Starting the New Year right!

    

        Stanford's game against #15 Arizona had an 11:30 am start time.  Three-and-a-half minutes into the game it seemed the Cardinal needed a wakeup call.  Stanford had three fouls - two of the on Haley Jones, four turnovers, three missed shots, and zero points.  Haley Jones and Hannah Jump delivered that call with a Jones steal leading to a Jump three pointer.  Less than four minutes later an Indya Nivar layup on an assist from Haley Jones put the Stanford ahead for good. The CARD had turned a 0-6 deficit into a 12-11 lead.  

 

            Coming into the game both teams had high power offenses; Stanford averaging over 85 points per game, Arizona averaging over 81. And, both teams pride themselves in their tough defense. The CARD holding opponents to an average of only 57 points, the Wildcats holding opponents to just over 59.  On paper those stats suggest a close game.  It wasn't.  Stanford won 73 - 57. Kudos to the defenses -- Arizona held Stanford to 12 points under their average, but Stanford held Arizona to 24 points under theirs. In the second quarter Stanford scored 17 points while holding Arizona to only 7, giving the CARD a comfortable cushion that they held onto for the rest of the game.

 

            Before the game, Coach Paye warned that we could expect this game to be "gritty not pretty."  After the game Coach VanDerveer summed up the game as "gritty not pretty."  There seems to be a theme there!  It was a pretty good description. Both teams were aggressive on defense - with Arizona being whistled for 26 fouls, including one flagrant foul.  The CARD's 20 points at the free throw line compared to Arizona's 7 was a significant contributor to the final result. 

            As usual, this was a team victory -- ten players entered the game and all of them contributed -- whether it was scoring, rebounding, setting a screen, or just making a defensive play.  But, also as usual, there was an All American with a star-turn and an impressive performance by the "star du jour."  All American Haley Jones had a double-double (18 pts., 16 rebounds) and again put numbers into ever statistical category - adding five assists, a block, and three steals.  Unfortunately, she also had an uncharacteristic four personal fouls and seven turnovers -- giving her, as she put it, something to correct. The "star du jour" was Fran Belibi, one of the "funky four" senior class.  Fran's minutes have been down this year.  She is one of Stanford's loaded group of bigs and has been dealing with an injury to her thumb.  Today she was a star -- a double-double with 14 pts and 10 rebounds and a steal in 17 minutes. 

 

            Fran and Haley were joined in double digit scoring by Hannah Jump and Cameron Brink.  Hannah's four three pointers added to her nation leading total. Cam's four blocks keep her comfortably among the nation's block leaders. Talana Lepolo added four assists to her team leading total along with 6 pts and 3 rebounds. Kiki Iriafen also showed off her speed, court sense, and defensive chops. Indya Nivar and Lauren Betts also displayed the exciting talent that will make this team even stronger as they grow more comfortable in the college game.

 

Questions

 

1. How are fans going to manage without any home games for the next 18 DAYS?!!!

            We've had seven straight home games -- and only five of Stanford's 16 games have been outside of Maples.  I guess we can start by making the trek over to CAL, despite all the flooding and such.  At least all the games will be on the Pac-12 Network.

 

2. How good is this team?

            Stanford was undefeated in December. Tne game against #15 Arizona was expected to be a toughl test.  If it really was, then this group is looking like a truly elite team.   One thing for sure -- it's a fun team to watch.