Looking back: Part 3 of 3

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    Players celebrate Hannah's buzzer-beating 3 against Sacred Heart. (Scott Strazzante/SF Chronicle)

Going into the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, the No. 1 seed Stanford women’s basketball team downed No. 9 seed Oregon 78-65 on March 2. Stanford opened the game on a 7-0 run before Oregon’s first score at the 6:30 mark. The Cardinal held the lead for the rest of the game.

Even though her playing time was limited by fouls, junior forward Cameron Brink was in double figures by about halfway through the second quarter. She went on to lead the team with 22 points plus 11 rebounds but no blocks.

One day later, on March 3, the team was sent packing by No. 5 seed UCLA, which won 69-65.

The game started well with the Cardinal leading in each of the first three quarters, but UCLA edged ahead in the fourth.

Cameron posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Haley Jones also had a double-double with15 points and 10 rebounds.

Players garner honors

Although the championship eluded Stanford, five players earned Pac-12 season honors.

Senior guard Hannah Jump was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was named to the All-Pac 12 Team along with Cameron and Haley. Cameron was named Defensive Player of the Year. Guard Talana Lepolo and center Lauren Betts earned honorable mention on the All-Freshman Team.

A few days later, before the NCAA tournament started, Haley and Cameron were named All-Americans for the second year. Hannah was named an Academic All-American.

As a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Stanford earned the right to host first and second round games.

NCAA play starts with easy win

Round one went well with an easy 92-49 victory over 16-seeded Sacred Heart on March 17 even though Cameron was absent because of illness. Redshirt freshman guard Jzaniya Harriel also was missing.

In the team’s 100^th NCAA tournament win, five players posted double figures: Haley, 17, Hannah and senior forward Fran Belibi, 12 each plus 10 rebounds for Fran; freshman guard Indya Nivar, 11; and Lauren, 10.

Because the team was doing so well, no one played more than 25 minutes (Haley), and all 13 available players got in. When freshman guard Stavi Papadaki and walk-on freshman guard Lauren Green, who usually didn’t play much, got in with just under 3 ½ minutes to go, they were greeted by loud cheers.

NCAA play ends with tough loss

Two days later, on March 19, the unexpected happened. No. 8-seeded Ole Miss downed the Cardinal 54-49, thus ending the season and hopes of advancing.

Ole Miss took the opening tip and never looked back. Stanford trailed by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and tied the game, 49-49, only briefly in the fourth quarter, but didn’t score after that.

Everyone was available after Cameron and Jzaniya had missed the Sacred Heart game.

As reported by head coach Tara VanDerveer, Cameron was not at full strength after a stomach bug. Nevertheless, she led the team with a double-double of 20 points and 13 points plus seven blocks in 34 despite being harassed and sometimes manhandled by the Ole Miss defense. Half of her points came from the free throw line, where she was a perfect 10-10.

Haley played all 40 minutes and had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Despite the loss, the fans cheered the players loudly as they left the Maples court for the last time this season. This was an especially poignant moment for the Funky Four seniors: Haley, Hannah, Fran and forward Ashten Prechtel. However, Hannah will return next season with the extra year granted because of COVID disruptions.

The team finished with a 29-6 overall record.

Afterward, there were more honors for Cameron: WBCA Division I Defensive Player of the Year, WBCA All-American, AP All-American and one of five Wooden Award All-America finalists. Haley also was named an AP All-American.

At the annual awards banquet on April 5, Tara thanked everyone who had helped the team and saluted each player.

Later that week, it was announced that Lauren, Indya and junior guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu had entered the transfer portal. .

During the WNBA draft on April 10, Haley was drafted sixth by the Atlanta Dream, and Ashten was drafted 34^th by the Connecticut Sun.

With Stanford’s spring quarter under way, returning players are working out and looking forward to next season