Author: joelami

One Down, Five to Go, Stanford Defeats South Dakota in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal started what they are hoping to be a long NCAA Tournament run on Saturday afternoon with a win.  They defeated the South Dakota Coyotes by the final score of 81-62.  The Cardinal were given a number two seed after they were defeated by USC in the semi-finals of the Pac-12 tournament.  Their opponent, South Dakota, earned the 15-seed after they won the Summit Conference Tournament.  The Coyotes also had a record of 19-14 coming into the contest.

South Dakota held the game close for the first seven minutes of the game, and actually held a two point lead at the 17:56 mark, but at the 13-minute the Cardinal gained the lead and they kept it for the rest of the game.  The Cardinal led the game 42-27 going into the halftime break.  They then outscored the Coyotes 39-35 in the second half to earn the 81-62 victory.

It was a huge day for Senior star Chiney Ogwumike, as she became the all-time Pac-12 leading scorer in the contest.  She only need one-point to gain the feat, as she finished the last contest tied with Candice Wiggins.  Ogwumike finished the game with 22 points, and eight rebounds in the 35 minutes played.  She led all scorers in the effort.

Bonnie Samuelson came off of the bench to tie her career high, as the Junior Guard sunk six of ten shots from beyond the arc to net 18 points.  Lili Thompson scored 11 points and brought down six rebounds in her first NCAA Tournament contest.  She also went 50% from three-point land, as she went three of six from beyond the arc.  Amber Orrange was the other Stanford player to get into double digits in scoring, as she finished the game with ten points.

South Dakota had a bright spot in the loss, as Nicole Seekamp finished the game with 22 points, shooting 9 of 13 from the field.  She also finished the game with five rebounds.

Stanford only has one more team in front of them before they can return to their home court, Maples Pavilion, as part of Regionals.  The tenth seed Florida State Seminoles will be the Cardinal’s next opponent, as they defeated Iowa State on their home floor earlier Saturday 55-44.  The Round of 32 contest is set for Monday at 3:30 PST.

More Late Minute Heroics Help the Earthquakes Draw Real Salt Lake in First MLS Match of the Season

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By: Joe Lami

It took until the 95th minute for the Earthquakes to get the equalizer, but once again the team from San Jose finds a way to get the goals when they matter, as they draw Real Salt Lake 3-3 in the first MLS match of the year.

San Jose got on the board first in just the sixth minute, when Chris Wondoloski found his first of the season off a free kick from the foot of Shea Salinas.  The free kick from the left side was swung in and found the thigh of the captain for the 1-0 lead.

However, just minutes later Real Salt Lake would find their first of three goals in the first half.  It was Salt Lake Captain, Kyle Beckerman finding the net on just the second Salt Lake shot of the game at the 11-minute mark.  The left footed kick from outside of the box found just enough of the bottom left post to bounce its’ way in for the 1-1 draw.

Real Salt Lake had much of the possession in the first half, with a 68%-32% advantage and it showed.  Salt Lake would take the lead in the 32nd minute as another ball found the bottom left corner of the net, this time it was from the foot of Joao Plata for his first of the season.

The domination for Real Salt Lake would continue, at the 41st minute Alvaro Saborio would force Jon Busch to make a diving save.  As the Earthquakes goalkeeper would just get enough of a touch to keep the ball out of the net.  However, Busch wouldn’t be able to keep the next opportunity out of his net, as Luke Mulholland would drill a rebound home for Salt Lake’s third goal of the half just before the halftime whistle would blow.

“We challenged ourselves at the half…this group doesn’t need much talking, we’re all experienced, and we know what we needed to do coming out of halftime” said Quakes keeper, Busch.

The first 30 minutes of the second half were very slow, and very defensive.  It was starting to look like the Earthquakes were going to run out of time.  That was until Victor Bernandez would find the back of the net for his first of the season and the game to make it 3-2 in favor of Salt Lake.  The goal came off of a corner kick from Shea Salinas, for his second assist of the game.

“I don’t try to pick out a player, I just try to put it in a dangerous spot, and we hopefully we have someone that’s going to send it home” said Salinas.

