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| The Feb. 22 victory at Florida State helped Mary Ashley Stevenson celebrate her 21st birthday. (Stanford Athletics) |
After a disheartening 66-51 loss at Miami on Feb. 19, the Stanford women’s basketball team bounced back to a decisive 77-61 win at Florida State on Feb. 22.
This win brought the team’s overall record to 17-12,
exceeding last season’s win total of 16. Its ACC record is 6-10.
Blown
away by the Hurricanes
Losing 66-51 at Miami on Feb. 19, the Cardinal shot
only 31.7 percent for the game. Its 20 first-half points were the fewest of the
season, Stanford Athletics reported.
It led the game for less than 2 minutes and tied
twice.
It was outscored in every quarter except the third,
when it had a 7-point run and bested the Hurricanes by 3 points. That gave
Stanford fans some hope, which quickly faded in the fourth quarter when Miami
scored 8 more points than its visitors.
The game was sparsely attended with only 833 people.
Two of them were SWBB alums, Cameron Brink, ’24, and
Lexie Hull, ’22, seated behind the Stanford bench. Both are WNBA players competing
in the off-season Unrivaled League.
Freshman guard Hailee Swain had 16 points to lead the
Cardinal, while junior forward Nunu Agara had 11. Freshman forward Lara Somfai
had 10 rebounds.
The team made only three of its 21 3-point attempts.
Hailee and two juniors, forward Courtney Ogden and guard Chloe Clardy, each had
one.
Turnovers were another problem with 17, leading to 19
Miami points.
ACCN’s telecast was delayed because the Virginia
Tech-North Carolina game, which North Carolina won, went into overtime.
When Stanford’s game came on with 3:45 left in the
first quarter, the team was down 8-6.
Swamping
the Seminoles
Traveling north to Tallahassee on the Florida Panhandle,
the team defeated Florida State 77-61 on Feb. 22.
With the win, Stanford clinched a
berth in the Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament that starts March 4 in
Duluth, Ga., Stanford Athletics reported.
Except for the first few seconds of the game, Stanford
led all the way.
The third quarter was a bit dicey as FSU went on an 8-point
run and outscored Stanford by 8 points overall, but the Cardinal countered with
an 11-point run to preserve its lead.
Although FSU’s zone defense was sometimes problematic,
four players finished in double figures. Nunu and Courtney teamed up to lead
the way with 22 and 21 points respectively. Nunu also had 14 rebounds for a
double-double.
Also in double figures were freshman forward Lara Somfai
with 15 and Chloe with 12.
Junior guard Mary Ashley Stevenson celebrated her 21st
birthday in front of the crowd of 1,686 with six rebounds and 2 points.
Sophomore guard Shay Ijiwoye moved into the starting
lineup as Chloe moved to the bench for a time.
Eight 3’s helped the cause with three each by Lara and
Courtney and two by Chloe.
On the other hand, 17 turnovers led to 17 points by
FSU.
The Cardinal will wrap up the regular season at home,
playing SMU at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 and Clemson at 11 a.m. March 1, Senior Day. ACC
will show both games.
