Pac-12 play begins with win over Cal

 

Haley keeps an eye on the action. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/AP)

The Stanford women’s basketball team started its Pac-12 schedule by beating Cal 90-69 on Dec. 23 in a home game attended by 3,970.

Sophomore forward Kiki scored first with two free throws. A subsequent 3 by Cal gave the visitors their biggest and only lead less than a minute into the first quarter.

By the time just over four minutes had elapsed, senior guard Haley Jones already had 8 points. By the end of that quarter, she had 12 points on her way to a team- and game-leading 21 points. Her 10 rebounds led both teams, too. 

Hannah gets back in the 3-point groove

Regaining her 3-point prowess, senior guard Hannah Jump launched five treys plus two free throws, leading to 17 points. Junior forward Cameron Brink also was in double figures with 11. Close behind with 9 each were Kiki, freshman center Lauren Betts and sophomore guard Elena Bosgana.

Besides the five 3’s from Hannah, Cameron and Elena also scored from beyond the arc to give the team seven total.

Unlike some previous games, the bench made a significant contribution with 26 points. All 15 players saw action.

Stanford dominated in the paint with 56 points, compared with Cal’s 24. The team out-rebounded Cal 48-25 and led in every quarter.

Among the people there was the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a Division III team that had defeated UC Santa Cruz 61-60 Dec. 20.

Starting the Behind the Bench, associate head coach Kate Paye said the Cal game “was a great win for our team.”

Players make holiday plans

With her were Cameron and junior guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu. Cameron said that she and her mother, who was at the game, were flying home to Oregon for the holiday. Agnes, who is Australian, said she was going to fly to Los Angeles to meet relatives for a family Christmas.

Joining Kate, head coach Tara VanDerveer said, “we have some spectacular young players.” She noted that her mother, Rita, who lives in Colorado, was at the game along with Tara’s brother.

The team’s Greek players, Elena and freshman guard Stavi Papadaki, were going to Sacramento to spend the holiday with Stavi’s parents, who were visiting from Greece.

Since seven players are Californians, they’re likely to get home with no problem. Given the horrible weather affecting the rest of the country and disrupting travel, getting home might be harder for the four from east of the Sierra.

The team has a four-day break before returning Dec. 28 to prepare for Arizona State at 6 p.m. Dec. 31 and Arizona at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 2, both at home. Pac-12 will show the first game, Pac-12 Networks the second.

 

 

 

Non-conference schedule ends with wins over Tennessee, Creighton

 

Talana brings the ball upcourt during her 17-point game against Creighton. (Jeff Chiu/AP)

Wrapping up its nonconference schedule, the No. 2-ranked Stanford women’s basketball team defeated Tennessee 77-70 on Dec. 18 and No. 21 Creighton 72-59 on Dec. 20, both at home.

In the Creighton game, attended by 2,988, the team unveiled another secret weapon: freshman guard Talana Lepolo. Fans have known Talana as an efficient point guard, making many assists with few turnovers. Shooting seemed secondary, but not in this game. Instead, she let fly five successful 3’s and made another basket to lead the team with 17 points in 32 minutes.

When the final buzzer sounded and the team gathered at center court to celebrate, her teammates hugged Talana and hoisted her. It was a happy moment before the victory balls went out.

Defenses will have to reckon with Talana

Now, instead of focusing so much on senior guard Hannah Jump, as teams have done recently, they’ll have to keep a close watch on Talana.

Senior guard Haley Jones was right behind Talana with 16 points. Junior forward Cameron Brink came next with 14 points and a team-leading 16 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen was the other Cardinal in double figures with 11 points. The usually prolific Hannah had an off night with 4points and went 0-5 from beyond the arc.

The team had a total of seven 3’s: five by Talana and one each by Haley and sophomore guard Elena Bosgana.

Trees grab most rebounds

Stanford doubled Creighton in rebounds, 50-25, perhaps because Creighton’s tallest starter is only 6’1” while four of five Stanford starters are 6’0” or taller.

However, the team had 15 turnovers and shot only 58.3% at the free-throw line.

The five starters carried the scoring load with only 10 points from the bench.

The first quarter ended 27-10 with no fouls and five 3’s already. The team was outscored by 3 in the second quarter and 7 in the fourth after prevailing 14-8 in the third. That’s when it had it largest lead, 22 points, with less than two minutes to go.

Kiki provided a fourth quarter highlight by scoring on an out-of-bounds play with only one second on the clock.

Cameron battles for one of her 17 rebounds against Tennessee. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/SF Chronicle)

Cardinal top the team from Rocky Top

Showing some rust after a two-week break for finals, the team came from behind to defeat Tennessee 77-70 on Dec. 18.