Lighting struck twice for the Earthquakes, in the 95th minute Bernandez would find his second of the game.  It was a mixed play out in front, and Bernadez was able to get a boot on it to find the target.  With the goal in extra time, it is the second time this week that the Earthquakes have found an equalizer in extra time.  It is also the 17th time in the past two seasons, where San Jose has put the ball in the net in extra time in the second half.

An eventful week that saw the Earthquakes sign a deal with the city of San Jose to agree on focusing sustainability and green initiatives and two extra time goals to earn draws comes to an end.  Now San Jose has to worry about their second leg with Toulca in Mexico on Wednesday, and then travel to Sporting Kansas City for their first road match of MLS play on Saturday.

Trojans Upset Cardinal on Ogwumike’s Record Setting Night

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By Joe Lami

For the first time ever the Stanford Cardinal will not be going to the Pac-12 Tournament championship game, as the USC Trojans defeated the Cardinal 72-68 in the semi-finals on Saturday night.  Stanford the number one seed and the favorite to win the Pac-12 Championship, is now unsure of how their NCAA Tournament is going to look.  If the Cardinal came out of the Pac-12 Tournament unscathed, they would have received an almost sure bid to a number one seed in their host west region.

The first half ended with the score tied at 32.  Stanford dominated the paint in the first half, with 18 points.  However, the Trojans led the first with points off of turnovers, bench points and 2nd chance points.

Coming out of the half, the Trojans jumped on the Cardinal early, going on a 14-4 run in the first 5:30.  Stanford would be able to crawl back slowly, and would eventually take the lead back with 6:46 remaining.  The Cardinal would push the lead to three, at 60-57 with 5:06 to go and be able to hold it for a couple of minutes.  However, the Trojans would once again march back, much in part to Cassie Harberts’ ten straight points.  This would get the USC lead to as high as seven before the Cardinal would find another bucket with 61 seconds to go.

The Cardinal pressed in the final minute to get the deficit as low as two, but the Trojans would be good enough at the foul line to be able to ice the game away and advance to the Pac-12 Championship game, where they will face the Oregon State Beavers.

Chiney Ogwumike led the way for the Cardinal with 30 points and 21 rebounds.  The 30 points ties her with Stanford Alum, Candice Wiggins as the all-time Pac-12 scorer with 2,629.  Unfortunately for Ogwumike, she scored career point 2,629 with over seven minutes remaining in the game, and couldn’t find another to break the record in game where every point mattered.

Stanford had an awful day from the field, finishing the game at just 32%.  Lili Thompson finished with 13 points, going 4 of 11 shooting.  Amber Orrange was the only other double digit scorer for the Cardinal, as she finished the night with 11 points and 3 of 11 shooting.  Mikaela Ruef was held scoreless for the first time in recent memory, as the fifth year senior went 0 for 8 from the field, but she did bring down five rebounds.  Taylor Greenfield was the only Stanford player to come off of the bench and contribute points, as she finished the game with five.

The Trojans didn’t shoot that much better, as they finished the game shooting just 39%.  USC also saw three different players get into double digits.  Alexyz Vaioletama led the way with 19 points.  She also contributed 15 rebounds, with five of them coming on the offensive side of the glass.  Guard, Ariya Cook, finished the game with 15 points.  Game MVP, Cassie Harberts only had 13 points, but ten of them came at the most opportune time, as she scored ten straight with under three minutes to go to give the Trojan’s a lead good enough to win the game.

The win for the Trojans gets them that much closer into the NCAA tournament, as ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the ladies of USC on his first four teams out of the tournament.  However, with this win it might just be enough to break the bubble and earn a bid.  That is if they don’t receive the automatic bid on Sunday afternoon by winning the Pac-12 Tournament.  Oregon State, their opponent on Sunday is looked at as already in the NCAA Tournament according to Creme.

Number four-ranked Stanford has their record drop to 29-3, and now they are a little unsure on how they will be entering the NCAA Tournament.  Some questions arise, is Stanford still a number one seed?  Does Stanford still deserve to be in the west region, their host region?  Only time will tell what the selection committee decides, but for now we sit back and prepare for another great day of Championship basketball on Sunday.

