Cal edges past home team despite strong comeback

Shay battles for the ball. (Scott Strazzante/SF Chronicle)

 

The Stanford women’s basketball team mounted a strong comeback, but it wasn’t quite enough as the visiting Cal team won 75-72 on Jan. 23.

Still, it represented a significant improvement from the Dec. 13 shellacking the team suffered at Cal, which won 83-63.

The game at Maples looked as if it might turn out the same when Cal held a 19-point lead about halfway through the third quarter.

However, Stanford ramped up its defense, using a full-court press to force Cal turnovers that led to Stanford baskets, cutting the deficit to 13 points by the end of that quarter. This defense also forced the shot clock to wind down when Cal had possession, leading to some desperation shots.

Stanford outscored Cal by 10 points in the fourth quarter and edged ever closer to a win, but it wasn’t to be.

In addition to the tougher defense later in the game, there were other bright spots, such as sophomore guard Chloe Clardy’s game-high and career-high 22 points.

And freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye continued to improve, scoring eight points and chipping in with three assists and three steals while committing only two turnovers. However, she fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

That foul came with less than three minutes left to play and Stanford just two points behind. A Cal player went to the foul line. Shay and a Cal player both fell, and the Cal player was temporarily hurt (but returned later). After refs had reviewed the play, they called a flagrant foul on Shay.  Thus Cal got two made foul shots, possession and another basket, ending the comeback.

As usual, sophomore forward Nunu Agara was a key factor with her 19 points, six of them from her two 3’s late in the game. Sophomore guard Courtney Ogden and senior guard Elena Bosgana each had one.

Elena’s trey was the first score by either team, lending some hope to the evening.

Overall, Cal had 18 turnovers to Stanford’s 17. The referees whistled Cal for 23 fouls and Stanford for 21. Both numbers led to some dissatisfaction among the nearly 4,600 fans, including a vocal Cal contingent.

Cal’s fouls included a technical on head coach Charmin Smith late in the third quarter.

Redshirt junior guard Jzaniya Harriel was back with the team after missing the two games in North Carolina. She played less than a minute and was on the exercise bike when the team returned from the halftime break. There was no report on her status.

The team gets to stay home another week with Pittsburgh scheduled to visit at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 and North Carolina visiting at noon Feb. 2. ACCNX will stream the Pittsburgh game. The North Carolina game will be available on CW.

 

 

Mixed results in North Carolina

 

Nunu and Brooke are in sync against Wake Forest. (Stanford Athletics)

The Stanford women’s basketball team spent nearly a week in North Carolina and left with its first-ever ACC road win, 74-71, over Wake Forest on Jan. 16, followed by a 49-74 loss to Duke on Jan. 19.

The margin against Wake Forest was much wider for the first three quarters. Stanford had a 19-point advantage once during the third quarter, which ended with the visitors up 58-42 before a relatively sparse crowd of just over 900.

Wake Forest dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Stanford 29-16, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win for the home team.

This game was highlighted by junior guard Tess Heal’s 24 points, thanks in part to her six 3’s, four of them in the first quarter.

Thus she accounted for half of the team’s 12 3’s. Sophomore guard Chloe Clardy had two, as did senior forward Brooke Demetre. Sophomore forward Nunu Agara and senior guard Elena Bosgana added one each.

Nunu was right behind Tess with 23 points. They were the only two Stanford players in double figures.

Stanford dominated Wake Forest in most statistical categories such as rebounds (37-24) and assists (16-9).

However, Wake Forest had 11 steals, while Stanford had four. Wake Forest’s steals contributed to Stanford’s 17 turnovers, a costly issue.

One item of note is that freshman center Kennedy Umeh entered the game during the third quarter. It was her first game action for quite some time. She played just over two minutes and had a rebound as well as a turnover.

Blue Devils dominate Cardinal 74-49

Stanford trailed by only four points against Duke after the first quarter, but Duke poured in 25 points to Stanford’s seven in the second. Stanford actually outscored Duke in the third, but Duke took over and came out ahead by 25 points for the game.

Nunu was the only Stanford player in double figures with 15 points plus 10 rebounds.

Of note is that two freshmen helped out. Guard Shay Ijiwoye had eight points as a starter, and Kennedy came off the bench to add six points and four rebounds.

On the other hand, Tess, who had led the way against Wake Forest, was scoreless in just over nine minutes off the bench.

The team’s only four 3’s came from Shay, Chloe, Brooke and sophomore guard Courtney Ogden.

And then there were the turnovers – 20, half of them from Duke steals– while Duke had only nine turnovers.

The crowd of more than 4,700 included athletic director Bernard Muir and retired head coach Tara VanDerveer.

The team gets to stay home for a week, hosting Cal at 7 p.m. PT Jan. 23. ACCNX will stream the game.

 

Mixed results in two home games

 

Happy players and coaches celebrate the FSC win. (John Lozano/ISI Photos)

The Stanford women’s basketball team made a happy, welcome return to Maples by defeating Florida State 89-84 on Jan. 9, thus notching its first-ever ACC win.

The results weren’t quite as happy three days later on Jan. 12, when the team hosted North Carolina State and lost 81-67.

FSU came into the meeting with a 13-2 record overall and 3-0 in the ACC, while Stanford was 8-5 and 0-3, respectively.

Playing in front of more than 2,600 fans, the Cardinal apparently weren’t impressed with the Seminoles’ record and led for most of the game.  The home team led by as much as 17 points in the second quarter, but the visitors kept chipping away – not by enough to win, though.

