Stanford FBC: Stories of the Season: Round 2: Cardinal cages the Wolverines

March 27, 2013

Round 2: Cardinal cages the Wolverines

... with a superb team performance and advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a resounding 73-40 victory.

We've seen excellent defense from the Cardinal all season, but tonight was something special. The Cardinal emphatically denied the Wolverines what they like to do best – shoot from the perimeter.

A special shoutout goes to Sara. Her defense of sharpshooter Kate Thompson was so tight that the nation's second-best 3-point shooter scored a total of seven points – five free throws and one field goal late in the second half.

Villanova coach Harry Perretta gave Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico his insight on Stanford, "You can't beat them on the inside. I think you have to make at least ten 3-pointers to have a chance to beat them." It would have taken twice that many tonight — the Cardinal sank twelve from beyond the arc!

The Cardinal offense was spectacular. They made a sizzling 54% of their field goal attempts and 48% of their three-pointers.

Jos led the Cardinal's offensive onslaught with a fabulous farewell to Maples. She was perfect from beyond the arc with a career-high five 3-pointers. She scored the game-high total of 21 points. She also had three assists, six rebounds and two blocks.

Sara was effective on offense as well as on defense. She made three of five 3-pointers and added three assists.

Bonnie came off the bench midway through the first half and made back-to-back 3-pointers that increased the Cardinal lead to 20. With two minutes left in the game, she finished the Cardinal scoring with her third 3-pointer.

Amber led the Cardinal down the floor for the first 37 minutes of the game. She had six assists with just two turnovers and scored eleven points (including the twelfth 3-pointer).

The Wolverines were fairly successful in denying Chiney what she likes to do — score in the low post. They held her to twelve points, but they didn't stop her rebounding — she grabbed the game-high 15.

Mikaela seemed fully recovered from whatever was ailing her on Sunday. She played 24 minutes and tallied nine points, six rebounds and a block.

So, on to Spokane, where the Cardinal will play the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday at 6:04 pm. Tickets for the Spokane Regional can only be purchased directly through the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Cardinal fans may request to sit in a Stanford block by using the promotional code STANFORD.  Click here to buy tickets.

Here are game reports and commentary: