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| Fran dunks during the win over Montana State. (Stanford Athletics) |
After a perfect Pac-12 regular season, the Stanford women’s basketball team garnered more T-shirts, hats and a trophy at the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
In addition, 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.
During its march through the tournament, Stanford
defeated Oregon State 57-44 on March 3, Colorado 71-45 on March 4 and Utah
73-48 on March 6.
Anna fired the opening salvos with two 3’s in the
Oregon State game. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the team had only
three turnovers while recording 14 assists.
After scoring only two points in the first half,
Haley asserted herself in the second to finish with a team-leading 20 points
and 14 rebounds. Anna and Cameron were in double figures, too.
The players went into the game with heavy hearts
after the suicide by women’s soccer goalie, Katie Meyers, a senior, in her dorm
room on March 1. In her honor, the players wore soccer T-shirts for warmups and
put her initials on athletic tape around their wrists for this game and all the
others.
Playing Colorado on March 4, the team won 71-45
after a tight first quarter that ended with Stanford up 11-10.
It was a physical game with 16 fouls by each team.
One pair of fouls followed a heated confrontation between Cameron and
Colorado’s Mya Hollingshed when they were vying for a rebound under the
Colorado basket. They were separated by the referees, and each was assessed a
foul, so no free throws.
Once again, Haley led the team with 17 points, while
Cameron and Anna were in double figures, too.
Win
over Colorado is Tara’s 1,000th at Stanford
This game marked head coach Tara VanDerveer’s 1,000th
victory at Stanford.
No. 1,001 came March 6 with the 73-48 championship
win over Utah. It was the team’s 15th tournament championship with
Tara at the helm.
Even though Stanford was ahead, the third quarter
produced some worries when senior guard Lexie Hull had to retreat to the bench
with a bloody nose and Haley rolled her ankle a few minutes later. Both
returned to action, though.
Haley led the team with 19 points, followed by
Cameron with 16 and Lexie with 15.
Besides tournament honors, the team accrued season
honors. They were Haley, player of the year; Cameron, defensive player of the
year; Cameron, Lexie and Haley, all Pac-12 team; Cameron, Lexie and Anna,
all-defensive team; and freshman forward Kiki Iriafen, all-freshman team
honorable mention.
On top of that, Tara was named the John R. Wooden
Pac-12 coach of the year for the 17th time.
During the two weeks between this tournament and the
NCAA tournament, winter quarter classes ended March 11 and finals were March 14-18.
No.
1 seed Stanford hosts first two NCAA rounds
As expected Stanford was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA
tournament and hosted the first two rounds.
The team and fans, including some 100 or so who were
at Maples, learned the seeding during a practice March 13.
Playing those first two NCAA games at home, Stanford
defeated 16-seed Montana State 78-37 on March 18 and eight-seed Kansas 91-65 on
March 20.
The talk of the Montana State game was neither the
lopsided final score nor the visitor’s scoreless first quarter, which ended
20-0.
Fran’s
dunk highlights Montana State game
No, it was junior forward Fran Belibi’s dunk that
followed a block in the second quarter. The crowd and bench went wild, roaring
their approval and giving her a prolonged standing ovation as play continued.
She finished the game with 12 points and 13 rebounds
in 15 minutes off the bench.
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.
Two days later, on March 20, Kansas made a game of
it in the first two quarters, which both ended with Stanford up by only two
points.
Lexie and her teammates would have nothing more of
that in the second half, which saw Stanford win by 26 points, 91-65.
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| Lexie goes for two of her 36 points against Kansas. (Tony Avelar/AP) |
In 36 minutes, Lexie posted a career-high 36
points plus six rebounds, three assists and, as evidence of her defensive
intensity, six of the team’s 11 steals.
With yet another double-double, 13 points and 12
rebounds, Cameron was the only other Cardinal in double figures. After one of
her scores, someone in the student section waved a handmade sign, “Hot damn. We
love Cam.”
Two
more wins in the Hulls’ hometown
Advancing to the Sweet 16 in Spokane, the hometown
of Lexie and senior guard Lacie Hull, Stanford defeated Maryland 72-66 on March
25.
The 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. That big lead was helped by Stanford’s shooting a sizzling 71.4 percent
in the first quarter while holding Maryland to 18.8 percent.
In the final quarter, though, Stanford shot 20 percent
while Maryland shot 43.5 percent, but not enough to win.
Haley gave her team a good start by nailing two 3’s
in the first three minutes. She finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Lexie led the team with 19 points. Cameron had 15
and five of the team’s 10 blocks.
