Cardinal speeds past the Colonials

Whatever happened to the nice girls from Stanford?

The Cardinal on the court this afternoon were fast, aggressive, fast, hard-driving, tough, really fast -- a great deal of fun to watch and apparently enjoying that style of play as much as their fans.

The Colonials took an early lead with an amazing performance by 6'4" senior forward Jonquel Jones, who scored 18 of their first 26 points. They were ahead by four at the end of the first quarter.

The Cardinal stepped up the offense after the break. They took the lead three minutes into the second quarter and extended it with a 17-5 run from which the Colonials never recovered.

The Colonials lived up to their reputation as excellent rebounders. They won the battle of the boards, but just barely 50-46. The Cardinal out-did them in every other category — shooting (46% from the field, 45% on 3-pointers, 83% on free throws), assists, blocks, fewer turnovers, fewer fouls — and won the game 84-63.

Lili led the Cardinal scoring with 21 points, including 3-of-6 3-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws. She also had six assists (with zero turnovers), five rebounds and two steals.

Bird made 60% of her shots. She scored 18 points on nine layups and grabbed ten rebounds for her third straight double-double of the season. She also had two assists and two blocks.

Karlie was outstanding on both offense and defense. She scored 17 points, including 4-of-6 3-pointers. She took over the job of defending Jonquel Jones somewhere in the second quarter and bothered her enough to limit her scoring to just nine more points.

Alanna was the fourth Cardinal to score in double-digits. She scored ten points, including a 3-pointer, and was both aggressive and controlled on defense; she was called for just one foul in 18 minutes of play.

Kaylee fought hard under the basket against the tall Colonials. She grabbed ten rebounds and blocked three shots.

Bri made only one of her twelve shots, but she was a beast on defense. She harrassed the Colonial guards unmercifully for 25 minutes and also tallied four assists, three steals, three rebounds and a block.

The Colonials are reputed to use the press, said coach Paye before the game, but they hardly had a chance to do that in today's fast-paced game.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 15 Stanford women beat 22nd-ranked George Washington, the Associated Press game recap and photos
• 21-Point Win Over No. 22, the game recap and more from Stanford Athletics
• #22/20 GW Women's Hoops Falls at #15/10 Stanford, the George Washington Athletics game recap
• McCall soars in Stanford's nonconference win over GWU by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Stanford women chop down George Washington by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• No. 22 women’s basketball takes first loss at No. 15 Stanford by Marty Fenn (GW Hatchet)
• WBB: Stanford 84 George Washington 63 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play.

The press conference audio, with Tara, Bird and Lili.

A gallery of photos from (Stanford Athletics).