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| 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.