Cameron’s production was limited with foul trouble
(she fouled out in the fourth quarter) and with a shot to the ribs in the
second quarter that briefly sent her to the locker room. She played only 19
minutes.
Defeating Texas 59-50 on March 27 to advance to the
Final Four, Stanford got revenge for one of its only three season losses, 61-56
on Nov. 14.
Played in front of more than 7,700 people, that
Elite Eight game was tight. The lead changed six times and the score was tied
six times, including 14-14 after the first quarter. Stanford outscored Texas in
the next three quarters.
Lexie led the team with 20 points, followed by Haley
with 18 points and 12 rebounds for another double-double. Cameron had 10 points
and six of the team’s 11 blocks.
In a game that saw 24 fouls by Texas and 22 by
Stanford, free throws made a big difference. The Cardinal made 18, the
Longhorns 11, a seven-point difference and close to the five-point margin of
victory.
In honor of the Hulls playing in their hometown, Tara
asked them to complete the post-game ritual of cutting down the nets.
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| Tara joins the team in a line dance after the Texas game in Spokane. (Young Kwok/AP) |
The team also celebrated with the Electric Slide
line dance. According to AP, Tara had “proposed a group dance if the team
advanced to the Final Four.”
Haley, fifth-year guard Jordan Hamilton and Kiki
gave her a private lesson before the whole team practiced after a film session.
Also after the game, Haley was named the regional’s
most outstanding player. She, Cameron and Lexie were named to the
all-tournament team.
This win extended Stanford’s win streak to 24 games,
longest in the country. It ended Texas’ second-longest streak at 14.
UConn
ends Stanford’s 24-game winning streak
Unfortunately, Stanford’s win streak didn’t extend
into the Final Four in Minneapolis.
It ended with a 63-58 loss to UConn in the semifinal
game April 1.
Played in front of more than 18,000 people, the game
was tight with six lead changes, two ties and only three brief leads for
Stanford.
It got off to a slow start with UConn leading 12-9
after the first quarter.
Haley had 20 points plus 11 rebounds. Cameron was
the only other Cardinal in double figures.
Lexie, who usually scores in double digits, had only
four points, perhaps because she was feeling the effects of a bloody nose that
briefly sent her to the bench.
Trying for a comeback in the final few minutes,
Stanford players deliberately fouled in hopes that the Huskies would miss their
free throws and Stanford could snare the ball.
That strategy didn’t work. For the game, UConn made
16 of 20 free throws while Stanford made eight of 11.
Three
players honored at season’s end
Despite the loss, three players were honored.
Lexie won the Senior CLASS Award as the most outstanding student athletie in Division 1 women's basketball. She was the third Cardinal to do so, after Candice Wiggins, '08, and Nneka Ogwumike, '12.
Lexie also won the Elite 90 award for highest grade point average at the Final Four. She has a 3.88 GPA and will graduate with a master's degree in management science and engineering.
On top of that, Stanford was the only school with two WBCA All-Americans: Cameron and Haley. Stanford previously had two All-Amercians in the same year with Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike in 2012. Haley was named to the all-tournament team.
Tara and others had pledged to donate $10 to Ukrainian relief for every three-pointer made in every game throughout the tournament. They raised more than $300,000.
The team returned to campus April 2 to be greeted by
several dozen fans waving red pompons.
Five fans held up large photos of the five
graduating players: Anna, Jordan, fifth-year forward Alyssa Jerome, Lexie and
Lacie.
Players
saluted at annual banquet
Fans said their final farewell to the team in person
at the annual banquet April 10. The previous two events took place on Zoom.
During the program Tara thanked everyone who had
helped, from the administration through the team managers as well as sponsors.
She also introduced and praised each player, class
by class, and enumerated their academic and athletic honors. After the seniors
were introduced, each one had chance to speak and express her gratitude.
Shortly after the banquet, it was learned that redshirt
junior guard Jenna Brown had entered the transfer portal as a graduate senior
transfer and that sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek also had entered the
transfer portal.
In the meantime, the Indiana Fever drafted Lexie as
the No. 6 pick overall in the WNBA draft on April 11. She flew to Indianapolis
to join her new team on April 13.
As for next season, the team is expecting three
promising freshmen and returning 70 percent of its scoring, Tara said.
The schedule will include a Thanksgiving tournament
in Hawaii and home games against Gonzaga, Tennessee and South Carolina, she
said.
