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| Lion dancers entertain the crowd at the Pitt game. (Karen Hickey/ISI Photos) |
The Stanford women’s basketball completed a home stand by defeating Pittsburgh 58-46 on Jan. 30 and nearly upsetting the University of North Carolina, then-ranked #15 by the AP, 67-69 on Feb. 2.
The Pitt game marked the host team’s
fewest points so far this season, but it still had some bright spots.
One was 100 percent accuracy at the
free-throw line, 15-15. Rebounds were another with career highs for sophomore forward
Courtney Ogden with nine and sophomore guard Chloe Clardy with seven of the
team’s 42.
Senior forward Brooke Demetre tied a
career high with three of the team’s five blocks.
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| Elena welcomes her parents from the family's home in Greece. (Karen Hickey/ISI Photos) |
Chloe and senior guard Elena Bosgana led with team with 14 points each. Elena’s parents, Elisavet and Georgios Bosgana, came from her home country of Greece to visit her and see her play at Stanford for the first time in her collegiate career.
Courtney and sophomore forward Nunu
Agara also were in double figures with 10 points each.
The starting lineup for both games featured
Nunu, Chloe, Brooke, Elena and freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye.
Three players – junior guard Talana
Lepolo, redshirt junior guard Jzaniya Harriel and freshman forward Harper
Peterson – were with the team but unavailable for both games, leaving Stanford
with 11 active players. Harper was in a boot.
Scoring was anemic in the first
quarter with Stanford ahead only 11-8. Each team scored only eight points in
the second quarter, and neither team hit a trey in the first half.
Elena electrified the crowd of just over
2,800 by scoring a buzzer-beater after a fast break to end the half. By then
the score was only 19-14.
Chloe broke the 3-point ice shortly
into the third quarter. The team went on to add three more 3’s in that quarter
and another in the fourth for a total of five. Chloe and Courtney had two 3’s
each while Elena had one.
Pitt was 0-15 from behind the arc.
Marking the start of the Lunar New
Year, Stanford handed out red fans with a Year of the Snake logo. The Stanford
Lion Dance Team of four lions with two dancers each plus two percussionists
entertained the crowd at halftime.
Oh so close in UNC game
Stanford trailed by as many as 15
points in the third quarter of the UNC game but nearly pulled off the upset
before losing 67-69 on Feb. 2.
The score tightened considerably in
the fourth quarter and actually was tied, 62-62, with under four minutes to go.
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| Nunu drives to the basket against UNC. .(Supriya Limage/ISI Photos) |
Nunu had game highs with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Chloe also was in double figures with 15 points.
UNC did much of its damage by making
nine 3’s while Stanford had only three with one each from Nunu, Chloe and
Elena.
On the other hand, Stanford made 18
of 19 free throws while UNC made two of four.
Commenting at the Behind the Bench
after the game, assistant coach Heather Oesterle said, “We’re building
something really special here.” She was referring to improvements the team and
individual players have made.
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| Talana (left), Jzaniya and Harper show off their Pink Game T-shirts.(Supriya Limage/ISI Photos) |
Fans received pink baseball caps.
Halftime entertainment for the crowd
of more than 4,100, featured Grace Good, an “America’s Got Talent” winner who
showed her ability to twirl several hoops at once, sometimes while standing on
a large ball.
