February 13, 2015

Cardinal trounces the Trojans

New uniforms, new lineup, renewed energy & confidence — Cardinal wins 79-60.

Tara put in the seniors today and they remembered how to play a Good Stanford Game.

Jasmine and E Payne both started for the first time since early in their sophomore season. Erica scored the Cardinal's first basket; Jasmine scored the second one. Along with Amber, Bonnie and Kaylee, they began the game with confidence against the fast-moving, aggressive Trojans.

The Trojans held a slim lead for most of the first eight minutes, but the Cardinal never lost their focus and gradually took control of the game. They took the lead, stretched it to eleven points at the break, never let it drop below five, and were ahead by 19 at the end.

The Cardinal offense was excellent. They shot 55% (32-58) from the field and 35% (6-17) from beyond the arc. Six players scored at least eight points.

Lili came off the bench to lead the scoring with 14 points — all but two in the second half. She had four assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Amber scored 13 points on 60% shooting. She had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bri scored 13 points on 57% shooting. She had three assists, three rebounds and a steal.

Bonnie scored 12 points on four 3-pointers. She battled hard in the paint against bigger, stronger Trojans and grabbed the team-high six rebounds, one shy of her career high.

Kaylee and Bird came close to double-digit scoring. Kaylee had nine points and five rebounds. Bird had eight points. two rebounds and two blocks.

The Trojans won the battle of the boards, but not by a great deal – 38-34. Half of them were O-boards. Their average, the best in the Pac-12, is 14.7.

In other Pac-12 action, Cal beat UCLA 70-64 last night and OSU beat ASU 70-64 tonight. So, until Sunday at least, OSU leads the conference, Cal is second, Stanford and ASU are tied for third.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference audio, with Tara, Lili and Bonnie

A video interview of Lili after her strong second half against USC

And photos by Marcio Jose Sanchez (Associated Press):

Bird puts up one of her three field goals
Lili takes it to the basket
Bonnie on the move
Kaylee goes up for a rebound

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