Stanford FBC: Stories of the Season: Cardinal puts Beavers in hole early

January 05, 2014

Cardinal puts Beavers in hole early

Beaver's 6'6" center Ruth Hamblin tipped the tipoff away from Chiney, and the Beavers scored the first two points of the game. Chiney, Lili and Sara scored the next 19. Then the Beavers got their game under control and kept the contest fast, close and exciting for the remaining 36 minutes. However, they couldn't overcome the early deficit, and the Cardinal won 89-67.

Lili had a standout game today. She played for 37 minutes and was merciless on defense.

She made 54% of her shots, including three of four from beyond the arc, for a total of her career-high 19 points.

She also tallied five rebounds, five assists, zero turnovers and two steals.

One of the steals was spectacular — she soared to what seemed to be at least twice her height and intercepted a long Beaver pass.

Chiney, who faced a lot of tall tough defense under the basket, added some variety to her scoring today by taking a dozen or so jumpers from close to (but inside) the arc. She made five of them. She succeeded against the tough defense with eight layups for a total of 31 points.

She moved past Jayne Appel up to 4th place on the Stanford all-time scoring list. Her career total is now 2,143. Next above her on the list is Kate Starbird with 2215. She needs probably just three more games to move into 3rd place.

She also had 13 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals.

Taylor also scored in double digits — 13 points, including two of three long ones. She was tough on defense, as always, in ways that don't show up in the box score.

In addition to her usual solid defensive game, Mikaela took some good shots today — and made both of her free throws! She was the Cardinal's fourth double-digit scorer with 10 points.

Regrettably, the Cardinal's free-throw shooting hasn't improved. They were looking good at first, making seven of nine in the first half, but ended with 16 of 25 — a disappointing 64%. Their season average is just under 64% — the lowest in the Pac-12.

The Cardinal's sharp shooting was less spectacular than on Friday night. In addition to the 3-pointers by Lili and Taylor, Sara and Bonnie each sank one for a total of seven.

The team's defense was outstanding. It threw the Beavers off-balance by slowing down the Beaver "swish sisters", Sydney Wiese and Jamie Weisner. Although they ended with 15 and 13 points respectively, Wiese was scoreless for the first 14 minutes, and Wiesner didn't make her first basket until halfway through the second half.

The Cardinal handled the Beavers' frequent press easily with crisp, decisive, north/south passes. So far, the new 10-second rule has had little effect — at least, not for the Cardinal. Tara pointed out at the postgame behind-the-bench that the emphasis on hand-checking this season lessens the value of pressing. The chance of forcing a turnover isn't worth the risk of being called for a foul.

Across the Bay, Cal won over Oregon 101-98 in overtime! Reshanda Gray scored her career-high 33 points, and Gennifer Brandon has rejoined the team.

Here are game reports and commentary: