Cardinal beats the Buffs

This game should have been an easy win, and if you watched only the second half, you would think it had been. However it did not start that way.

Both teams came out cold and clumsy, missing many shots and turning the ball over. At 6:36 in the first quarter the score was 2-2 and Stanford was 1-6 from the floor. Stanford took its first lead on a three-pointer by Lili at the 2-minute mark, and had a two-point lead, 15-13 at the end of the quarter.

Starting off the second quarter, suddenly the Cardinal couldn't miss, and went on a 15-0 run. But then they stalled and began to turn the ball over. Colorado had 8 steals in the half, made 16 points off turnovers, and ended the half with a 12-4 run of their own, to make the halftime score 37-29.

Tara to the TV commentator at halftime, "Our turnovers were ridiculous, it's like a lay-up drill."

During the second half the Cardinal controlled the Buff offense and steadily widened the lead until, with 3 minutes to go and a 30-point lead, Tara put in a complete line change with Tess, Alexa, Kiran, Shannon and Alex.

Brittany was the Cardinal's high scorer with 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting (including two pretty reverse layups). She was one of three Cardinal who grabbed seven rebounds. She also had two assists, two blocks and a steal.

Lili scored 15 points on an assortment of shots — two from beyond the arc, two jumpers, a layup and 3 of 3 free throws. She added four assists and four steals.

Bird had a fairly quiet evening with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Kaylee contributed in many ways: 12 points on 4 of 6 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line, seven rebounds, two assists, four blocks and three steals. "We didn't want to let up," she said in the postgame interview.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• McPhee leads No. 15 Stanford women past Colorado 80-49, the Associated Press game recap
• No. 15 Stanford women's basketball gets big road win over Colorado, the Pac-12 game recap video
• Swan’s 25 Not Enough As Cardinal Routs Buffs, 80-49, the Colorado Athletics game recap
• Cardinal cruises past CU, the game recap and video clips from Stanford Athletics
• Swan's big night not enough for Buffs by Brian Howell (Boulder Daily Camera)
• A quartet of double-digit scorers lead Cardinal past Buffaloes from Palo Alto Online
• WBB: Stanford 80 Colorado 49 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

And photos by Cliff Grassmick (Boulder Daily Camera), who only took pictures of the Cardinal on defense, except the one where Karlie is foiling an attempted theft: