Stanford 73 -- Colorado 62
Things looked dark for Stanford down by one with six seconds left in the game and Colorado's Jaylyn Sherrod going to the free throw line for two shots. Sherrod, a 75% free throw shooter, missed both. Fran Belibi grabbed the rebound. With three seconds left, Lauren Betts was fouled while shooting from deep in the paint. She made one of the resulting free throws, sending the game into a second OT. Despite the fatigue one would expect for a team playing at altitude against their third ranked team in less than a week, Stanford outscored Colorado 13 to 2 in the final five minutes of this 50-minute game!
When Pac-12 Player-of-the-Year candidate Cameron Brink fouled out early in the first OT, All American Haley Jones stepped up! She was directly involved in seven of Stanford's points in the final OT (four points and an amazing assist on a Hannah Jump three-pointer), while playing the point and -- even more -- being the team's leader. Haley played every minute of the game, scoring seven points in the first OT to help keep the CARD in the game.
Stanford reserve stars from Colorado -- senior Fran Belibi and freshman Lauren Betts -- were key players in this victory, partly due to Brink's foul problems! Both played roughly 20 minutes over their season average. Between the two, they accounted for 20 of the team's 73 points, 5 of the team's 10 blocks, 6 of the team's 16 assists, and 16 of the team's 53 rebounds. Fran also had a critical steal. She reminded us why we will miss her, and Lauren showed us how dominant she is going to become!
HARD TRIP!
Trips to the mountains are always hard due to the need to play at altitude after plane rides. This trip also has the difficulty of coming at 2 pm after a Monday night game, that was followed by an emotional Senior Night ceremony. Stanford didn't even take the normal morning shoot-around. That may have contributed to Stanford's slow start -- the CARD didn't score their first points until Haley Jones hit two free throws with 74 SECONDS remaining in the first quarter and didn't hit their first basket until 12 seconds left in the quarter! Stanford's defense kept the CARD in the game. Despite Stanford's poor shooting, the CARD was only down by eight at the end of the first quarter.
Once the Stanford offense got warmed up, the CARD outscored Colorado by two in the second quarter and 12 in the third quarter. Fatigue may have caught up with Stanford in the 4th quarter when a motivated and well coached Buffalo team outscored the CARD by six to even the game at the end of regulation. Having survived what looked like almost certain defeat in the first overtime, Stanford came out with new determination in the second OT. They showed the heart of champions, scoring 13 points while holding Colorado to only two points over the final five minutes.
SNAKE BIT!
Colorado star Jaylyn Sherrod must be feeling a little snake bit as this is at least the third time Stanford has turned what appeared to be a Colorado victory into a loss. First it was Ashton Prechtel hitting a catch and shoot basket with only seconds to go four years ago. Then it was Kianna Williams scoring six points in less than16 seconds to steal another win. In this game Sherrod gave it more than her all but may have nightmares about those missed free-throws at the end of the first OT. It is a tribute to J.R. Payne's coaching that Colorado is always one of the toughest challenges Stanford faces every year.
First Goal Accomplished!!!
With the win Stanford wraps up at least a share of the Pac-12 title and the #1 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament next week. (If Stanford and Utah end the season with equal 15-3 Conference records, Stanford wins the tie-breaker with the Utes.) That meets the team's first goal. Beating Utah to take sole possession would be sweet! Then it's on to the Pac-12 Tournament with goal number two being winning that tournament.
Questions
1. Did Tara see something nobody else saw?
At the start of the season Pac-12 coaches were polled on who would win the Conference. The rule is you can't pick your own team. Stanford got 11 votes, Utah got one...so we know who voted for them. The coaches picked Oregon second, Arizona third, UCLA fourth, and Utah fifth! Tara claimed her vote was purely based on Utah's second place finish in last year's Pac-12 tournament. But one wonders if she saw something other's missed.
2. Are the CARD getting ready to "gel?"
Stanford clearly has all the pieces of a championship team. But a lot of those pieces are very young players. And, the one problem with having so many fabulous pieces is getting the team to gel. This team has great chemistry among the players but isn't playing like a well-oiled machine (yet). There have been flashes -- but not 40 consecutive minutes. If the CARD can bring all the pieces together for full game (and it is looking more likely), they will be lifting three trophies before April 3...
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