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After a disappointing 58-67 loss to USC on Feb. 2,
the Stanford women’s basketball team came roaring back to defeat UCLA 80-60 on
Feb. 4, both at home.
The weekend’s games dropped Stanford to No. 6 from
No. 4 in the Feb. 5 AP poll. USC rose to 10 from 15, and UCLA dropped to 9 from
7.
While Stanford had its full contingent of 12
players, UCLA had only eight of its 12 players available. Among the missing was
6’7” Lauren Betts, who transferred to UCLA from Stanford after last season. She
reportedly was dealing with an undisclosed medical issue.
Since it was Woman and Girls in Sports Day, several
women’s teams set up activities in the concourses before the game. The 2023 national
champion women’s rowing team was honored during the second quarter, and the
current women’s gymnastics team tossed T-shirts to the crowd during the third
quarter. It was the day before the start of its season.
During their warmups, the Cardinal players wore T-shirts reading “Play for Kay,” a reference to the late North Carolina State coach, Kay Yow, who died of breast cancer. Their white uniforms had pink accents.
The national anthem was sung by the youngsters of
i-Sing of Silicon Valley, who were well received by the near-capacity crowd of
7,207 people who had braved the stormy weather.
Team
starts strong, doesn’t look back
Stanford came out of the gate with high energy,
leading 9-2 after just under 2 minutes
into the game. By the end of the first quarter, the lead had ballooned to
21-12. The Bruins’ Charisma Osborne scored 10 of their points.
In the meantime, all five Cardinal starters had
scored while not committing any fouls. However, Stanford had four turnovers,
leading to 17 for the game.
In the second quarter, UCLA took 2 ½ minutes to
score 2 points, both from the free-throw line. It wasn’t until the quarter was
halfway over that UCLA had a bucket.
Grad student guard Hannah Jump was on the exercise
bike for a while during that quarter but soon returned to action.
She was one of three Stanford players in double
figures with 10 points, thanks to two 3’s and some nifty layups.
Cameron,
Kiki combine for 37 points
Senior forward Cameron Brink led the team with 19
points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks.
Junior forward Kiki Iriafen was right behind her
with 18 points, seven rebounds and a block.
Freshman forward Nunu Agara added 9 points and four
rebounds.
Besides the two 3’s by Hannah, redshirt sophomore
guard Jzaniya Harriel had two of her own, and junior forward Brooke Demetre had
one.
Stanford outscored UCLA in the first three quarters.
UCLA had 3 more in the fourth, but by then it was too late.
For the game, Stanford shot a sizzling 63.5 percent,
compared with UCLA’s 29.4 percent.
Kate
praises Talana
The post-game Behind the Bench started with
associate head coach Kate Paye and sophomore point guard Talana Lepolo. Kate had
high praise for her, saying, “There’s no doubt that Talana does so much for our
team. … She’s an absolute warrior.”
As for the win, Kate said, “We really needed it. …
We didn’t like the way things turned out Friday.”
After her post-game press conference, head coach Tara VanDerveer came out and praised the team’s younger players. She also said that Stanford hopes to host first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. That honor goes to the four top seeds in each of the four regional brackets.
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| Cam reacts to a call during the USC game. JuJu Watkins is No. 12. (Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle) |
USC’s
frosh phenom pours in 51 points
The team’s 58-67 loss to USC on Feb. 2 can be
attributed mainly to one player -- frosh phenom JuJu Watkins, who scored 51
points in 34 minutes, more than half of her team’s total.
Cardinal fans can only mourn the day she chose USC
over Stanford. She’s from LA, so maybe she wanted to play close to home.
It didn’t help that Stanford’s two best players, Cam
and Kiki, faced physical defense. Still, Cam wound up with 19 points, 15
rebounds and eight blocks, and Kiki had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Hannah was the only other Cardinal in double figures
with 10 points. She had two of the team’s four 3’s. Junior guard Elena Bosgana had
the other two, her only scoring.
Three
USC players foul out
Back to the defense: Three USC players fouled out. In all, USC had 22
fouls, Stanford 19. Talana fouled out with only seconds to go in the fourth
quarter after scoring only 2 points.
Some fans seemed unhappy with the officiating, often
accompanying calls with boos.
The game began on a celebratory note with Chef Joe,
assistant director/executive chef Stanford Athletics, receiving a framed
honorary jersey for his contributions to the well-being of Cardinal athletes.
Sea
of red for Cardinal introductions
When the Stanford starters were introduced in the
darkened arena, fans greeted them by waving red glow sticks that were given
away in the concourses before the game.
Stanford outscored USC in the first and fourth
quarters, and ended the second in a tie, but USC had a 10-point advantage in
the third.
During a timeout in the second quarter, Jess Smith
was introduced. She was recently named president of the WNBA expansion team
coming to the Bay Area and beginning play in 2025. The team is owned by the
Golden State Warriors and will use its Oakland practice facility and play at
Chase Center in San Francisco.
Halftime was highlighted by the Los Altos Dance
Academy. The young girls, most of them in glittery gold outfits, wowed the
crowd of 5,371 with their routines.
The team next takes to the road to face Washington
at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 and Washington State at
1 p.m. Feb. 11. Pac-12 Networks will air both games.
