Defanging the felines lets team play another day

 

Shay (left) and  Chloe warm up before the LMU game.

Hosting rounds 1 and 2 of the WBIT, the Stanford women’s basketball team beat the Loyola Marymount Lions 80-76 on March 19 and followed up by beating the Quinnipiac Bobcats 81-69 on March 22.

 Thus the team earned the right to play the winner of the March 23 BYU-Missouri game.

 Nunu leads the way against LMU

Every time Stanford fans thought the game was in the bag, Loyola Marymount would somehow put more points on the board. It wasn’t until the final buzzer that the Cardinal defeated the visiting Lions 80-76 in the first round of the WBIT on March 19.

Stanford was up by as many as 19 points early in the second quarter. It outscored LMU in the first and second quarters, but the wheels seemed to come off in the third quarter. That’s when LMU scored 8 more points than Stanford, which clung to a 2-point lead after the quarter.

Stanford expanded on that narrow lead in the fourth quarter by scoring two more points than LMU to win the game.

Overall, Stanford led for more than 33 minutes, while LMU led for just over 4 minutes.

The Cardinal were led by junior Nunu Agara’s monster game of 26 points and a career-high-tying 16 rebounds. She finished the game with 1,005 career points.

Freshman forward Alex Eschmeyer had five blocks, three of them in the fourth quarter. “Her 41 blocks this season are the sixth most in school history by a freshman,” Stanford Athletics reported.

Three other Cardinal players scored in double figures with 19 by junior forward Courtney Ogden, 18 by freshman guard Hailee Swain and 14 by junior guard Chloe Clardy.

LMU frequently rotated nine players, while six Stanford players logged the most time. They were the five starters – Nunu, Alex, Chloe, Courtney and Hailee – plus sophomore guard Shay Ijiwoye.

LMU’s 10 3-pointers helped to keep it in the game. Stanford had four 3’s with three by Chloe and one by Courtney.

 Another factor aiding LMU was its swarming, trapping full court  press, challenging Stanford players to advance themselves and the ball. Hence Stanford had 20 turnovers to LMU’s 15.

 However, Stanford overcame that strategy by scoring on 23 fast breaks. It also had 14 assists.

Stanford was missing one of its key players, freshman forward Lara Somfai. She reportedly is in Europe playing for Hungary, where she was born, in an international tournament.

Senior guard Talana Lepolo also was absent, as she has been for several weeks because of a health issue.

Sophomore center Kennedy Umeh and senior guard Lauren Green were there but unavailable.

Attendance was skimpy, just 944, in part because winter quarter was wrapping up with the last day of finals on March 20. Still, the band and cheerleaders were on hand.

Betty Ann Hagenau, who usually announces home games, wasn’t there. She was replaced by a man who overhyped almost everything.

On the other hand, the calmer Anthony Scott Knox was behind the mike for the Quinnipiac game.

Alex goes for the basket on her way to 18 points against Quinnipiac.

 Team headed for WBIT quarterfinals

Six players were in double figures as Stanford defeated Quinnipiac 81-69 on March 22. Thus the team earned a slot in the WBIT quarterfinals on March 26.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair that ended with the visitors up 16-15. That was it, though. Stanford increased its advantage at the end of the next three quarters.

For a while in the second quarter, Stanford tried a tactic that LMU had used so extensively – the full-court press. It seemed to be effective, but the team backed away from it after a few minutes, perhaps because it’s so tiring for a short-handed team.

Only 11 players were available, and only seven got into the game. Once again Talana and Lara were absent. So was Lauren. Kennedy was there but unavailable.

Two players had perhaps their best games of the season: Alex poured in 18 points. Coming off the bench, junior forward Mary Ashley Stevenson had 10 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.

Chloe also had 18 points, while Nunu had 13. Courtney and Hailee had 10 each.

Quinnipiac helped its cause with eight 3’s while Stanford had four: two by Alex and one each by Courtney and Chloe.

