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| Courtney shoots on her way to 25 points. (Bob Drebin/ISI Photos) |
Buoyed by junior forward Courtney Ogden’s career-high
25 points, the Stanford women’s basketball team defeated cross-bay rival Cal
78-69 on Dec. 14 in Maples.
She was joined in the double-digit ranks by two fellow
juniors, guard Chloe Clardy with 13 and forward Nunu Agara with 12. Freshman forward
Lara Somfai had her fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and 13
rebounds along with a career-high three blocks.
For their efforts, Courtney was named ACC Co-Player of
the Week while Lara was voted ACC Rookie of the Week for games played between
Dec. 8 and 14, according to Stanford Athletics.
Nevertheless, victory didn’t come easily. It was a
rough-and-tumble affair with seven lead changes and six ties. Each team had
just over 17 minutes with the lead, but Stanford’s 26-14 advantage in the
fourth quarter clinched the game.
The Cardinal showed improvement from some earlier games
with eight 3’s and only six turnovers to go with 13 assists.
The 3’s came courtesy of Chloe with three, Lara with
two and one each from Courtney, freshman guard Hailee Swain and senior guard
Talana Lepolo.
The crowd of 2,957 included a busload of Cal fans who were
given yellow leis as they got off the bus. Few Stanford students were in evidence
because the fall quarter had ended two days earlier.
Sophomore center Kennedy Umeh’s right arm was still in
a sling, but everyone else was available.
During one timeout, the video board featured a pep
talk by Lindy La Roque, ’12, who’s now head coach at UNLV. The video showed one
of her most memorable plays when she fell but passed the ball to a teammate who
scored.
Later, Fran Belibi, ’23, also gave a pep talk as the video
showed one of her signature dunks.
With classes and finals in the rear view mirror, the
team has time off from academics to focus on practice and the next two games:
Washington at home at 7 p.m. Dec. 19 and Oregon in Chase Center, San Francisco,
at 3 p.m. Dec. 21.
Then there’s a quick Christmas break before the team
hosts Cornell at 1 p.m. Dec. 28.
