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| 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 1,166th in head coach
Tara VanDerveer’s career.
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| 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.
