, importantly, no fouls.

After one of her scores, someone in the student section waved a handmade sign, “Hot damn. We love Cam.”

More money for Ukrainian relief

The team added to Tara’s 3-point pledge for Ukrainian relief by hoisting 13 3’s.

Lexie had the most with six; followed by Hannah with three; and Cameron, Anna, senior guard Lacie Hull and freshman guard Brooke Demetre with one each.

The team had 19 assists but too many turnovers, 14, most of them in the first half.

Now it’s on to the Hull sisters’ hometown, Spokane, for a Sweet 16 meeting with four-seed Maryland at 6:30 p.m. March 25.

Stanford beat then-shorthanded Maryland 86-68 Nov. 27 during a Thanksgiving tournament in the Bahamas.

Cardinal players put on their dancing shoes

 

Players and fans watch the selection show. (Stanford Athletics)

As expected, Stanford is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. As such, it will host the first two rounds.

Entering the tournament for the 36^th time, the Cardinal team will play No. 16 Montana State at 7 p.m. March 18. Assuming Stanford wins, it will face the winner of the 4:30 p.m. game between No. 8 Kansas and No. 9 Georgia Tech on March 20.

Winning then will send the team to Spokane for the Sweet 16 March 25-26 and Elite Eight March 27-28, followed by the Final Four in Minneapolis on April 1 and, if all goes well, the championship game April 3.

The team and fans, including some 100 or so who were at Maples, learned their seeding after a practice March 13.

Players practice their shots

Because a principal aim is to avoid injury, the practice focused on shooting and an offensive review, said head coach Tara VanDerveer.

Shots ranged from free throws and close-ins to 3’s and half-courts, a shot that senior guard Lexie Hull made to loud cheers

Freshmen and sophomores were at the north basket. Juniors and seniors were at the south basket in front of fans in the bleachers.

Redshirt junior guard Jenna Brown was in uniform but didn’t participate except to pass to her teammates. Freshman guard Jzaniya Harriel was a full participant. Neither has played all season.

When the practice ended, the players headed to the locker room to shower and change.

Things changed two years ago

Tara then spoke and answered questions. She noted that everything had shut down exactly two years earlier, March 13, 2020, because of the coronavirus epidemic.

Maples is getting ready for the NCAA games with such changes as a line of courtside tables for press and coaches on the east.

While preparing for the tournament, Tara said, the players will be taking finals, which end March 18.

Carrying takeout food containers, the players took their seats in front of the fans to watch the TV selection show on the video board.

Besides Stanford, the No. 1 seeds are South Carolina, Louisville and North Carolina State.

Pac-12 well represented

The Pac-12 will be represented by Stanford, Arizona, Washington State, Utah, Colorado and Oregon.

As a No. 4 seed, Arizona will face No. 13 UNLV, coached by Lindy La Rocque, ’12. Lindy went there after a stint as an assistant coach at her alma mater.

As the players left to hit the books, they were loudly cheered by the fans.

 

 

Team takes home another trophy from Las Vegas

 

Joyful players punch their ticket to March Madness after the Pac-12 Tournament. (Stanford Athletics)

The Stanford women’s basketball team successfully repeated as the Pac-12 tournament champion by defeating Utah 73-48 on March 6 in Las Vegas.

This accomplishment followed the team’s perfect Pac-12 season.

The team reached the finals of the tournament by defeating Oregon State 57-44 on March 3 and Colorado 71-45 on March 4.

It had been widely expected that Stanford, the No. 1 seed, would face Oregon, the No. 2 seed, in the tournament final, but No. 6 seed Utah had other ideas and upset the Ducks.

Three win all-tournament honors

On top of the team’s tournament championship, three players were honored. Junior guard Haley Jones was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. She, sixth-year guard Anna Wilson and sophomore forward Cameron Brink were named to the all-tournament team.

Here’s how it all unfolded:

Anna fired the opening salvos with two 3-pointers as the team went on to defeat Oregon State 57-44 in the quarter finals March 3.

Those baskets were just the prelude as the team went on to outscore OSU 16-2 in the first quarter. OSU managed to put more points on the board in the next three quarters but not enough to overtake the Cardinal.