Head coach Kate Paye stayed with the recently revised starting lineup: senior guard Elena Bosgana, senior forward Brooke Demetre, sophomore forward Nunu Agara, sophomore guard Chloe Clardy and freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye.

Brooke led the four players in double figures with 24 points. She was followed by Elena with 21 points, plus a game-leading 15 rebounds.

Also in double figures were Nunu with 17 and junior guard Tess Heal with 14.

Both teams tallied 10 3’s. Brooke was responsible for Stanford’s total with five 3’s. The others came from Elena and Tess with two each and Nunu with one.

Although free throws again were a problem overall – 13 of 21 -- that wasn’t the case in the first half, when the team was perfect in that department.

Turnovers also were a sore spot again with 18 compared with FSU’s six. On the other hand, Stanford had the advantage in rebounds, 52-35.

NC State hands team a loss

The starting lineup was the same against NC State, but the scoring output was somewhat different. Chloe led the team with 17 points, her career high, Kate said after the game. She was followed by Nunu and Elena with 14 each.

The team’s seven 3’s came from Chloe with three, Shay with two, and Nunu and Brooke with one each.

Things looked good after the first quarter when Stanford led 18-12.

However, the wheels came off during the second and third quarters, giving NC State a 25-point lead, 68-43. At that point, some of the more than 3,700 people at the game headed for the exits.

Stanford refused to go away, though, outscoring NC State 24-13 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the previous deficits.

In some ways, too, the turnover story was the same as in some past games. Stanford amassed 18 miscues, while NC State had 12.

On the other hand, Stanford had a slight advantage in rebounds, 38-36.

NC State won with better shooting, 47.1 percent vs. 41.5 percent. Both teams made all of their free throws.

After the game, associate head coach Tempie Brown introduced three of the sophomores: Nunu, Chloe and guard Mary Ashley Stevenson.

Joining them, Kate said she and the coaches knew this would be a tough game, but “I think we’ve made progress this weekend.”

She praised her coaching staff and several players, including Shay, whom she called the Energizer Bunny.

Coming up next, the team travels to the East Coast and across three time zones to face Wake Forest at 3 p.m. PT Jan. 16 and Duke at 10 a.m. PT Jan. 19, both in North Carolina.

The team travels by charter on planes that have Wi-Fi, giving players a chance to keep up with their classes, Kate said.

ACCNX will stream the Wake Forest game. The Duke game will be televised on ESPN/ESPN2.

New year opens with two road loses

The Stanford women’s basketball team’s first cross-country ACC games found it losing to Southern Methodist University 63-67 on Jan. 2 in Dallas and to Clemson in overtime 61-65 on Jan. 5 in South Carolina.

Head coach Kate Paye reconfigured the starting lineup against Clemson. Freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye and sophomore guard Chloe Clardy replaced redshirt junior guard Jzaniya Harriel and junior guard Tess Heal at the tipoff.

Shay played just over 28 minutes and recorded three points and three steals before fouling out in overtime. Chloe also fouled out in OT after playing just over 24 minutes and scoring four points.

Sophomore forward Nunu Agara, a starter, led the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She gave everyone a scare late in the second quarter when she seemed to hurt a knee and had to be helped off the court.

However, much to everyone’s relief, she returned about halfway through the third quarter and seemed to have suffered no ill effects.

The other two starters, senior guard Elena Bosgana and senior forward Brooke Demetre, scored 15 and 10 points, respectively. They also were responsible for the team’s five 3’s, with two by Elena and three by Brooke.

It was a tight game throughout, with 12 lead changes and 14 ties.

Even though Stanford had fewer fouls, 19-22, Clemson did better at the free-throw line, making 18 of 25 while Stanford made 10 of 19 – a big contributor to its loss, which seen by just over 2,400 fans.

Stanford can’t get ahead against SMU

It seemed as if Stanford was playing catch-up throughout the SMU game. When I logged into the TV broadcast on my computer, only a few minutes had elapsed, yet the Mustangs were up by about 12 points.

As the game continued, it seemed as if SMU would have a double-digit lead that Stanford would cut to single digits, but never pull ahead.

The final few minutes offered hope for a win. Here’s the report from CardinalSportsReport:

“Stanford would continue to scrap and play with fight, forcing some turnovers … They were rewarded with an 11-0 run to make it a 64-63 game with 42.6 to go. …”

An SMU basket “made it 66-63 with under 14 seconds to go as Stanford had a chance to even things up. … A 3-point shot … was a bit wide. SMU would get the rebound.” An SMU free throw made it 67-63, the final score.

SMU outscored Stanford in the first and third quarters, but Stanford won the other two quarters, but not by enough in this game seen by more than 1,400.

Elena led the team with 20 points, followed by Nunu with 19.

Four of the team’s nine 3’s were by Elena. The others came from Nunu, Shay, Tess and Chloe.

Shay played just over 16 minutes, her longest stint to date, and added 6 points.

Each team had 41 rebounds and was fairly close in other stats. Each team missed five free throws. Had Stanford been more successful at the line, the final outcome would have been different.

Coming up next, the team hosts Florida State at 7 p.m. Jan. 9 (to be seen on ACCNX) and North Carolina State at noon Jan. 12 (shown by ESPN).

In the meantime, the team is back on campus for the start of winter quarter.