Stanford Starts Pac-12 Tournament with Victory, Moves on to Semi-Finals

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By Joe Lami

After a first round bye, the Stanford Cardinal started their weekend in Seattle with a win.  The top-seeded Cardinal beat the Buffaloes of Colorado by the final score of 69-54 on Friday afternoon to move on to the semi-finals in the Pac-12 tournament.

The Buffaloes earned their contest with the Cardinal by beating the UCLA Bruins by the score of 76-65 on Thursday. They came out to play on Friday, as they held the Cardinal to it’s worst scoring first half of the year at 21 points.  The Buffaloes went into halftime leading 23-21, however a strong second half performance for the Cardinal would earned them the victory.  The key difference for Stanford was starting the second half on a 16-2 run, which was good enough for them to hold the lead the rest of the game.

The starters for the Cardinal were extremely impressive, as four of them got into double digits in scoring.  The Pac-12 player of the year, Chiney Ogwumike, paved the way for the Cardinal putting up 19 points and rebounding 11.  This was after Ogwumike was held to only six points in the first half.  Bonnie Samuelson and Lili Thompson each added 15 points.  Mikaela Ruef had another amazing performance and has a double double to show for it, as she scored ten points, and led the team in rebounds, bringing down 16.  After Amber Orrange had one of her most impressive performance of the year this previous Sunday, Friday afternoon was a way different story.  The Junior Point Guard scored three points on four shot attempts.

The Buffaloes were led by Brittany Wilson, who notched 16 points, with 12 of them coming from beyond the three-point line.  Wilson also put up the most shot attempts of any Colorado player, as she went 5 of 20.  11 of the 20 shots came from three-point range.  Haley Smith was the only other Colorado scorer to get into double digits with ten.  Arielle Roberson led all players in rebounds with 17, she would end just two points shy of the double double.

With the win, the Cardinal are unsure of their next opponent, as they will find out in the upcoming hours. They will take on the winner of the contest between Southern California and Arizona State for a chance at the final on Sunday.

Ogwumike Shines in Final Game, Cardinal Beat Cougars to Finish Undefeated at Home

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By: Joe Lami

Chiney Ogwumike enjoyed her final regular season game at Maples Pavilion.  As she led her team to victory over the Washington State Cougars by the final score of 84-64.  Ogwumike finished her Cardinal career with a new career high 37 points, 21 of them came in the first half.  Ogwumike also added 13 rebounds to achieve her 22nd double-double of the season.  She also achieved her 30th double figure scoring game of the year and later achieved her 13th 30-point game of the season.  She stated after the game “I really don’t care about points and statistics, all I care is that I do enough for us to win, even if I only score two points.”   She later added on her feelings of Saturday’s game “It just felt like another game.  I just care that we won, and that we are playing better basketball going into the post season.  We are growing as a team and that’s what matters.”

The Cardinal started the first half strong, getting the first five points of the game and forcing Washington State to call an early timeout.  Stanford led the entire first half, but did have struggles shooting from beyond the arc.  Stanford went 3 for 13 from three-point range in the first half with Bonnie Samuelson knocking two of them down.  Brianna Roberson drained the other.

Roberson, a freshman, had her most impressive half of her young Cardinal career.  She finished the first half with eight points, a new career high.  Roberson also added a rebound and an assist in the seven minutes that she played.  She finished the game with eight points, as she didn’t see much playing time in the second half.

The Cardinal shot the lights out from the free throw line, as they finished the first half going 14 of 15, for a 93%.

Stanford came out of the second half strong, as they went on a 10-0 run to start things up in the first 4:47.  The Cardinal defense came to play in the second half only allowing 23 points, forcing the Cougars to shoot a dreaded 28%.

Even though the Cardinal held Washington State to 64 points, three different Cougars got into double figures.  They were led by Lia Galdeira, who finished with 16 points.  Both Tia Presley and Sage Romberg finished the game with ten points each.

Amber Orrange went under the radar once again, but had one of her best performances of the year.  The Junior Point Guard finished just two points shy of her career high, scoring 20 points.  She also finished the game with eight rebounds.  “This was one of Amber’s best nights she’s ever had for us” stated head coach, Tara VanDerveer.  VanDerveer also pulled Orrange aside and congratulated her on a great performance.  The key to Orrange’s night “I was being a lot more aggressive.”

The Cardinal finish the year undefeated at home going into the Pac-12 tournament next week.  They will be ranked the first seed and will get a first round bye, and will play their first game on Friday, March 7.

The Cardinal Take Their Revenge on the Huskies

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By: Joe Lami

Just two weeks ago, the Washington Huskies upset Stanford in Seattle to give the Cardinal their only Pac-12 loss of the season.  Stanford sought out its revenge on Thursday night, and they got it, defeating the Huskies 83-60.

Chiney Ogwumike had an outstanding performance in her second to last home game on the farm.  The player of the year nominee had 32 points, 21 of which came in the first half.  Ogwumike also added 11 rebounds to complete the double-double.  She also had three assists, two blocks and a steal in the win.

Stanford had four total players get into double digits in scoring.  One of them being Ogwumike, but Bonnie Samuelson had 14 points, with 12 of them coming from beyond the arc.   Freshman, Lili Thompson added 11 points.  Thompson also had four rebounds, all of them coming on the defensive side of the ball.  Amber Orrange finished out the starters that got into double digits, as she contributed 10.  The only starter to miss double digits was Mikaela Ruef, but she made up for it in other areas, as she led the team in rebounds with 14.  The fifth-year Senior also led the team in assists with five, and she also had a steal.

Kelsey Plum was the leading scorer for the Huskies, as she had 21 points.  Jazmine Davis was the only other Washington player to get into double figures in scoring.  Washington head coach Mike Neighbors said after the game that “Their focus was definitely on the defensive side of the ball.  Their plan was to stop us from scoring 87 points again.”

The Washington Huskies did one thing tremendously well in the game, and that was shooting the ball from beyond the arc, as the Huskies finished the game 48% from downtown.  “If we didn’t go 12 of 25 from the 3-point line, this game would have been embarrassing” added Neighbors.

Tara VanDerveer came right into the press conference excited about how well their defense play.  “I’m very excited about how hard people worked on both sides of the ball this evening” added VanDerveer.  “We saw some great guards tonight, and were able to shut them down, we are also going to see some great guards in Washington State” said VanDerveer as she’s beginning preparation for the final regular season game of the year of Saturday.

When asked if this was payback Ogwumike stated “I believe that the loss brought more motivation to the team rather than a sense of wanting to pay them back.  We have had better preparation not just tonight, but ever since the loss.”  Ruef was asked the same exact question and responded “I’m a little less “P.C.” (politically correct) than Chiney, but I wanted to kill them.  No one ever wants to lose, so it was a little bit a sense of payback” to the chuckles of the media.

Stanford’s record improves to 27-2, 16-1 in Pac-12 play and they remain unbeaten at home this year.  The Cardinal look to keep that winning streak in tact, as they host the Washington State Cougars on Saturday night.  It will be the final home performance in a regular season game for one of the best Stanford players of all-time, Chiney Ogwumike.

Stanford Clinches Pac-12 Title

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By: Joe Lami

Sunday was an eventful day for the number five team in the country, as the Stanford Cardinal (26-2,15-1) defeated the UCLA Bruins (12-16,6-10) 65-56.  The win means that Stanford has officially clinched their 14th straight conference title and the number one seed in the Pac-12 tournament to be held in Seattle early next month.

Stanford hopes to continue its’ success in Seattle, as they will be going for their 12th straight Pac-12 championship.  Stanford is a shoe-in for the NCAA tournament, but hopes to win out to keep its’ hopes alive for a number one seed in the West Region, which will be held at Maples Pavilion this year.

Once again, the Cardinal had a poor start to the game.  They fell behind early, being down as much as five points multiple times in the first half.  However, with one minute remaining in the first half Stanford was able to catch up and take the 27-25 lead.  They wouldn’t give it up the rest of the game.

