Cardinal leaves Roadrunners in the dust

The CSUB Roadrunners have been strong in their league the past two years but have been inexplicably slumping this year. Today, for one quarter, they looked as if they might be getting back on form, when the first quarter ended with the score 18-12 and the Roadrunners giving the Cardinal some real competition.

Stanford began to assert itself at both ends of the floor in the second quarter, during which the Cardinal outscored the Roadrunners 24-6, ending the half at 42-18. The rest of the game was all Stanford until with five minutes left to play, Tara put in the last of the reserves to finish the game at 83-41.

For the second game in a row, every Stanford player had at least five minutes on the floor; and everyone but Alexa scored at least 1 point. Four Stanford players were in double digits: Alanna with 14, Karlie with 13 (on four of five 3-pointers), Kaylee with 11 (and seven rebounds), and Erica leading all with 15 points and 10 rebounds (her eighth double-double of the season) and four blocks and a steal.

Erica was honored before the game for her participation in USA Basketball this summer. She received a plaque presented by the coaches of both teams: Tara for Stanford and Erica's father, Greg McCall, coach for CSUB.

And she got a big hug from her dad after the game.

Stanford's dominance did not extend to every aspect of the game. The Cardinal gave up 14 turnovers to CSUB's 11 and three steals to their seven and hit only 39% of their free throws, 13-33. So these two blowout wins should not be taken as a forecast of the upcoming Chattanooga game, where Stanford will face a much stronger opponent.

Here's a game preview: It's Erica McCall vs. Greg McCall as Stanford hosts CSU Bakersfield by Michelle Smith (espnW)

The game reports and commentary:

• No. 12 Stanford women race away from CS Bakersfield 83-41, the Associated Press game recap
• No. 11/12 Stanford Defeats CSUB 83-41, the CSU Bakersfield Athletics game recap
• Daughter's Double-Double, the game recap and more from Stanford Athletics
• Stanford women rout Cal State Bakersfield by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• McCall helps Stanford women hoops fly past Roadrunners by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• WBB: Stanford 83 CSU Bakersfield 41 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference audio with Tara, Erica and Alanna

A gallery of photos by Nhat V. Meyer (Bay Area New Group),

A gallery of photos from Stanford Athletics.