February 17, 2018

Bears subdue Cardinal at Haas, 66-78

The Cardinal seemed out of rhythm from the first, missing many shots and conceding turnovers early. Brittany, Alanna and Kiana scored and the first quarter ended with the Cardinal down five, 16-21.

The second quarter was closer, with Stanford catching up to tie early. From there the game was close, tied or with Cal ahead by a couple, to the halftime score of 34-36.

The Cardinal no doubt came out of the locker room feeling they were in with a chance, but the game took a decisive turn in the first minutes of the third quarter: Cal scored on their first four possessions, and Stanford did not. That changed a close 34-36 contest to 34-44, and Tara had to call a timeout, during which she could be seen to be speaking at length with many hand gestures.

From there, the teams traded baskets until the middle of the fourth quarter, when a three by Alanna brought Stanford within two, at 60-62. But Asha Thomas and Mikayla Cowling hit quick threes to re-open the gap. In the final minutes, Cal made all their free-throws and Stanford was unable to score, bringing the final score to 66-78.

In the team stats, Cal was decisively better on rebounding, at 32-47, and at three-point shots, 35% to 19%.

Brittany led the Cardinal with 24 points, hitting 9-22 (but only 1 of 7 long-range tries).

Alanna posted 20 points, as well as nine rebounds, six steals, and two blocks.

Kiana had 14 points, two reboundsm and one steal, but no assists.

Kaylee had six points and three rebounds.

And that was about it for the Cardinal. The only other one that scored was DiJonai with two points on 1-8 shooting. Marta, Maya and Alyssa were the only others to even take a shot; each went 0-1.

Stanford now practices for a road trip to the Washington schools, after which it's off to the PAC-12 tournament.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

And the audio press conference with Tara, Brittany, and Alanna.

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