Preview:
The road trip to the mountains could be a lot tougher than first anticipated, given Utah's surprising record. But the first game is at Colorado. Colorado is 10-7 overall but 0-6 in Pac 12 play, having lost to Washington and WSU--by 26 points-- among others. Colorado is not being helped by the injury to their star Kennedy Leonard, who has missed the last several games. I can't find online information about her status--Bob might know--so I have no idea if she could be back to face us on Friday or not. Colorado is coached by JR Payne, who was the coach of Santa Clara when they beat us at Maples in 2015 with a frenetic defense. Colorado does have other weapons besides Leonard. Guard Quinessa Caylao-Do is averaging 12 ppg and hitting 44% of her threes. 6'4" center Maya Hollingshed is their rebounding leader.
Overview:
We played a dreadful first half, going 0/13 from three point range, but a 32-12 outpouring in the 3rd quarter reversed our fortunes.
Character of the game:
Colorado was playing with two key players out, and still their interior defense was quite strong in the first half. Payne always has her teams playing very physically and so a lot depends on the nature of the officiating as to how successful they will be. But while they limited us offensively inside, we flat out missed open threes from outside--and misses are contagious, robbing confidence, producing hesitation, and they just kept clanking over and over and over. Dijonai was 0/9, Alanna got a few layups, but every point was earned, and we reached the half down 36-28.
The third quarter was the game. We went from 8 points down to 12 points up on the strength of a nearly perfect 32-12 outpouring. Dijonai led off with a layup-and-one. She deserves credit for continuuing to be aggressive despite her first half slump. Then a brilliant Kianna layup and Colorado called time out--still up 37-33. Then after we got a stop Kianna nailed our first trey of the game, narrowing it to a one point deficit. After giving up a layup, Alanna hit her first trey and the game was tied 39-39. We exchanged baskets and then it was Anna Wilson's turn to make a trey, and we had a lead at 45-44. Lexie, Alanna, and Anna all had steals in a sequence that contributed to fast break points and a 60-48 lead at the end of the quarter.
We were outscored 21-20 in the fourth, as Colorado desperately tried to close the gap and we milked the clock a bit. But it almost felt anticlimactic after the third, and the game ended with an 11 point Stanford lead.
Performances:
Alanna came back from a difficult 10 point first half to score 26, including 3 second half treys. She also registered 5 blocks.
Kianna Williams was our most consistent player today, scoring 20 points and doing reasonably well in both halves. She also had 7 assists.
Dijonai Carrington showed remarkable fortitude. Her shooting never really did get going, but by attacking the basket she got herself 11 free throw attempts, making 8. She wound up with 12 points and a whopping 13 rebounds for the only double double.
Anna Wilson, coming off the bench, played quite well. She got herself into position to receive and make a couple of back door cuts, she made a trey, grabbed a couple of steals, played active defense, and with her 9 points made a solid all-around contribution to this difficult win.
Lexie came from the bench and scored 8, including a nifty reverse layup. The rust seems to be coming off.
As a team, we did a good job taking care of the ball. Our 6 turnovers to Colorado's 15 are no doubt what made the difference in this game. Colorado committed 21 fouls to our 10--no doubt a reflection of Payne's grabbie pushie defensive style. Our 21% three point shooting was appalling, but we were a respectable 6/15 in the second half. 42 points in the paint to their 10 was a brobdingnagian difference. Rebounds were nearly even.
Helping us were our free throws and our steals, helping them was their superior three point shooting.
Conclusion:
Tara worked her magic at halftime again. Hopefully this will be a lesson in humility that did not have to be learned with a loss. Now on to Utah, which is playing terrific basketball at home and just defeated Cal by 13. This could be our toughest road game--given that we don't travel to Oregon. And no TV. Sheesh.
The road trip to the mountains could be a lot tougher than first anticipated, given Utah's surprising record. But the first game is at Colorado. Colorado is 10-7 overall but 0-6 in Pac 12 play, having lost to Washington and WSU--by 26 points-- among others. Colorado is not being helped by the injury to their star Kennedy Leonard, who has missed the last several games. I can't find online information about her status--Bob might know--so I have no idea if she could be back to face us on Friday or not. Colorado is coached by JR Payne, who was the coach of Santa Clara when they beat us at Maples in 2015 with a frenetic defense. Colorado does have other weapons besides Leonard. Guard Quinessa Caylao-Do is averaging 12 ppg and hitting 44% of her threes. 6'4" center Maya Hollingshed is their rebounding leader.
Overview:
We played a dreadful first half, going 0/13 from three point range, but a 32-12 outpouring in the 3rd quarter reversed our fortunes.
Character of the game:
Colorado was playing with two key players out, and still their interior defense was quite strong in the first half. Payne always has her teams playing very physically and so a lot depends on the nature of the officiating as to how successful they will be. But while they limited us offensively inside, we flat out missed open threes from outside--and misses are contagious, robbing confidence, producing hesitation, and they just kept clanking over and over and over. Dijonai was 0/9, Alanna got a few layups, but every point was earned, and we reached the half down 36-28.
The third quarter was the game. We went from 8 points down to 12 points up on the strength of a nearly perfect 32-12 outpouring. Dijonai led off with a layup-and-one. She deserves credit for continuuing to be aggressive despite her first half slump. Then a brilliant Kianna layup and Colorado called time out--still up 37-33. Then after we got a stop Kianna nailed our first trey of the game, narrowing it to a one point deficit. After giving up a layup, Alanna hit her first trey and the game was tied 39-39. We exchanged baskets and then it was Anna Wilson's turn to make a trey, and we had a lead at 45-44. Lexie, Alanna, and Anna all had steals in a sequence that contributed to fast break points and a 60-48 lead at the end of the quarter.
We were outscored 21-20 in the fourth, as Colorado desperately tried to close the gap and we milked the clock a bit. But it almost felt anticlimactic after the third, and the game ended with an 11 point Stanford lead.
Performances:
Alanna came back from a difficult 10 point first half to score 26, including 3 second half treys. She also registered 5 blocks.
Kianna Williams was our most consistent player today, scoring 20 points and doing reasonably well in both halves. She also had 7 assists.
Dijonai Carrington showed remarkable fortitude. Her shooting never really did get going, but by attacking the basket she got herself 11 free throw attempts, making 8. She wound up with 12 points and a whopping 13 rebounds for the only double double.
Anna Wilson, coming off the bench, played quite well. She got herself into position to receive and make a couple of back door cuts, she made a trey, grabbed a couple of steals, played active defense, and with her 9 points made a solid all-around contribution to this difficult win.
Lexie came from the bench and scored 8, including a nifty reverse layup. The rust seems to be coming off.
As a team, we did a good job taking care of the ball. Our 6 turnovers to Colorado's 15 are no doubt what made the difference in this game. Colorado committed 21 fouls to our 10--no doubt a reflection of Payne's grabbie pushie defensive style. Our 21% three point shooting was appalling, but we were a respectable 6/15 in the second half. 42 points in the paint to their 10 was a brobdingnagian difference. Rebounds were nearly even.
Helping us were our free throws and our steals, helping them was their superior three point shooting.
Conclusion:
Tara worked her magic at halftime again. Hopefully this will be a lesson in humility that did not have to be learned with a loss. Now on to Utah, which is playing terrific basketball at home and just defeated Cal by 13. This could be our toughest road game--given that we don't travel to Oregon. And no TV. Sheesh.