Two more wins leave team''s record perfect at 7-0

 

The Stanford women’s basketball team kept its record perfect at 7-0 after defeating UC Davis 70-45 on Nov. 20 and Lehigh 98-43 on Nov. 23, both at home.

In the team’s 70-45 victory over UC Davis, the dynamic duo of junior forward Nunu Agara and freshman forward Lara Somfai produced two double-doubles: 16 points, 16 rebounds by Nunu and 14 points, 12 rebounds by Lara.

Junior guard Chloe Clardy completed the double-digit club with 11 points.  

In this season’s first six games, “the Cardinal limited its opponent to fewer than 60 points in all six, the program’s longest stretch holding six consecutive opponents under 60 since Feb. 24 – March 28, 2022,” according to Stanford Athletics.

Senior guard Talana Lepolo, freshman guard Hailee Swain, junior forward Courtney Ogden, Nunu and Lara were the starters.

Senior guard Lauren Green, sophomore center Kennedy Umeh and freshman forward Nora Ezike again were unavailable, but the other 12 players got into the game, and most contributed in some way.

The game started slowly with no score for the first three minutes until Lara netted a 3-pointer. The first Aggies basket came shortly after.

In all, the Cardinal had five 3’s. In addition to Lara, who added another later in the game, they came from Talana, Chloe and sophomore forward Harper Peterson.

The score was tied at 5-5 with about five minutes to go in the first quarter. Stanford surged ahead then and never looked back.

UC Davis did produce a highlight moment during the final seconds of the third quarter when an Aggies player scored from behind the center court line just before the buzzer.

On hand to watch the game was Lara’s father, who had flown in from their home in Australia.

Absolute dominance over Lehigh

With a 3-pointer by Lara, the team started fast and didn’t look back in its 98-43 defeat of Lehigh on Nov. 23.

Nunu led the team with 24 points on perfect 10-10 shooting.

Joining her in the double-digit club were Lara with 15 points, Hailee with 12, and junior forward Mary Ashley Stevenson and freshman guard Carly Amborn, both with 10.

Only Kennedy was still unavailable. Otherwise everyone else got into the game.

The team’s seven 3’s came from Chloe and Carly with two each, along with one each by Nunu, Lara and sophomore guard Shay Ijiwoye.

There was perfection at the free-throw line, 15-15.

In an interesting reversal of numbers, the home team had 17 assists and nine turnovers, while the team from Bethlehem, Pa., had 17 turnovers and nine assists.

“As a team, the Cardinal shot 66.7 percent from the floor (38-of-57), the third-best mark in program history,” according to Stanford Athletics.

After Nunu’s standout performances against UC Davis and Lehigh, she was named ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 24.

The team will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Las Vegas to play Florida Gulf Coast at 5 p.m. Nov. 28 and Colorado State at 5 p.m. in the Resorts World Classic. Both games will be shown on FloCollege.

After that, it’s back home to host Tennessee at 6:15 p.m. Dec. 3.

The last day of classes is Dec. 5, followed by finals week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team moves to 5-0 after two wins in Washington

 

Freshman Hailee Swain led the win against WSU with 10 points. (Stanford Athletics)

Chalk up two more wins for the Stanford women’s basketball team after its first road trip of the season took it to the Evergreen State

That’s where Washington State fell 54-46 in Pullman on Nov. 14 and Gonzaga lost 65-52 in Spokane on Nov. 16.

Thus the team maintained an unblemished record of 5-0.

Starters for both games were freshman guard Hailee Swain, junior forward Nunu Agara, freshman forward Lara Somfai, junior forward Courtney Ogden and senior guard Talana Lepolo.

The victory over Washington State was nothing like the previous three wins that had opened the season. Those games were dominant, high-scoring affairs in which multiple Stanford players recorded double points.

This time only one player, Hailee with 10 points, was in double digits. However, eight of the nine players who got into the game contributed points and rebounds.

Three-pointers weren’t going in for Stanford. The team had only two of 18, both of them by junior guard Chloe Clardy.

Both teams had their share of miscues, with 15 turnovers by Stanford and 16 by WSU.

Stanford’s best lead was 13 points during the third quarter, but WSU kept edging closer – not enough to take the lead, but enough to keep the visitors and their fans nervous.

With the win, the Cardinal moved to 76-0 all-time against the Cougars, according to Stanford Athletics, which also reported that last season Stanford didn’t win its first road game until Jan. 16 and managed only two all season.

Two days later against Gonzaga, Stanford lagged behind in both the first and second quarters but edged ahead to a 6-point lead after the third quarter and a 13-point lead, 65-52, to end the game.

The four juniors led the way with a total of 54 points, starting with Chloe, who had 20. Nunu had 16 plus 11 rebounds for a double-double.

Courtney logged 14 points, and forward Mary Ashley Stevenson had 4 points.

Once again the team had only two 3’s. Once again they were by Chloe.

Turnovers led to Gonzaga’s undoing with Stanford scoring 23 points off the host’s 20 miscues. Stanford had 14 turnovers resulting in 12 Gonzaga points.

The Cardinal return home to host UC Davis at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 and Lehigh at 1 p.m. Nov. 23.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another dominant win -- this time over Cal Poly

 

Lara Somfai was named ACC Rookie of the Week after the Cal Poly game. (Stanford Athletics)

Balanced scoring led to a third dominant win by the Stanford women’s basketball team. This time the score was 90-55 over Cal Poly on Nov. 9 at Maples.

Five Cardinal players scored in double figures led by junior forward Nunu Agara with 16 points.

She was followed by junior guard Chloe Clardy and freshman forward Lara Somfai with 14 each, plus 10 rebounds for Lara. Junior forward Courtney Ogden and freshman guard Hailee Swain had 12 points each.

