Everyone learns in opening exhibition win

 

Charlotte Tuhy (13) is mobbed by teammates after her long, long buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter. (Stanford Athletics photo)

The Stanford women’s basketball team’s 72-45 win over Pacific in the season’s first exhibition game on Oct. 24 was a learning experience for all involved.

It gave the players, especially the seven newcomers, a chance to learn what it’s like to play in front of a Maples crowd, sparse – 1,669 – as it was.

It gave fans a chance to learn the players by name, face, number, position and tendencies.

And it gave coaches a chance to learn what combinations work best in various situations as they substituted frequently, giving everyone some time on the floor.

Pacific’s first and only lead came early when it scored the game’s first basket. Sophomore guard Hailee Swain answered with two quick 3’s, and Stanford never looked back.

By the end of the first quarter, Stanford had a double-digit lead, 21-8. The Cardinal also finished the next three quarters with double-digit leads.

Ten 3’s helped the cause. In addition to Hailee’s two, junior point guard Shay Ijiwoye had four. Sophomore forward Alex Eschmeyer, freshman guards Gracyn Gilliard and Elyse Ngenda, and sophomore forward Charlotte Tuhy each added one.

Charlotte’s trey proved to be the game’s highlight as she lobbed in a buzzer-beater from behind the center line to end the third quarter and was mobbed by her teammates.

The starters were Hailee, Alex, Shay, Charlotte and junior forward Inéz Sotelo Míguez. They all played at least 23 minutes, led by Hailee with just over 32 minutes.

Hailee also led the scoring with 18 points followed by Shay with 16 and Inéz with 12.

Two bright spots were the 17 assists and four blocks. On the other hand, both teams had 16 turnovers, including the seven steals that Stanford allowed. And the team made only eight of its 15 free throws and had 17 fouls.

It was hard to follow statistics in real time because the corner videoboards that show player stats and the team stats malfunctioned so badly that they were turned off during the third quarter.

Betty Ann Hagenau was back as announcer, but there were no cheerleaders, band or Tree.

The team has another exhibition game, 6 p.m. Oct. 28 against UC Santa Barbara, before flying to Las Vegas to begin the season against Arizona at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 2.