In a Maples filled with 4,480 people, several dozen of them in gold, the afternoon began with the season’s first live rendition of the national anthem, sung thrillingly by Stanford’s Dr. Steven Goodman,  an operatic tenor and Stanford associate dean of clinical and translational research and professor of epidemiology and population health, and medicine.

Another reason to cheer came a few minutes later when it was announced that WNBA star Brittney Griner had been released from a Russian penal colony and returned to the United States, where she plans to play for her team, the Phoenix Mercury, when the season starts.

Tennessee scored first, but Haley answered immediately by making a basket after a nice fake.

Also during the first quarter, the Lady Vols were assessed an administrative technical when the roster it submitted didn’t include the number of a player who took the court. Hannah then stood alone at the free-throw line and made both shots.

Conga on the Court returns

The first quarter ended with a 20-17 advantage for Stanford. That’s when Conga on the Court for kids was seen for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020.

The second quarter was tied, 35-35. During that quarter, the new football coach, Troy Taylor, was introduced, along with his wife and three children.

During halftime, players and staff from Stanford’s 1992 national championship team were recognized as they celebrated the 30^th anniversary of their accomplishment.

In the first few minutes of the third quarter, the score seesawed before Stanford endured a scoring drought that had it down by as many as 8 points. Cameron cut the gap to 5 points by launching a trey in the last few seconds, making the score 53-58 when the buzzer sounded.

The Cardinal rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring 24 points to Tennessee’s 12. Hannah made a 3 in the final seconds, sending the crowd into a frenzy and upping the final score to 77-70.

Rust shows up at free-throw line

Some of the team’s rust was apparent at the free-throw line, when only 18 of 30, or 60 percent, of the shots went in.

Turnovers were another problem with 14, compared with five for the visitors. Even 3’s were below the team’s usual output with only five: three by Hannah and one each by Cameron and senior forward Ashten Prechtel.

On the other hand, Stanford had the advantage in rebounds, 53-38, and blocks, 10-0. Cameron contributed six of them despite playing only 26 minutes with foul trouble.

She made the most of that time by leading the team with 21 points and 17 rebounds. As a result, she was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.

Starters do most of the heavy lifting

Two other starters carried much of the rest of the scoring load and playing time. Hannah played all 40 minutes and had 19 points, with some from nifty back-door cuts. Playing 37 minutes, Haley also had 19 points as well as 12 rebounds.

Belying what has been vaunted as the team’s depth, the six bench players who got into the game added only 6 points.

Tennessee’s tight defense, especially on the perimeter, was a problem. Stanford compensated by scoring 42 points in the paint.

“We gutted it out” even though it wasn’t the team’s best game, associate head coach Kate Paye said during the post-game Behind the Bench.

Fans meet ’92 championship team

This session gave fans a chance to meet members and staff of the ’92 team and hear briefly from each one.

Kate was a freshman walk-on for that team. “It was like a dream come true,” she said.

Tara VanDerveer was its head coach then as now, and the now-retired Amy Tucker was on the coaching staff.

Besides Kate, the team included Niki Sevillian, Tanda Rucker, Molly Goodenbour, Angela Taylor, Chris MacMurdo, Ann Adkins, Kelly Dougherty, Rachel Hemmer, Val Whiting, Anita Kaplan, Christy Hedgpeth and Bobbie Kelsey, who later became an assistant coach on Tara’s staff.

Next up is the start of the Pac-12 season with Stanford hosting Cal at noon Dec. 23. Pac-12 Networks will televise the game. 

  

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Brooke leads the way against Gonzaga

 

Ready for an interview, Brooke is with senior forward Fran Belibi and Haley. (Stanford Athletics)

Continuing its winning ways, the Stanford women’s basketball team upped its season record to 10-1 by defeating Gonzaga 84-63 before a crowd of 3,731 people Dec. 4 in Maples.

This win might come with an asterisk, though. Depleted by injury and illness, Gonzaga had only seven available players while Stanford had all 15 and used 13.

There was lots of credit to go around. Twelve players scored with four in double figures. They were led by sophomore forward Brooke Demetre with 17 points, 15 of them from five 3’s. She had three in a row in the second quarter.

“Brooke had an awesome day today,” associate head coach Kate Paye said during the Behind the Bench that followed the game.

Junior forward Cameron Brink and senior guard Hannah Jump had 14 points each, while senior guard Haley Jones had 12. Cameron also had a team-leading 16 rebounds for a double-double.

Team launches 15 3’s

In addition to Brooke’s five 3’s, Hannah had four. Six other players had one each: Cameron, Haley, freshman guard Talana Lepolo, junior guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu, senior forward Ashten Prechtel and redshirt freshman guard Jzaniya Harriel, giving the team a total of 15.