Free throws were a difference maker with 21 by Stanford compared with nine by Quinnipiac. Alex, Hailee and Mary Ashley were all perfect at the charity stripe: 4 of 4.

Stanford had the advantage in rebounds and steals. It even had one less turnover: 11 vs. 12.

Nunu had one of her four assists when she was being hounded under the basket and passed to Mary Ashley, who scored.

With the win, the Cardinal is into Thursday’s quarterfinals to play the winner of the BYU-Missouri game at 6 p.m. March 23 in Utah. If BYU wins, Stanford will travel to Provo for Thursday’s contest. If Missouri wins, Stanford will host Tigers on March 26 at 7 p.m.

Game attendance again was sparse – only 874. 

Stanford is on a break until spring quarter starts March 30.

                                                                                (Stanford Athletics photos)

Loss to Miami ends team's ACC hopes

 

Hailee (left) and Nunu battle for the ball. (Getty Images)

The Stanford women’s basketball team’s hopes for an extended ACC tournament run were dashed in the first round when Miami prevailed 83-76 in overtime on March 4 in Duluth, Ga.

The game opened on a promising note when freshman guard Hailee Swain hit a 3-pointer, followed by a basket by junior forward Nunu Agara. 

Subsequent cold shooting left the Cardinal in the cold at the end of the first quarter, down 19-10 for its lowest first-quarter score of the season, according to the TV announcers.

Quarter two went better with the team shooting off three 3’s right away, making a total of seven 3’s in the quarter and ending with a 2-point lead.

Quarter three was a different story as Miami’s tough defense helped it to a 13-point lead.

Stanford outscored Miami by 13 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game and force overtime.

However, Stanford ran out of fire power in OT and was outscored by 7 points, leading to the final 83-76 score.

For the game, Stanford shot 42 percent, Miami 50.8 percent.

Overall, the game had nine lead changes and five ties.

Miami snared more rebounds, 46-30, but had more turnovers, 17-15.

Three-point shooting helped the Cardinal with a total of 12. Hailee and junior Courtney Ogden had four each. Freshman forward Lara Somfai had three, and freshman forward Alex Eschmeyer had one.

Courtney led four players in double figures with 22 points. Hailee followed with 17, Lara had 12, and Nunu had 11.

The crowd seemed sparse but undoubtedly included family and friends of Hailee and Courtney, who both are from Georgia. The Tree, band, cheerleaders and Dollies also were there to cheer.

And as the regular ACC season ended, Hailee and Lara were named to the all-freshman team, and Nunu was named to the ACC second team.

Stanford finished with a 19-13 record so far, besting its 16-15 of last season.

Now the team is back on campus awaiting the next step. A berth in the NCAA tournament seems like a long shot, so the WNIT is more likely. The NCAA bracket will be announced March 15, followed by the WNIT bracket on March 16.

In the meantime, classes are on the agenda. The last day of winter quarter classes is March 13, followed by finals March 16-20.

 

Team ends season on a high note

 

Lara Somfai goes for a layup against SMU.

The Stanford women’s basketball team completed its regular season on a three-game winning streak that it will take into the ACC tournament.

The tournament bracket shows the Cardinal as the No. 13 seed facing Miami, the No. 12 seed, at 8 a.m. PST March 4 in Duluth, Ga. The game will be shown by ACCN and ESPN app. Playing in Miami on Feb. 19, Stanford lost 51-66.

The current winning streak started with a 77-61 victory at Florida State on Feb. 22 and continued with two home wins: 87-57 over SMU on Feb. 26 and an even more decisive 85-50 victory over Clemson on March 1.

Taken together, Stanford won these three games 249-168, an 81-point difference.

Stanford easily downs Southern Methodist U

Stanford rode to an easy 87-57 win over the SMU Mustangs on Feb. 26.

The first quarter told much of the story as Stanford was ahead 10-0 before SMU finally scored about halfway through the quarter. The host team led 31-6 when the quarter ended.

