Playing on Eastern time, which is three hours ahead of Pacific time, the Stanford women’s basketball team came away with two losses, dropping its season record to below .500, 11-12.
The team lost 96-47 to Notre Dame on
Feb. 6 and 74-65 to Louisville on Feb. 9.
The loss at Notre Dame on Feb. 6
marked a record for the team, but it wasn’t a record anyone wanted: The Irish handed
the Cardinal its largest margin of defeat in program history.
The previous record was a 96-51 loss
to Long Beach State on March 10, 1983. The team’s 29 turnovers were just short
of the 30-turnover record reached four times, most recently against UConn on
Dec. 21, 2007, Stanford Athletics reported.
The team suffered another loss, too,
when its leading scorer, sophomore forward Nunu Agara, fell hard onto her
backside just five minutes into the game. Aided by trainer Katelin Knox, she
was able to walk to the locker room.
She returned to the bench later but
didn’t return to action. No word on her status was available.
The score was 9-6 in Notre Dame’s
favor when Nunu went down, but the host team’s superior offense and relentless
defense kept widening the gap in front of the crowd of more than 7,500.
The second quarter was perhaps the
worst. Notre Dame outscored Stanford 33-7, giving the Irish a 50-15 lead at the
half. It continued downhill after that. “There’s no space for Stanford to
breathe offensively,” a TV announcer said.
With 10 points, junior guard Tess
Heal was the only Cardinal in double figures. Making two of the team’s six 3’s
boosted her total.
The other 3’s came from freshman
guard Shay Ijiwoye, sophomore guard Chloe Clardy, senior guard Elena Bosgana
and senior forward Brooke Demetre.
Stanford’s only statistical advantage
was in rebounds, 38-35. Freshman center Kennedy Umeh contributed nine while
sophomore forward Courtney Ogden had seven.
Louisville hands team another loss
After traveling south through Indiana
and across the Ohio River to Louisville, Ky., the team made a better showing
but still lost 74-65 on Feb. 9 before a crowd of more than 8,000.
Because Nunu was unavailable after
her fall at Notre Dame, sophomore forward Mary Ashley Stevenson took her place
in the starting lineup. She wound up being one of four Stanford players in
double figures with 15.
That was just behind Chloe, who led
the team with 16. Elena with 14 (plus 10 rebounds) and Tess with 10 also were
in double figures.
Stanford actually led Louisville
15-13 after the first quarter and outscored the host team 31-22 in the fourth.
However, the second and third
quarters were the team’s undoing, when Louisville amassed 39 points to
Stanford’s 19.
Stanford stayed close in the final
quarter but had to foul deliberately in hopes of getting the ball as the clock
ticked down. That strategy backfired as Louisville made all but two of its free
throws in the quarter. It also caused Elena to foul out with less than a minute
to go.
Both teams had 18 turnovers, but
Louisville grabbed more rebounds. It also had more 3’s, six. Stanford had only
two, both by Chloe.
Returning to Maples, Stanford will
host Syracuse at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 (on ACCN) and Boston College at 2 p.m. Feb. 16
(ACCNX).
