February 09, 2018

Cardinal routs Utes, 70-49

Coming off a very successful Oregon trip, the Stanford team was intent on not slacking off against Utah and their star, 6-6 Emily Potter, who was shooting 50% in the paint, as well as two other players shooting 40% or more from the three.

The game was close — for about two minutes. Then Brittany broke it open with a three and two layups and Utah called time with the score 11-6 (McPhee having 9). Following that break, Marta hit a three, Nadia did too, and Marta hit another, to end the quarter up 20-9. The result was never in doubt after that.

The second quarter was notable for having no scoring at all for nearly four minutes. Kiana broke the drought with a three, and the rest of the quarter was a disaster for the Utes, with the halftime score 39-15, or 19-4 Cardinal for the period. Throughout the half, Stanford defenders had doubled Potter whenever the ball reached her, and at the break, Potter's only points were from free-throws. The Utes' other hot shooters had four points each.

During the break the Utah coach made some sort of adjustment, and in the third quarter Potter and the others began to score a bit more freely. That quarter ended 57-34. It was marked by some success for Maya, who finished two layups over the Utah defenders.

The final quarter was handled mostly by the practice team and the clock wound down to the final result of 70-49.

While turnovers were not quite as low as the preceding two games, Stanford turned the ball over only ten times, a very respectable number. And they hit 5 of 6 free throws.

Brittany's outburst of nine quick points in the first quarter established a decisive lead for the Cardinal. In all she had 18 points and three assists in only 25 minutes of play.

Marta hit three of three from beyond the arc, and two of two free-throws, for 11 points. She had four assists, a steal, and a block against one turnover.

Nadia came off the bench for 21 minutes during which she earned ten points, an assist, two steals, and two blocks.

Kaylee turned toward the basket more often than usual and hit 4 of 6 layup attempts, as well as five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.

Alanna played only 13 minutes, but had eight points, four rebounds and a steal in that time.

Kiana, playing in a mask to protect the nose injured by Brittany's tooth in the collision at Oregon, nevertheless played 34 minutes, scoring seven points and recording six rebounds and five assists with zero turnovers.

In twelve minutes on the floor, Maya hit three of four shots and pulled in three rebounds.

Next up, Stanford welcomes the Colorado Buffaloes, currently 3-10 in conference games, on Sunday afternoon. After the game, Kaylee and Brittany will be honored with a Senior Day celebration.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

The game highlights video,

The video press conference with Tara and Nadia,

And a gallery of photos by Karen Hickey (Stanford Athletics).

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