WBB: Stanford 86 UCLA 80 - Printable Version

WBB: Stanford 86 UCLA 80 - Printable Version

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WBB: Stanford 86 UCLA 80 - 81alum - 01-05-2019

Preview:

We are taking on a very hot UCLA team and I don't know how many forwards we will have healthy for the game. UCLA just beat Cal in overtime. They are 9-5 and are inconsistent but dangerous. They have lost to teams like Loyola Marymount and have a blemished record, but they have won 6 in a row and seem to have shaken off their early season blues. Massey ranks them at 41 or slightly better than USC. UCLA has three players in double digit scoring and a very established starting five who all get 30 minutes a game. Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere is averaging 17 points and 8 rebounds and is shooting 51%. She is only 6' but a good athletic slasher. Senior guard 6'1" Kennedy Burke averages 15 ppg but doesn't shoot the three much. JaPreece Dean is a 5'6" senior who averages 13 points and is their most prolific three point shooter. They have a lot of additional talent including Drummer and Corsaro and Horvat and their own Ahlana Smith. Like USC, this is a team that will stress our guards. If we get Lexie or Marta back it would be a big help.

The key to winning this game is denying UCLA access to the basket, because I doubt they can outshoot us from three point range. Closing down lanes and packing it into the paint to turn them from a slashing team to a jumpshooting team will probably be just the ticket.

Overview:

After the first half, I felt like deleting my preview, because UCLA shot 7-9 from three point range. But we tightened our defense in the second half, and gutted out a come-from-behind (12 points behind) win behind a sterling offensive 30 point performance of Carrington and 20+ performances of Smith and Williams.

Before the game.

I was fortunate enough to be chosen "season ticket holder of the game" and got a chance to watch the team practice before Maples officially opened up. I saw right away that Nadia was in a full length leg brace, and Maya continues to be in a boot. Ugh. Back over at the chalk talk Lindy confirmed that Maya Nadia is out for the year with an ACL, they were hoping to get the surgery done quickly enough to get her ready for next year. More bad news. The team has no idea when Maya will return. Her tests have not rendered a definitive time schedule. Lindy said "it could be 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months. None of the coaches know."

When asked about whether UCLA had any weaknesses, Lindy made the same mistake I made and said that they had not been known for shooting well from outside, although she acknowledged they had shooters who could get hot. Clearly our plan was based on UCLA's past record and we were more willing to give up outside shots than driving lanes.

Stanford Athletics treated me very well--I got a chance to meet Tara, have my picture taken with her, was given a seat upgrade (which I shared with Bob since it came with two tickets,) got my face put on the scoreboard, etc. I have no idea if I was randomly picked but I enjoyed the day and am quite appreciative.

Flow of the Game:

The first half was not terrible offensively. The game even started somewhat well with Jerome and Williams each hitting their opening three point shots. But defense was a different story. UCLA unexpectedly hit 7 of 9 three point shots in the half, which completely trashed the scouting report. But worse than this, we were leaving lots of driving lanes open for tiny 5'6" Japreece Dean, who scooted through to hit a rash of 5-10 foot jumpers. With only a little over 5 minutes gone, this rash of unexpected treys and Dean layups left us down 17-6.

Carrington to the rescue! Dijonai scored our next 10 points in a row with 2 twos and 2 threes and kept us from going into a gigantic hole. Then Smith and Williams got into the act and we scratched our way back to be down 23-24 by the end of the first quarter.

We momentarily took the lead at the beginning of the second quarter, but UCLA's hot shooting continued and they recaptured an 11 point lead just five minutes in. Again, our defense looked powerless to prevent either their three point shooting or their pull up jumpshots from close in. Tara called a time out at this point even though the media time out was moments away--it was that dangerous a situation. But it didn't help. Smith turned it over and within a couple of minutes UCLA bombed yet another three and UCLA was up 43-31 with three minutes left. It felt very bleak. Lacie hit a nice trey on an assist from Kiana and by the half we had shrunk the lead down to 38-45. As I said to Bob, 38 points is not bad for an offense that has lost several of its players. But giving up 45 points sends up all kinds of defensive red flags.

The third quarter was a remarkable turnaround, indicating that Tara made some terrific halftime adjustments. On offense, Williams joined Carrington in taking the ball to the basket and generating layups and free throws. We made 14/17 free throws today--and our FT margin over UCLA was big enough to be the difference in the game. During the quarter we went on an 18-3 run to move from well behind to well ahead. Three minutes into the quarter we tied the game with an Alanna layup, and then after making a defensive stop Kianna hit a trey for a 53-50 lead, bringing the crowd to its feet and roaring its approval. Finally Alanna's treys began to drop, too, and we stopped UCLA on 12 of its next 14 possessions, to close out the third quarter up 64-57.