“The 31 points were the most the Cardinal has scored in any quarter this season, and the six points allowed were the fewest it has surrendered to an opponent in any period,” Stanford Athletics reported.

After that, Stanford’s lead never fell below 20 points. Even when SMU scored 4 more points than Stanford in the second quarter, the Cardinal still were ahead 50-29 when halftime began.

Head coach Kate Paye began pulling the regulars early in the fourth quarter and inserting players who have seen little or no action, starting with freshman forward Nora Ezike. She was followed by freshman guard Carly Amborn, sophomore forward Harper Peterson and senior guards Stavi Papadaki and Lauren Green.

Nora delighted the bench and the crowd of nearly 2,800 by scoring twice. And then when Carly hit a 3-pointer with under three minutes to go, the cheers were deafening.

She was among three players accounting for the team’s six 3’s. Junior forward Courtney Ogden had three and freshman forward Lara Somfai had two.

SMU was short-handed with only eight available players while Stanford had 13. Sophomore center Kennedy Umeh was there but not in uniform. Senior guard Talana Lepolo was still missing although she was uniform in a video promoting the upcoming Senior Day.

Five players were in double figures led by Lara with 19. She was followed by Courtney with 15, freshman guard Hailee Swain with 14 (10 in the first quarter), junior forward Nunu Agara with 13 and junior guard Chloe Clardy with 12.

Starters were Nunu, Lara, Courtney, Hailee and sophomore guard Shay Ijiwoye.

Besides the score, Stanford dominated in most of all the other positive stats, and had seven fewer turnovers than SMU.

Before tipoff, the video board showed Brooke Demetre, ’25, who reportedly attended the game, encouraging the team and praising Stanford.

Kids joined the traditional conga line after the first quarter, and dozens of fans joined an on-court Zumba session at halftime while others danced in the stands.

As I was leaving Maples after the game, I spotted a small girl, probably around kindergarten age, wearing a T-shirt reading “I’m Nunu’s littlest fan.”

Seniors Laureen Green (left), Stavi Papadaki and Talana Lepolo were honored with flowers 
from Stanford and leis from Talana's family.

Senior Day celebrated with big win over Clemson

On paper it looked as if Clemson had the edge with a slightly better record than Stanford, but paper didn’t count in the final score: an 85-50 victory on March 1, Senior Day.

The Cardinal had a 9-point lead after the first quarter, and the margin widened after that. Stanford scored first with a basket and free throw from Courtney, and it stayed ahead for the entire game.

While Clemson had only one player in double figures, 10 points, Stanford had four. Nunu was tops with 24 points and 10 rebounds, another double-double for her.

She was followed by Hailee with 20, Courtney with 15 and Lara with 11.

Eight 3-pointers helped the cause with three by Hailee, two by Courtney and one each by Nunu, Lara and freshman forward Alex Eschmeyer.

Stanford dominated in all statistics. One of the more notable numbers was 21 assists and only nine turnovers.

Before the game began, the team’s three seniors – Talana, Stavi and Lauren – were introduced. They were accompanied by family or friends and hugged by retired head coach Tara VanDerveer, who had recruited them.

Kate gave flowers to Clemson’s seniors.

As the two teams lined up for the national anthem, they first heard the Greek national anthem in honor of Stavi, who’s from Greece.

This format differed from past Senior Days that occurred after the game and featured tributes from teammates. Instead the tributes are posted on the team’s Facebook page, which can be accessed on the Fast Break Club site, www.stanfordfbc.org.

The need to travel to Georgia on March 2 for the early game on March 4 likely led to the change.

Senior practice players and senior cheerleaders were saluted during the game.

All of Stanford’s available players (Kennedy and Talana still were out of action) got into the game although the bench wasn’t entirely cleared until just over a minute to go.

Stanford finished the season with a 19-12 record overall and 8-10 in the ACC.

(Photos by ISI/Photos)