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| Shay and Elena celebrate the win over Georgia Tech. (Nhat V.. Meyer (Bay Area News Group) |
The Stanford women’s basketball team completed its
regular season with two home victories: 86-69 over Miami on Feb. 27 and 87-82
over Georgia Tech on March 2.
14
3’s help in victory over Miami
After the lead seesawed during the first half, the
team tightened its defense and sharpened its offense to emerge with its 86-69
win over the Miami Hurricanes.
Stanford got off to a hot start with an 8-0 lead about
two minutes into the first quarter before Miami got into the scoring column.
After that, the team eked out a one-point edge at the
half and then outscored Miami by a total of 16 in the second half.
Scoring was boosted by 14 3’s. They came courtesy of sophomore
guard Chloe Clardy with four, senior forward Brooke Demetre and sophomore
forward Courtney Ogden with three each, senior guard Elena Bosgana with two, and
freshman guard Shay Ijiwoye and junior guard Tess Heal with one each.
Brooke led four players in double figures with 19
points, followed by Courtney with 18, Chloe with 16 and Elena with 15. Tess
wasn’t far behind with nine points.
One indication of the solid offense was the assist
total of 23, compared with 13 by Miami. Stanford also had more rebounds and
fewer turnovers, 11-15.
Stanford’s tight second-half defense led to three
shot-clock violations by the visitors.
As was true in the following game, the Cardinal still
were without the services of high-scoring sophomore forward Nunu Agara as well
as freshman forward Harper Peterson and junior guard Talana Lepolo. Talana
has missed much of this season and is expected to redshirt, giving her an extra
season of eligibility after her senior year.
Because the game was sponsored by Stanford Health and
Wellness as part of American Heart Month, two physicians from that department
took the court.
Dr. Tamara Dunn, clinical associate professor in the Division of Hematology,
sang the national anthem. Vascular surgeon Lizzie George, a Stanford
grad who was on the women’s soccer team, accepted the honorary game ball.
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| Alums Lacie Hull (left) and Fran Belibi enjoy the Miami game. (Stanford Athletics) |
The more than 3,300 people at the game included SWBB
alums Fran Belibi,’23, and Lacie Hull, ’22. Fans may remember Fran for her
dunking ability and Lacie as the twin sister of Lexie, who plays for the WNBA’s
Indiana Fever.
Team
withstands Georgia Tech’s onslaught
All looked rosy with a 13-point lead after the first quarter
of the Georgia Tech game on March 2, but the Yellow Jackets kept rallying, but
not enough to avoid an 87-82 loss to Stanford.
The loud crowd of 4,400 helped to cheer the victory.
Many were wearing the T-shirts given out that day.
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| Elena and Brooke show off the T-shirts for the Georgia Tech game. (Stanford Athletics) |
Because it was Senior Day, head coach Kate Paye
presented flowers to GT’s two seniors before the game.
And in honor of Elena, who hails from Greece, the
Greek national anthem preceded “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Elena started the game and made Stanford’s second
basket, a 3-pointer, one of the two she made in leading the team’s scoring with
19 points.
Four other Cardinal players were in double figures: sophomore
forward Mary Ashley Stevenson, 17; Courtney, 16; Chloe, 12; and Brooke, 10.
GT kept the score close as the game continued, thanks
in part to its nine 3’s and rebounding advantage, 32-27.
Stanford had five 3’s. Besides Elena’s two, Brooke had
two and Tess had one.
GT clogged the 3-point line, but Stanford compensated
with mid-range shots and nifty backdoor cuts. Thus Stanford had 52 points in
the paint, aided in large part by 18 assists.
The Senior Day ceremony after the game started by honoring
the team managers and male practice players.
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| Elena (left), Jzaniya and Brooke with their Senior Day flowers . (Stanford Athletics) |
Following a video featuring outstanding plays by the three
seniors, they were introduced one by one alphabetically, starting with Elena.
She was saluted by her Greek teammate, junior guard Stavi Papadaki.
Kate called Elena courageous for coming to Stanford without
ever having been to the United States, let alone Stanford, because of strict
COVID restrictions. She is on Greece’s senior national team and will play with
it this summer.
Like her classmates, Elena thanked the fans, staff and
teammates for their support.
Tara VanDerveer, who recruited the seniors and coached
them for three years until retiring as head coach last season, joined Kate in honoring
them.
Talana did the honors in saluting Brooke, whom Kate
called mature and unselfish. Brooke’s parents also spoke.
Chloe credited guard Jzaniya Harriel, who redshirted
her junior year, with joy and positivity. Jzaniya’s sister said she might go to
law school.
On
to the ACC tournament
With these two home victories, the team finished with
a 16-13 record overall and 8-10 in the ACC. Ranked #11 in the conference, the
team will face #14 Clemson at 3:30 p.m. March 5 at the ACC tournament in
Greensboro, N.C. The game will be shown on the ACC Network.
Clemson hosted and won the teams’ previous meeting
65-61 in overtime Jan. 5.