The fourth quarter we gave up 23 points, but scored 22. The intensity remained. Five minutes in Lacie stepped in front of a pass for a steal and passed to Kiana for a trey, and it began to feel as if the game was ours to lose. UCLA played hard and kept the game tight until the end, cutting our lead to just two points with 2:26 remaining, and then Williams hit a trey to answer at the other end. The end did come, and we were ahead when it did.

Performances:

Smith, Carrington, Williams, and Lacie Hull each played nearly the entire game--all of them had 38 or more minutes. The rest of the time was mostly split between Jerome, Coffee, and 8 minutes for Lexie Hull, who is gradually getting back into the game. Coffee didn't take a shot and had no rebounds. Jerome shot two treys and made two treys, and Lexie was cold coming back and went 0-4. In fact, the most shocking stat of the game: 0 bench points for Stanford. Zero.

The "big three" carried the team, each getting hot at different times of the game. Carrington finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds, Williams with 21 points and 10 assists, and Smith with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Most important, perhaps, is that Smith stayed foul free through the first half and was able to stay in the game. She did get hit with 4 eventually, two of which I thought were questionable--but the game could have gotten very ugly if she had to joint Maya and Nadia on the bench.

By the time the game was done the stats were remarkably close. We were out rebounded 38-37, three point shooting and general FG% both came in line within a couple of points in the mid 40s, points off turnovers was 16 to 16, point in the paint was 30 to 30. But UCLA committed 21 fouls to our 10, and we actually made our free throws for once.

Conclusion:

I hope we are much healthier before our trip to UCLA and USC, because those are two young teams that will improve before we face them at their homes, and I doubt we would have won either of these two games had they been played at their homes. Losing Nadia is certainly very bad news--but exactly how bad it is will depend on how quickly Maya gets back to play and how quickly Alyssa develops an offensive presence. Only time will tell.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - TheFarm07 - 01-05-2019

(01-05-2019, 07:11 PM)81alum Wrote: The key to winning this game is denying UCLA access to the basket, because I doubt they can outshoot us from three point range. Closing down lanes and packing it into the paint to turn them from a slashing team to a jumpshooting team will probably be just the ticket.

It sounds like a very similar gameplan to the one we had against USC, forcing them to take outside shots and denying them the lane as much as possible.

I don't know how much good 36 hours can do, but hopefully the injury report will be shorter tomorrow afternoon

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - BobK - 01-05-2019

Presume you mean getting Lexie and Dodson back. Marta won’t be Sunday.

Suspect Romano retired. Just off line discussions with friends trying to figure it out

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - 2006alum - 01-05-2019

Wow. I assume not medical retirement, since we never heard anything and she was playing up to the end?

I wonder if she wanted to focus on academics for the last two quarters of college? She always struck me as being especially interested in making the most of the rest of campus, more so than most basketball players. Either way, wish her well if this is true.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - M T - 01-06-2019

I looked at the USC-UCLA 3rd quarter again (the only one where UCLA outscored USC, 31-10). I didn't watch the defense so much, but USC was sloppy on offense. Other than that quarter, USC won 55-41.

UCLA:
6/12 2pt
5/7 3-ptrs (incl. a running, banked 3PT as time expired)
4/4 FT/FTA

All 6 made 2ptrs were in the paint
3 fast breaks (including one that resulted in 2 FT rather than a 2PT)
A put-back on a missed FT.
An inbounds play where a player was unguarded on the block
2 others

Uncalled travels (3Q 8:41, 7:36(carrying the ball), 7:34 (pseudo Euro-step), 6:48(carrying the ball), 5:31)
Uncalled 3-second call leading to a basket.
A horrible non-call (3Q 3:22). On offense, UCLA #24 put her hands on the chest of her defender and pushed her directly away, as UCLA #11 stuck her leg out behind the USC player. It looked like something done by an elementary school bully. Benny Luna was the official who should have seen & called that. Both UCLA players committed a foul.

USC in the 3rd:
3/11 2PT
1/6 3PT
1/3 FT

Honestly, I don't see that happening against Stanford. Even if our offense falls apart and we can't rebound, I don't see the opponent getting that scoring. I guess if we're playing a zone because of foul trouble, it is conceivable they could get the 3s, but not as many 2s.

I hope Stanford players signal carrying the ball the first time #24 does it so maybe it will be called later.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - BobK - 01-06-2019

They stopped called carrying the ball years ago. So don’t hold your breath

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - crackpot - 01-06-2019

(01-06-2019, 10:06 AM)BobK Wrote: They stopped called carrying the ball years ago. So don’t hold your breath

Yup. I don't get why they just don't quietly remove it from the rules.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - Jskass - 01-06-2019

Neither Dodson nor Fingall in uniform but both are vertical on court in warm-up. Fingall big left knee brace and Dodson in small boot. (I’m in a large one.) good news is I see 2 Hulls shooting in warmup.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - UltimateCard - 01-06-2019

Nadia in knee brace; Maya wearing boot. We’ll have to rely on Alanna and small ball.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - Spiny_Norman - 01-06-2019

Stanford Rivals reports that Fingall has a torn ACL and is out for the year.

