Cardinal gives up comeback win to Leathernecks, 64-71

This game had an unusual plot line, and in the end a disappointing one. After scoring the first couple of buckets, the Western Illinois defense took effect, and after several turnovers, the quarter ended with Stanford down 14-21. Indeed it could have been much worse; the Leathernecks missed five three-point attempts in the quarter.

The second quarter started well and only got better for the Cardinal. Maya hit a layup, Alexa hit a three, Marta got a turnover and a fast break pass to Alanna, and the score was tied. The visitors seemed to be rattled and their shooting went completely cold. At the half, Stanford was ahead 33-24, having outscored Western Illinois 19-3 in the period.

Some sort of half-time "adjustment" was made by coach J.D. Gravina, because the team that had looked like anything but leathery now started a come-back. Despite a couple of crowd-pleasing hustle plays by Anna, the third quarter ended at a close 47-45.

In the fourth period the visitors pulled ahead while Stanford's ability to score seemed to evaporate. Particularly disappointing down this stretch was free-throw shooting: for the game, the Cardinal made 8 of 19, a poor 42% rate.

In a desperate attempt to close a seven-point gap, Kiana and Anna shot five 3-pointers in the last 35 seconds, but missed them all. However, Kiana was fouled on another attempt and made all three of her free throws.

Alanna worked very hard in the paint, being doubled every time she had the ball down low, often missing and getting her own rebound for another try. She ended with 18 points, 15 rebounds, three assistsa steal and two blocks.

Kiana scored 17 points., including three of eleven 3-pointers.

Anna also sank three 3-pointers (on 15 tries), a total of 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Alexa had eight points, hitting two of four 3-point tries.

Maya had seven points in limited minutes on 3-8 shooting.

Kaylee had the game-high 18 rebounds, as well as three blocks.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Stanford Upset, the Associated Press game recap (posted by Stanford Athletics)
• History made: Western Illinois upsets No.18 Stanford, the Western Illinois Athletics game recap
• Western Illinois shocks Stanford women 71-64 by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Tara: We're not going to beat anybody playing like this from Palo Alto Online
• WBB: Western Illinois 71 Stanford 64 from the CARDboard

The game statistics,

And the audio press conference with Tara.