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| Chloe had 14 points and a team-high 12 assists against Syracuse. (Supriya Limage/ISI Photos) |
The Stanford women’s basketball team completed its
penultimate home stand by notching two wins: 79-58 over Syracuse on Feb. 13 and
80-75 over Boston College on Feb. 16, thus raising its season record to 13-12.
No
Nunu? No problem
Just over 2,900 people braved the Bay Area’s latest
atmospheric river by going to Maples on Feb. 13.
They were rewarded by seeing the team defeat the
visiting Syracuse Orange.
Redshirt junior guard Jzaniya Harriel was in uniform
after missing several games, but she didn’t play.
Sophomore forward Nunu Agara was still out after falling
hard early in the Notre Dame game and missing the Louisville game the previous
weekend. Freshman forward Harper Peterson and sophomore guard Talana Lepolo
were out, too.
Nunu had been the team’s leading scorer, but there was
plenty of scoring in this game as five players were in double figures.
Senior guard Elena Bosgana led the way with 18 points
plus 11 rebounds and both of the team’s two blocks.
Junior guard Tess Heal was right behind her with 17
points.
Senior forward Brooke Demetre and sophomore guard
Chloe Clardy both had 14 points. Chloe also had a team-high 12 assists. Two of
her points came from free throws during the fourth quarter after Syracuse head coach
Felisha Legette-Jack was assessed a technical foul.
Sophomore forward Mary Ashley Stevenson completed the
quintet of double-figure players with 12 points.
Another reason to cheer this victory is that Brooke
broke out of a recent shooting slump by making three 3’s in a row during the
first quarter.
Tess also had three 3’s. Chloe and Elena each had two
of the team’s 10 3’s.
The Cardinal led the entire way, ending each quarter
with a double-digit lead.
Freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye had, from my perspective,
what should have been a game highlight when she made a buzzer-beater to end the
first quarter, but the referees ruled it was too late.
Stanford dominated in most statistics except
turnovers, committing 12 to Syracuse’s 11. Notably, Stanford had a 21-8
advantage in assists.
In honor of Black History Month, the Stanford Federal
Credit Union handed out commemorative T-shirts.
Preceding the usual national anthem, which was sung by
a trio of Black students, a Black woman student sang “Lift Every Voice and
Sing,” considered the Black national anthem.
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| Tess led the scoring against Boston with 23 points. (Al Chang/ISI Photos) |
Boston College keeps things close
Things weren’t quite as easy Feb. 16 when Boston
College came to visit. Stanford eked out an 80-75 win.
It looked easy about halfway through the first quarter
when the home team had a 10-point edge, but Boston rallied to take a 21-20 lead
when the buzzer sounded.
The lead bounced around after that, leaving no one a chance
to sit back and relax – much less the players.
For example, each team had 11 3’s. Tess had five for
Stanford, followed by Brooke with three. Chloe, Elena and sophomore forward
Courtney Ogden each had one.
Tess led the team overall scoring with 23 points. Also
in double digits were Brooke with 21 and Elena with 15.
Nunu didn’t start, but she came in to applause about
midway through the first quarter. However, she played less than a total of
seven minutes for the game and added two rebounds and an assist.
Jzaniya also saw limited action, just over three
minutes, and had two assists. Talana and Harper were still out, but Harper
wasn’t wearing a boot.
Assists were an area where Stanford dominated, 20-9.
On the other hand, it had 18 turnovers to BC’s 15. BC’s 11 steals contributed
to Stanford’s turnovers.
The game ended on an almost comical note because of
clock issues. The clock initially showed 3.2 seconds left with Stanford in
possession.
However, it didn’t start right away, so the referees
did a review to see how much time actually was left. They said 2.5 seconds, but
the clock managers varied it from too little to too much time until finally
hitting upon right setting.
At that point, Tess made two free throws to ice the
win.
Because it was National Girls and Women in Sports Day,
women from other Stanford sports oversaw activities for youngsters in the
concourses before the game.
Betty Ann Hagenau, the usual announcer, wasn’t there.
Andrew Scott Knox, who usually leads activities during breaks, filled in for
her.
Among the more than 3,500 people at the game was Karlie
Samuelson, ’17, sitting with retired head coach Tara VanDerveer and retired
associate head coach Amy Tucker.
The team hits the road again with games at Virginia
Tech at 5 p.m. PT Feb. 20 and Virginia at 3 p.m. PT on Feb. 23. ACCN will show
both games.
Fans
learn about Lifetime Cardinal
After the game, an information session about Lifetime
Cardinal filled Kissick Auditorium.
Lifetime Cardinal was formed to provide financial
support to Stanford student athletes. It responds to the changing collegiate
athletic atmosphere that allows players to be paid for NIL, or name, image,
likeness.
It has led to players being lured from one school to
another with financial rewards.
“We want to have great players” and keep them, head
coach Kate Paye said. “We have to be competitive.”
That’s where Lifetime Cardinal comes in. Fans can make
tax-deductible donations and direct them to a specific team, such as women’s
basketball.
For specific details and directions on donating, go to
www.lifetimecardinal.com.
