Senior night is always interesting - especially when it marks the regular season home finale for four amazing seniors. Everybody wants a send-off victory, although according to Haley Jones, the players try to put that out of their mind and stay within the game.
In the first half, it looked like the game was going to be easy. Stanford had an eight-point lead after one quarter and a 13-point lead at the half. Unfortunately, the third quarter was not easy. UCLA came out on fire and Stanford did not. Going into the 4th quarter, Stanford was down by one. But the team stepped up to win by five. The CARD was led by their All-Americans Jones and Brink, who scored 19 of Stanford's 21 points in the final ten minutes. But lots of players made important contributions in that final quarter. Seniors Fran Belibi and Hannah both had key steals and rebounds. Freshman point guard Lepolo added a rebound, an assist, and scored the other two points on critical free throws giving Stanford a four-point lead with 13 seconds left in the game.
It was an interesting game statistically. Stanford was out rebounded 36 to 33, with an even greater disparity on the offensive boards. UCLA took 15 more shots than Stanford, but only had one more made basket. The Bruins also took 14 more three-pointers than Stanford, hitting 7-25 while Stanford was 4 of 11. The stats say that points-in-the-paint were even at 28 apiece but that stat doesn't include the 17 made free throws by Stanford "bigs" Betts and Brink. Stanford won this game at the charity stripe, going 23 of 25 while UCLA made 13 of 18. Cameron Brink was perfect from the line, hitting a Stanford record 15-straight free throws.
Interesting Improvements
It is exciting to see the improvements players have made. In this game we saw again the gains that Lauren Betts has made. She looked confident in her 15 minutes on the floor, scoring 12 points, collecting six rebounds, and getting an assist on a great pass out of a triple team. Both Nivar and Lepolo also showed that they should no longer be considered freshmen.
Saying Good Bye (sort of) to the Funky Four
The hardest thing about the night was realizing that this was the last "official" home game for the four Stanford seniors who came in as the #2 recruiting class in the country. Of course, their senior year is not really over. There are two more regular season games, the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, and the NCAA tournament. Stanford will certainly be a top 16 seed (probably a Regional #1), so there will be tournament games scheduled at Maples -- but this was the last regular season home game. They have been a joy to watch -- but more of that later when the season is closer to being truly over.
First Goal: Winning the Pac-12 Regular Season Title
With the win against UCLA, Stanford moves within one victory of clinching a share of the Pac-12 regular season title and the #1 seed for the Pac-12 tournament. Tara's team is heading to the mountains intent on grabbing two more victories. Those wins would properly build the Cardinal's momentum for the Pac-12 tournament.
Questions
1. Did you miss my column?
I was away in New Zealand and wasn’t able to watch any games after the Oregon sweep until I returned home. Who knew that New Zealand would show the Super Bowel but not Stanford Women’s Basketball?!! Since returning, I have bing-watched all the games. I will update this column with some comments.
2. How much will we miss watching the four seniors at Maples?
Of course, the four plus Agnes and Cameron all have Covid years….just saying.
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