January 28, 2018

Cardinal barrage sinks Wildcats, 79-42

Arizona opened in a 2-3 zone and in less than ten seconds, Kiana sank a three. A few minutes later, Marta hit a three. Then Brittany, and Brittany again, and Alanna, and Marta again. And then Kiana, again. At the end of the first quarter Stanford was up 22-10, on seven threes and one free-throw, and UA was pretty much done for the night.

In the second quarter both teams were able to execute some nice plays for two-point shots, but Stanford also got threes from Kiana, Alyssa, and Brittany. The score hit the Band's favorite ratio, 2x+4 ("where x is your score"), twice. At the half it was 43-16. Also at the half, rebounding was about even.

Not long into the third quarter Stanford began to pull ahead in rebounds and to score freely in the paint. These were signs that the Wildcats were tired, or discouraged, or both.

Tara apparently noticed this, because she began to sub. By the 2:00 minute mark in the third quarter, no starters remained on the floor, and the rest of the game was handled entirely by the B-squad. And in fact the teams split the fourth quarter scoring, 13-13, to the final score of 79-42.

Brittany had 15 points on 5-8 shooting, including three of five three-point tries (and fans began yelling Mc-THREEEE!), and four rebounds and an assist, in 21 minutes.

Alanna also had 15 points on 6-8 shooting, including three of four three-point tries, plus three rebounds, in 18 minutes.

Kiana had 11 points, hitting three of eight long-range shots, as well as seven assists and two steals.

Marta had eight points, three rebounds, four assists, zero turnovers and two steals in 24 minutes on the floor. She hit two of her four three-point tries.

Maya played 18 minutes and ended with 10 points on 5-8 shooting, plus five rebounds and a block.

Anna came in with the subs in the second half, played 13 minutes and hit two three-pointers and a layup for eight points.

Stanford's play in general was notable for a couple of reasons. First, there were 27 assists for the 30 made field goals. Almost every goal was the result of an assist, rather than an individual drive. This suggests that the "new" Princeton-like offense may be starting to work well.

Second, turnovers were at a lowly seven, a great improvement. All the recent practices that focused on "taking care of the ball" were having an effect.

Both these improvements will be tested next weekend at the Oregon schools.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

The audio press conference with Tara, Maya, and Kiana,

And a gallery of photos by Bob Drebin (isiphoto.com)

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