Stanford outscored Cal Poly in every quarter and never trailed.

The taller home team dominated the visitors with 39 rebounds, 17 assists, 10 steals and five blocks. Turnovers were limited to 12 (vs. 21), and Stanford made 17 of 20 free throws.

The team showed hustle throughout the game. Just one highlight play came with only seconds left in the first quarter when Hailee ran across the court and scored.

Starters were Nunu, Hailee, Courtney, Lara and senior guard Talana Lepolo. All 12 available players got into the game. Unavailable were senior guard Lauren Green, sophomore center Kennedy Umeh and freshman forward Nora Ezike.

On hand among the 2,461 people at the game were the Tree, Dollies, band and cheerleaders.

The crowd had fun between the first and second quarters when Conga on the Court danced to “YMCA.”

After the game, associate head coach Tempie Brown was joined by Lauren and Nora, who answered audience questions.

When head coach Kate Paye joined the Behind the Bench, she noted that “our returners are leading the way.”

She said she expects the team to get better as the season continues. “We have a lot of weapons on our team.”

She then invited three alums to join her: Brooke Demetre, ’25; Cameron Brink, ’24; and Fran Belibi, ’23.

Next up the team goes north to play Washington State at 4 p.m. Nov. 14 and Gonzaga at 2 p.m. Nov. 16. Both games will be on ESPN+.

 

 

 

 

 

Balanced scoring leads to victory over Santa Clara

Talana led the team with 16 points. (Stanford Athletics)

 

If you had asked what I would write if the Santa Clara game had continued on the same path as the first quarter, I would have said something like, “It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win, and we’ll take it.”

Yes, it was a win but not ugly. Instead, the Stanford women’s basketball team coalesced and came up with a 79-58 victory over the visiting Broncos on Nov. 6.

Of the nine of 12 available players who got into the game, six – evenly divided between upperclassmen and freshmen -- scored in double figures.

According to Stanford Athletics, this was the first time that six players had scored in double figures since Dec. 31, 2023, against Morgan State.

This time they were led by senior guard Talana Lepolo with 16 points.

She was followed by freshman forward Lara Somfai with 14 points plus 13 rebounds, junior forward Nunu Agara and freshman guard Hailee Swain with 13 each, junior guard Chloe Clardy with 12 and freshman forward Alex Eschmeyer with 11 plus 12 rebounds.

Stanford Athletics reported that Talana’s 16 points were the most she had scored since a career-high 20 at Cal on Dec. 29, 2023.

Talana also had four of the team’s 11 3-pointers, including two in row during the third quarter. Chloe had three 3’s. One each came from Nunu, Lara, Hailee and Alex.

As for what I might had written if the game had followed the first-quarter path, Santa Clara had 4-point lead about halfway through the quarter.

Sloppy play marked the Cardinal’s effort during that time. The first 4 points came from free throws, and the team had logged three fouls. The first basket didn’t come until about the 4:41 mark when Talana scored.

The score was tied 8-8 at the 3:40 mark, but when the buzzer sounded, Stanford had managed to pull ahead 17-12.

Things looked up after that. Nunu opened the second quarter with a trey, and Lara bookended it with a trey to end the half at 38-27. The advantage widened during the next two quarters to give Stanford the win.

The taller Stanford team dominated the boards with 52 rebounds to Santa Clara’s 30.

The home team also prevailed in other areas, but turnovers continued to be a problem with 14 to Santa Clara’s nine.

The three unavailable players were senior guard Lauren Green, sophomore center Kennedy Umeh and freshman forward Nora Ezike, but they didn’t appear to be seriously impaired.

Starters were Talana, Hailee, Courtney, Lara and Nunu.

Next up, the team will host Cal Poly at 1 p.m. Nov. 9 followed by a Behind the Bench.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great start to the new season

 

Players who have finished their stints  cheer for a teammate's score. (Stanford Athletics)

In what was definitely not a nail-biter, the Stanford women’s basketball team opened its regular season with an 87-42 home win over UNC Greensboro on Nov. 3.

As had been true in the exhibition win over Cal State LA, the Cardinal’s superior height was a big factor.

Sparsely attended with only 2,068 fans, the game was never in doubt. The visitors’ first score, a 3-pointer, didn’t come until just over three minutes into the first quarter.

In the meantime, freshman forward Lara Somfai had already scored Stanford’s first three baskets. She wound up with 15 total points to lead the five Stanford players in double figures.

Also in the double-figure column were two other freshmen: forward Alex Eschmeyer with 13 and guard Hailee Swain with 12. Two juniors -- guard Chloe Clardy with 12 and forward Nunu Agara with 10 -- joined them.

All 12 available players got into the game and scored. Reflective of the team’s emphasis on sisterhood, players on the bench erupted in cheers as two less-used players – sophomore forward Harper Peterson and freshman guard Carly Amborn – scored late in the game.

The unavailable players were senior guards Stavi Papadaki and Lauren Green along with sophomore center Kennedy Umeh. None of them appeared to be seriously impaired.

Starters for the game were Nunu, Lara, Hailee, junior forward Courtney Ogden and senior guard Talana Lepolo.

Stanford’s height helped to snare 44 rebounds vs. the Spartans’ 23.

Of Stanford’s seven 3’s, Chloe had two. One each came from Nunu, Lara, Alex, Carly and junior forward Mary Ashley Stevenson.

Free-throw shooting was a Stanford plus with 14 of 16, so were the 15 assists.  Turnovers were a minus with 13.

Up next, Stanford hosts neighboring Santa Clara at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 followed by Cal Poly at 1 p.m. Nov. 9.