[twitter]https://twitter.com/StanfordRivals/status/1082005585879392256[/twitter]

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - TheFarm07 - 01-06-2019

After one quarter, the Bruins lead 24-23

After UCLA jumped to a 17-6 lead on a barrage of 3-pointers, we found our shooting range and started making baskets that we were missing at the beginning of the game

With our injuries, the depth we enjoyed at the start of the season is no longer there and Tara cannot liberally substitute like she had been able to do

I think the starting five played for the first five or six minutes before Coffee replaced Jerome

I am not sure if Lexie will play, though the announcers seem to hint that she might be available

The Bruins extend their lead to 45-38 at halftime as UCLA is hitting a scorching 77% from long range and over 50% overall

DiJonai is carrying the team right now with 21 points as Alanna only has 3 points on a frigid 1/7 shooting and our second leading scorer is Kiana with 8 points

We can see where losing our starters hurts on defense tremendously as UCLA's quickness and speed is finding open looks that we normally would close out to. Anna and Jenna also made a couple of ill-advised decisions early on and was yanked

We need to come out well in the third as we might tire in the fourth with our key players in there for extended periods of time

UltimateCard - UltimateCard - 01-06-2019

DiJonai keeping us in the game, scoring 10 points in a row for the Cardinal after the media timeout in the 1Q to help close a double digit deficit. Stanford took the lead early in 2Q; UCLA went zone and pulled ahead again by double digits. Hope Tara can work her magic at halftime.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - M T - 01-06-2019

I think we’re fortunate that we’re only down 7. DiJonai’s 4 TO hurt a good offensive performance. Shannon was a non- player unfortunately. I didn’t see why Jerome was taken out. Our guard play has been lacking on defense—too many open 3s because we’re playing so far off them because of no confidence in the bigs behind them if they get beat

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - mbdude - 01-06-2019

'We can see where losing our starters hurts on defense tremendously as UCLA's quickness and speed is finding open looks that we normally would close out to."

Coffee's lack of quickness really hurts the ball movement of offense, and on defense as mentioned

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - BosCard - 01-06-2019

Hope Dodson gets better soon. Coffee can be helpful defending strong but slow posts. Any other players can drive around her for layups like all of UCLA players did.

RE: UltimateCard - magnus - 01-06-2019

(01-06-2019, 02:57 PM)UltimateCard Wrote: Hope Tara can work her magic at halftime.

Apparently so.

Checked the score late in the 2nd and we were down double digits. Thought we were doomed to lose but then remembered we're playing quarters now. Then checked in at half. Down 7. Checked in over here. And went back to check the score. Up 6! Magic indeed.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - TheFarm07 - 01-06-2019

We make a brobdingnagian run in the third quarter as we take the lead 64-57 as Alanna heated up, making 5 baskets in a row in a 13-0 stretch and punctuated awesomely by a Kianna intercept and layup

Perhaps just as important as our furious comeback is the first appearance of Lexie in a game since mid-November. It is good to be adding someone to the rotation rather than losing someone.

A little concerning at the end of the quarter is the Bruins' ability to get multiple offensive rebounds and therefore additional opportunities to score

UltimateCard - UltimateCard - 01-06-2019

Better D. starting to hit shots. But giving up too many O-boards. Lexie played a few minutes.

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - TheFarm07 - 01-06-2019

We win 86-80 with the Bruins never giving up despite us extending it to a double digit lead early in the fourth. We were somewhat saved by their poor FT shooting as we could not get some key shots to go down late in the fourth and they kept getting second or even third chances on their end of the floor.

The stars were the big three: DiJonai, Alanna and Kiana. DiJonai was one rebound shy of joining the other two with double-doubles as each of them scored at least 21 points

They needed to, as we got no bench points in this game, which would have been unheard of, earlier in the season with our depth. Alyssa did come up with a big 3 late in the fourth when UCLA was within three points

Alanna's ability to step up in the 3rd quarter really turned the game around. Already with their hands full with DiJonai, Alanna was able to take the opportunity and give the Bruins another issue to deal with

With our injury woes, we were very fortunate to come away with a sweep of the LA schools

Hopefully, this week will allow Lexie to get back to full strength, Maya to come back and Marta to continue making steps towards her own return

RE: WBB: Stanford vs UCLA Sunday 1pm - M T - 01-06-2019

When was the last time we had 3 20+ point scorers?