Last regular road games yield split results

 The Stanford women’s basketball team completed its final road trip of the regular season by pulling out an overtime thriller 75-74 at Virginia Tech and then enduring an 89-69 loss at Virginia three days later.

Underclassmen lead the way to OT win

Bolstered by a career-high 30 points by sophomore guard Chloe Clardy and solid performances from some other underclassmen, the team eked out its 75-74 overtime win at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Feb. 20.

The Hokies led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and outscored or tied the Cardinal in the first three quarters.

However, Stanford surged ahead in the fourth quarter with a 23-16 effort and tight defense, thus tying the game at 63-63 and forcing overtime in front of nearly 4,950 people.

According to Stanford Athletics, freshmen and sophomores together scored 65 of the team’s 75 points.

Sophomore forward Courtney Ogden had 15 points. Despite four fouls, freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye had a career-high 10 points, including the two free throws that iced the win in OT.

Sophomore forward Mary Ashley Stevenson recorded six points and seven rebounds in 43 minutes. Freshman center Kennedy Umeh had four points and two of the team’s nine steals.

Sophomore forward Nunu Agara, who has been the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, is still recovering from a fall at Notre Dame on Feb. 6 and didn’t make the trip.

The two seniors, forward Brooke Demetre and guard Elena Bosgana, got into foul trouble, so they had only eight points between them. Brooke fouled out about four minutes into the fourth quarter.

Virginia Tech dominated the boards, snaring 42 rebounds to Stanford’s 32. The hosts also made more free throws, 20, while Stanford had 14.

Stanford had one more trey with five, courtesy of Chloe with three and Brooke and Courtney with one each.

Also on the plus side, Stanford had 14 turnovers while VT had 22.

Virginia’s treys help to sink Stanford

Visiting the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Feb. 23, the team suffered an 89-69 loss in front of nearly 4,800 people.

Much of UVA’s success came from beyond the 3-point line as the Cavaliers sank 14 treys for 42 points, almost half of its total.

For its part, Stanford had eight 3’s, thanks to Elena and Brooke with three each, and Shay and Chloe with one each.

Courtney led the team with a career-high 17 points as well as eight rebounds.

Brooke with 15 points and Elena with 11 also were in double figures.

Stanford actually had more rebounds, 41-37, and assists, 22-19. However, it committed 15 turnovers while UVA had nine.

UVA came out of the gate fast, besting Stanford 25-9 in the first quarter. The visitors outscored the hosts in the second and fourth quarter, but not enough to stave off the loss.

The team returns home to host Miami at 7 p.m. PT Feb. 27 and Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. March 2 for Senior Day. ACCNX will stream both games.

The ACC tournament starts March 5 in Greensboro, NC.