The Stanford women’s basketball team wound up its
regular season schedule on the road with a win, 73-62 over No. 21 Colorado on
Feb. 23 in double overtime, and a loss, 78-84 to No. 8 Utah on Feb. 25.
Thus Stanford and Utah share the regular season championship,
but Stanford has the top seed in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas from March
1-3 and 5.
Stanford’s first game is at 2:30 p.m. March 2
against the winner of the Washington-Oregon game on March 1. If Stanford wins this game, it will play again at 6 p.m. March 3. The championship game is at 2 p.m.
March 5.
Pac-12 Networks will televise all of the games
except for the championship, which ESPN or ESPN2 will air.
Flight
problems limit players’ rest
Going into the Utah game, Stanford had some
potential problems because of limited rest. Its two-hour flight from Boulder to
Salt Lake City was delayed, not leaving until after 4 a.m. Feb. 24. Thus the
players didn’t get to bed in their hotel until about 7 a.m., the TV announcers
reported.
Nevertheless, the team started off well as junior
guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu, who got the start over sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen,
nailed a 3-pointer to open the scoring. The team then went on to a 9-0 start
before Utah got two 3’s of its own.
The first quarter ended with Stanford up 17-15, but Utah prevailed after that. Despite getting close several times in the fourth quarter, the Cardinal couldn't close the gap.
Hannah
leads team in scoring
Sharp-shooting senior guard Hannah Jump led the team
with 24 points, 18 of them from six 3’s. Sophomore forward Brooke Demetre had
two 3’s to go with Agnes’s one for the team’s total of nine.
On the other hand, Utah had 12 3’s and prevailed at
the free-throw line, 26-11. Twenty-one turnovers also were costly to Stanford.
Three in the final minute of play secured the win for Utah before a home crowd
of 9,611.
Besides Hannah, the only other Cardinal in double
figures was junior forward Cameron Brink with 14 points and 12 rebounds. She
also had four of the team’s 11 blocks. She played only 28 minutes because of
foul trouble.
Senior guard Haley Jones had 9 points and eight
rebounds but fouled out late in the fourth quarter after playing 28 minutes.
Stanford had more rebounds, assists and bench
points.
 |
| Victory at Colorado gave the team a share of the Pac-12 championship. (Stanford Athletics) |
Team
triumphs over Colorado in 2 OTs
It took two overtimes, but the Stanford women’s
basketball team finally overcame obstacles to defeat No. 21 Colorado 73-62 on
Feb. 23.
Even before donning its black road uniforms, the
team’s schedule allowed only three days between the UCLA game at home Feb. 20
and the game in Boulder, and that included a travel day. Then there were the
time change and the thin air at high altitude.
Once play began, the team went scoreless until just
over a minute to go in the first quarter, when Haley made two free throws to
prevent a shutout. Brooke made a 3-pointer shortly thereafter, but the quarter
ended with an 8-point deficit, 5-13, on 6.25 percent field goal shooting.
There still was a 6-point deficit at the half, but the
team led by 6 points after the third, 38-32. Colorado tied it up at the end of
the fourth, 48-48. The first overtime also was tied, 60-60, but Stanford scored
11 more points than Colorado in the second OT to claim the victory and clinch the
No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
It was a nerve-wracking affair with numerous ties, lead
changes and turnovers (18 by Stanford, 13 by Colorado). Neither team would give
up.
Haley,
Hannah, Lauren in double figures
Aiding Stanford’s cause were three players in double
figures: Haley with 23 points plus 11 rebounds in all 50 minutes, Hannah with
14 plus two rebounds in 41 minutes and freshman center Lauren Betts also with
14 plus eight rebounds in 29 minutes.
After some problems in previous games, Hannah
regained her long-range touch to make four 3’s, one of them late in the second
OT to help ice the win. Brooke and sophomore guard Elena Bosgana each had one
for the team’s total of six.
Because of foul trouble, Cameron was limited to 21
minutes, when she scored an uncharacteristically low 8 points and had only six
rebounds, but added four blocks to her ongoing record. She fouled out in the
first OT.
Senior forward Fran Belibi came off the bench and
hustled to 6 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
She, Lauren and senior forward Ashten Prechtel all
come from Colorado, so one would assume a contingent of their families and
friends was in the crowd of 2,963. Tara’s mother, Rita, lives in Boulder and
was there, too.
After this win and the loss to Utah, the team finished the season with a 27-4 record overall and 15-3 in the Pac-12.