Perhaps the most notable statistic in this game is that Stanford had only three turnovers while recording 14 assists.

The team also had eight 3’s, thanks to a total of three by Anna, plus two each by Cameron and senior guard Lexie Hull and one by junior guard Hannah Jump.

Haley drives against an OSU defender. (David Beckeer/AP)

Haley comes alive in second half

After scoring only two points in the first half, Haley asserted herself in the second to wind up with a team-leading 20 points and 14 rebounds. Anna finished with 11, while Cameron had 10.

The players came into the game with heavy hearts following the suicide by women’s soccer team goalie Katie Meyes, a senior, in her dorm room on March 1.

The two teams have backed each other and often attend each other’s games.

In her honor, the players wore soccer T-shirts for warmups and put her initials on athletic tape around their wrists.

Team rides herd on the Buffaloes

Playing Colorado the next day, March 4, the team won fairly handily, defeating the Buffaloes 71-45.

The first quarter was tight, ending with Stanford up 11-10 after several ties and lead changes. Thereafter the score widened, with Stanford outpacing Colorado in the next three quarters.

It was a fairly physical game with 16 fouls called against each team. One pair of fouls followed a heated confrontation between Cameron and Colorado’s Mya Hollingshed.

Cameron gets a Colorado player's hand in the face. (John Locher/AP)

Tempers flare on both sides

They were vying for a rebound under the Colorado basket when it was reported that Cameron inadvertently hit Mya. Mya retaliated by putting her hand on Cameron's face, and Cameron tossed the ball at her. They had to be separated by the referees, and each was assessed a foul, so neither could shoot a free throw.

Nevertheless, the Cardinal capitalized on 10 of 11free throws while the Buffaloes made 11 of 15.

Turnovers abounded with 22 by Colorado and 14 by Stanford.

Once again Haley led the team with 17 points, followed by Cameron with 14 and Anna with 12.

Seven 3’s helped the cause, with two each by Anna and junior forward Ashten Prechtel, along with one each by Cameron, Haley and Lexie.

Given the wide margin of victory, head coach Tara VanDerveer was able to use 14 players.

In turn, they gave the coach her 1,000^th victory in her 36 seasons at Stanford.

Her teammates hoist Anna, who was so instrumental in their success. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

Tara notches 1,001 wins at the Farm

No. 1,001 came March 6 with the 73-48 championship win over Utah. It also was the team’s 15^th conference championship with Tara at the helm. Following that game she was presented with a game ball to commemorate her milestone.

Stanford jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the first quarter, but Utah rallied to outscore Stanford in the second, but the Cardinal still were ahead 32-30.

The second half was an entirely different story as Stanford stepped on the gas and never looked back.

Minor scares for Lexie, Haley

Still, the third quarter proved somewhat worrisome as Lexie had to retreat to the bench with a bloody nose and Haley rolled her ankle a few minutes later. Both returned to action, though.

With less than 2 minutes to go, Tara cleared the bench, thus giving all available players a chance to participate. Fifth-year guard Jordan Hamilton had played in the first game but was in street clothes for the next two.

Haley led the team with 19 points, followed by Cameron with 16 and Lexie with 15.

Although Utah is noted for 3-point shooting, it was 8-24 from beyond the arc while Stanford was 8-19.

Haley contributed three 3’s, while Lexie and senior forward Lacie Hull had two each, and Hannah had one.

Also notable: the team had 18 assists and only six turnovers.

Players, coach accrue season honors

Besides all the honors received in Las Vegas, the team accrued several season honors.

They were Haley, Player of the Year; Cameron, Defensive Player of the Year; All Pac-12, Cameron, Lexie, Haley; All-Defensive Team, Cameron, Lexie, Anna; and All-Freshmen honorable mention, forward Kiki Iriafen.

On top of that, Tara was named the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the 17^th time.

With the Pac-12 Tournament behind them, the players had two weeks before the NCAA Tournament starts. That means more time to focus on classes, which end March 11, and finals, which are March 14 to 18.

By then they’ll know their standing in the NCAA bracket, which will be announced March 13 before games start later that week. Since Stanford is expected to be a No. 1 seed, its first two games would be at home.

Spring quarter begins March 28.