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| Returning to action, Nunu goes up against a Virginia defender. (Maddie Hinkley ISI Photos) |
The Stanford women’s basketball team lost a pair of
home games: 79-67 to Virginia Tech on Feb. 12 and Virginia 75-69 on Feb. 15.
These two losses left the Cardinal with a 16-11 record
overall and 5-9 in the ACC.
Third
quarter is Stanford’s undoing against Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech game on Feb. 12 was competitive
until about the middle of the third quarter. That’s when the wheels came off,
leading to a 79-67 loss for Stanford.
Once again Stanford was short-handed with only 11
available players, seven of whom got into the game. Virginia Tech used 10
players.
Junior forward Nunu Agara was back with the team after
missing the trip to Georgia. She wasn’t in uniform, but she briefly took part
in a drill with junior forward Mary Ashley Stevenson and seemed to be in good
spirits.
Forward Harper Peterson and center Kennedy Umeh, both
sophomores, were also back with the team but unavailable. However, starting
senior guard Talana Lepolo again wasn’t there.
Because the game was a celebration of Black History
Month, it began with the singing of the Black anthem, “Lift Every Voice and
Sing,” by Tamara Dunn, who followed with “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The game itself started inauspiciously with a Stanford
turnover followed by a Virginia Tech basket. However, freshman forward Lara
Somfai countered with a 3-pointer.
After that, the first quarter went back and forth and
ended with Stanford up by 2 points. The same was true of the second quarter.
The score remained close until that fateful mid-third
quarter. That’s when VT surged ahead by 8 points and outscored the host team in
the fourth quarter to win the game.
Overall, the game had 14 lead changes and nine ties.
Stanford had seven 3’s with four by junior Chloe
Clardy, two by Lara and one by junior forward Courtney Ogden.
Chloe led Stanford with 20 points. Courtney and Lara
both had 15 points, and Lara pulled down 15 rebounds.
Stanford outrebounded VT, but the Cardinal’s 13
turnovers were costly to the tune of 11 VT points.
Halftime was highlighted by the Stanford Soul Line
Dancers as emcee Anthony Scott Knox spoke about the timeline of Black History
Month going back to 1926. The video board also showed some prominent Black
people, including Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J, a Stanford grad.
After the dancers’ first number, they were joined by
the cheerleaders, band members, fans and others.
Good
news – Nunu’s back, but team still loses
Making her first appearance since
Jan. 25, Nunu returned to the starting lineup to loud applause and led the team
with 21 points. But that wasn’t enough as Virginia won 75-69 on Feb. 15.
Harper, Kennedy and senior guard
Lauren Green were unavailable, and Talana was absent again,
Nunu scored the team’s first five
points. Virginia didn’t get its first basket until about two and half minutes
into the game.
The game was competitive most of the
way with five lead changes and three ties. Stanford led by as many as eight
points in the first quarter, but was outscored by 10 points in the second.
Otherwise, Stanford tied with
Virginia in third-quarter scoring and outscored the Cavaliers in the fourth.
Stanford had fewer fouls, but free
throws were a big difference maker with 28 by Virginia and 15 by Stanford.
For once, Stanford had fewer
turnovers than the opponent, 13-17, but Virginia outrebounded the home team,
46-36.
In addition to Nunu, Cardinal players
in double figures were freshman guard Hailee Swain with 13, Chloe with 12 and
Courtney with 10.
Stanford had four 3’s with two by
Courtney and one each by Lara and Chloe.
Because it was Girls and Women in
Sports Day, the doors opened early to give the 3,358 fans a chance to enjoy
activities set up by other Stanford women’s sports team in the concourses.
The PCPA dancers entertained them
during halftime.
Looking ahead, the team takes to the road again,
playing Miami at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 and Florida State at 11 a.m. Feb. 22. ACCN will
show both games.\
Maddie ISI Photos