Gonzaga kept the score close in the first quarter, which ended 19-18 in Stanford’s favor. After that Stanford outscored Gonzaga in the next three quarters.

The starting lineup remained the same as it has been in previous games with Cameron, Hannah, Haley, Talana and sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen. Bench players tallied almost half of the final score with 39 points.

Also during the Behind the Bench Kate said of Gonzaga, “Every time we play them we improve.”

Elena joins Kate at the Behind the Bench

With her was the team’s first European player, sophomore guard Elena Bosgana, who’s from Greece. She has played on the Greek national team.

“She’s just scratching the surface” of what she can do, Kate said.

Elena had never been to the United States when she decided to go to Stanford and had never seen it in person until arriving from the airport for her freshman year.

She conceded she gets homesick, but she’s pleased that another Greek, freshman guard Stavi Papadaki, has joined the team, so they can converse in their native language.

Because it was her birthday, the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to her as she blushed.

Tara comments on game

Taking the microphone, head coach Tara VanDerveer began by saying, “This was a very good game for us.” Later she said, “This is a work in progress.”

Gonzaga guard Kaylynne Truong had 20 points in the first half, teaching younger Stanford guards a lesson, Tara said. Stanford’s changed its defensive strategy and allowed her to score only 2 in the second half.

Like Kate, Tara praised Brooke, calling her the team’s secret weapon.

Looking ahead to the Tennessee game at home at noon Dec. 18, Tara said, “We will get their A game,” although the Lady Volunteers recently lost to Gonzaga, which had more players for that game.

The Tennessee game will be nationally televised by ABC at noon Dec. 18. After that, Pac-12 Bay Area will show the Creighton game at 7 p.m. Dec. 20. Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the Cal game at noon Dec. 23 to open Pac-12 competition. All three games will be played in Maples.

Before then, the team has time off for finals, which end Dec. 16.

 

Cardinal rack up four more wins

 

Fran drives on her way to 12 points  against Santa Clara. (Tony Avelar  for the SF Chronicle)

Returning home from three wins in three days over the Thanksgiving weekend in Hawaii, the Stanford women’s basketball team upped its season record to 9-1 by defeating Santa Clara 82-69 at home on Nov. 30.

Starters remained the same: Junior forward Cameron Brink, senior guards Hannah Jump and Haley Jones, sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen and freshman guard Talana Lepolo.

They logged the most minutes and the most points. The bench added only 18 points, 12 of them coming from senior forward Fran Belibi, who had three consecutive put-backs in the second quarter. She also had eight rebounds in only 13 minutes.

Four starters in double figures

Except for Talana, who nevertheless had a team-high six assists, all of the starters were in double figures. Hannah had 19 points, Kiki 16 (11 in the first quarter alone), Haley 14 and Cameron 12 despite playing only 19 minutes because of foul trouble.

The team had only six 3’s, four of them from Hannah, with one each from Cameron and Talana.

On the other hand, Santa Clara’s 13 3’s kept the score tight.

During halftime, a video featured individual players saying what they stand for and why, such as love, kindness, mental health and the like. They were part of Stanford Athletics’ Stand For campaign meant to offset the negativity that pervades much of the country.

This win marked the 1,166^th in head coach Tara VanDerveer’s career.

The players dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner. (Stanford Athletics)

Team adds to win total in Hawaii

Competition in Honolulu began with a 93-69 defeat of Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 25, followed by an 87-50 victory over Grambling (of Louisiana) on Nov. 26 and ending with a 68-39 win over Hawaii on Nov. 27.

Thus the team returned home with another trophy to add to the program’s collection. Moreover, Haley was named the tournament’s most valuable player, and Cameron was named to the all-tournament team.

Haley took scoring honors against Florida Gulf Coast with 24 points to go with 14 rebounds. Kiki had 16, and Cameron had 13.

Hannah was the high scorer against Grambling with 19 points, aided by five 3’s.  Freshman center Lauren Betts and sophomore guard Elena Bosgana had 11 points each.

Yet another player led the way against Hawaii as senior forward Ashten Prechtel contributed 17 points, thanks in large part to a career-best five 3’s. She also snared 11 rebounds. Cameron had 15 points, while Haley had 11.

The Hawaii outcome, 68-39, marked the team’s lowest scoring output to date in this season, but the team also allowed the fewest points so far this season.

In addition to their usual uniforms and everyday wear, the players packed dressier duds for Thanksgiving dinner at their hotel and bathing suits for fun in the sun at the beach.

Next up for the Cardinal is Gonzaga at noon Dec. 4 at Maples. Fans are asked to donate unopened toys to be collected by the Good Tidings Foundation charity supported by the team. Pac-12 Bay Area will televise the game.