The Stanford women’s basketball team cruised to an
86-32 victory over Cal Poly on Nov. 16.
At first it seemed as if the visitors from San Luis
Obispo would give Stanford its first close competition this season. Cal Poly
scored first, giving it a 2-0 lead – its first and only one of the game.
Sophomore guard Talana Lepolo immediately responded with a 3, and that was almost
that.
The score was tied 8-8 with just over six minutes to
go in the first quarter. About two minutes later, Stanford was up 13-8. By the
time the quarter ended, Stanford had scored 9 more points, held Cal Poly
scoreless and led by 14 points, 22-8.
The Mustangs’ guards were disruptive at first, but
the Cardinal soon righted the ship. When the first half buzzer sounded, the
home team had five turnovers to Cal Poly’s 11. Thanks to eight 3’s during that
half, Stanford amassed a 53-15 lead.
The starters – Talana, grad student guard Hannah
Jump, senior forward Cameron Brink, junior forward Kiki Iriafen and junior guard Elena
Bosgana – began the third quarter together, but the frequent substitutions that
had characterized earlier games soon led to them sitting on the bench and cheering
their teammates for much of that quarter and all of the fourth.
Thus the starters avoided injury and the rest of the
team got valuable game experience.
They’ll need it during Thanksgiving week. After
hosting Duke at noon Nov. 19, the team travels to Henderson, Nev., near Las
Vegas, for a tournament that involves a 1:30 p.m. Nov. 22 game against Belmont.
On Nov. 24 it will face Florida State or Northwestern at 6:30 or
9 p.m. Then it’s a quick trip home to host Albany at 1 p.m. Nov. 26.
But back to the Cal Poly game. Although Stanford’s 86 points were the fewest
scored so far this season, Cal Poly’s 32 points were the fewest allowed. That’s
thanks to a tenacious defense that often caused Cal Poly to use most of the
shot clock and take hurried shots.
Stanford’s 11 3’s helped boost the score. Two of
those 3’s were courtesy of Talana. Redshirt sophomore Jzaniya Harriel hoisted
four 3’s for the best game of her career. Freshman forward Courtney Ogden added
three. Elena and freshman forward Nunu Agara had one each.
Elena led the team with 15 points, matching her
career high, according to AP. Jzaniya added 14 points and played the longest,
25 minutes. Kiki with 13 and Courtney with 10 also were in double figures. Kiki
had been named a National Player of the Week following her double-doubles
against Hawaii and IU. Junior forward Brooke Demetre had a team- and game-high
11 rebounds.
The crowd of 2,554 included the band, Tree,
cheerleaders and Dollies. Regular announcer Betty Ann Hagenau was again
replaced by a man, but the band’s presence meant a DJ and his deafening “music”
weren’t there.
After the game, the three freshmen, or TreeO – Courtney, Nunu
and guard Chloe Clardy -- signed autographs.
This game brought head coach Tara VanDerveer within 14 wins of breaking Mike Krzyzewski’s
1,202 victories as the winningest coach in college basketball history, AP reported.
