Cardinal wins a tough one

The Cardinal held on in the first half of a tough defensive game against Oregon State and pulled away in the second half to a 63-47 victory.

The Cardinal weren't able to shut down Oregon State's superb shooter Talisa Rhea, although Ros's defense slowed her down considerably in the second half. Rhea got her 1000th career point early in the game and ended as the top scorer with 26 points – more than half the Beavers' total.

Kayla hit her stride in the second half and was the top scorer for the Cardinal with 23 points. She made seven of her 12 field goal attempts and eight of nine free throws.

Joslyn had an outstanding game. She played with great intensity and enthusiasm for 24 minutes, ending with nine points, six rebounds, and six blocks! (A seventh one was called a foul, but Cardinal fans thought otherwise.)

Ros played for 35 minutes, providing the intense defense that kept the Beaver scorers in check. She did so with zero turnovers (yeah!)

Lindy started at the point in place of Jeanette, and played for 19 minutes. Although she didn't score any points, she handled the ball well and was an incessant, pesky irritant to the Beavers' point on defense.

Nneka got a couple of fouls in the first half and played less than usual – just 29 minutes. Also as usual, she made some beautiful athletic shots and grabbed some amazing rebounds. In all, 12 points and nine rebounds.

Jayne got into foul trouble too and played just 19 minutes. She scored nine points and had seven rebounds.

In regard to the injured: Mel was suited up but didn't play at all; JJ was moving OK but played only four minutes (maybe she was resting up for Oregon (who, by the way, was defeated 72 - 62 by Cal tonight!); Jeanette didn't start, but played for 27 minutes with no apparent discomfort – she had six assists.

In the end, the Beavers' aggressive defense may have cost them the game. They held the Cardinal to 17 points and 27 rebounds less than their average, but they committed a lot of fouls and the Cardinal kept making those free throws – 17 of 19!

Here are the game reports:

• Tinkle helps Stanford trap the Beavers from Palo Alto Online.
• Oregon State's upset bid comes up short against No. 2 Stanford by Steve Gress, Corvallis Gazette-Times
• Stanford 63 OSU 47 from The CardBoard.
• Pedersen Pushes No. 2 Stanford Past Oregon State, 63-47 by Anne Peterson, Associated Press.

The box score and play-by-play,

And more photos:

Ros drives to the basket past Julie Futch Nneka drives on El Sara Greer Jayne puts up a shot over Kirsten Tilleman Tara offers some words of advice