Stanford has been starting slow of late, but they have been able to comeback each and every time giving them adversity going late into the season.

Chiney Ogwumike led the Cardinal in scoring once again with 26 points.  The 26 points has brought her career point total to 2,511 putting her in second place on all-time Cardinal scoring list, as she surpassed her sister older sister, Nnemaki.  Chiney is now just 118 points away from tying Stanford’s all-time leading scorer, Candice Wiggins.  Ogwumike is going down in Cardinal history, as she is the all-time leading field goal percentage leader, as well as the Pac-12 all-time leading rebounder.  She added 15 more rebounds to her total in the win over the Bruins.

There were other players on the court besides Ogwumike, one of them being Amber Orrange, as she was the Cardinal’s second leading scorer on Sunday. She contributed 14 points.  The Junior Point Guard also had three rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 37 minutes played.  Mikaela Ruef came off of the bench for the first time this season to bring down 11 rebounds.

Nirra Fields was strong once again for the Bruins as she notched 24 points.  Thea Lemberger was the other Bruin that got into double digit scoring, as she put up 14 points.

The Cardinal officially end their Pac-12 regular season next weekend, as they host the two schools from Washington.  They look to get their revenge on Thursday, as they host the Huskies, who upset them earlier this month in Seattle by the score of 87-82.  On Saturday, Chiney Ogwumike will end her regular season career with Stanford, as they host Washington State in the final game of the year.

Stanford Completes the Comeback to Defeat USC

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal (24-2,13-1) traveled to USC (16-10,9-5) Friday night to start their final road trip of the season.  Stanford had one of the worst starts of the season, but was able to overcome it and complete the huge comeback to defeat the Trojans 64-59.

Stanford struggled tremendously in the first half as they fell behind early.  USC was pouring it on, as the Cardinal couldn’t buy a bucket.  Stanford was trailing as much as 18 in the first half.  USC had the 32-13 lead with six minutes to go in the half.  Stanford would be able to cut the deficit before the half to seven, as they finished out the half on a 17-5 run.

Stanford would come out of the half hot as well, as they would cut the lead to just two only three minutes into the second half.  USC would be able to hold their lead until the 11-minute mark, when a made Chiney Ogwumike layup would give the Cardinal a 45-43 lead.

Stanford would be able to stretch their lead to nine with just over a minute to go before USC would start to make their comeback.  USC would make a comeback once again shrinking the Stanford lead to just four with 42 seconds remaining.

Bonnie Samuelson would knock both of her foul shots down giving the Cardinal a 62-56 lead.  The next possession for the Trojans would see a missed shot, but an offensive rebound would give Ariya Cook a chance for a three pointer.  She wouldn’t miss, cutting the lead to just three with 14 seconds to go.  Samuelson would get fouled once again, sending her to the foul line, she would knock down both once again.  Samuelson finished the game perfect from the charity strike, going eight for eight.

The game wouldn’t see another basket, and Stanford would be able to hold on for the win.

Chiney Ogwumike led all scorers with 27 points, however the Academic All-American would shot only 50% from the field.  Ogwumike finished the game with seven rebounds, three blocks and a steal.  On top of Samuelson’s eight free throws, she also knocked down two three-pointers to finish the game with 14 points.

Cook led the way for the Trojans with 24 points, nine of them coming from beyond the arc.

With the victory Stanford has now clinched at least a shared title of the Pac-12 regular season.  They can become the sole champions with either a California loss, or a win on Sunday over the UCLA Bruins.

Stanford Remains Unbeaten at Home

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By Joe Lami

Stanford (24-2,13-1) returned to action just two days after one of their most impressive performances of the season, defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils 61-35.  On Sunday, the sixth ranked Cardinal played host to the struggling Arizona Wildcats (5-20, 1-13).  Stanford defeated Arizona 74-48.

Arizona was coming into the contest with just five wins on the season, with a record of 5-19.  Only one of those wins has come in Pac-12 play.  The Wildcats started the game strong as they got the first bucket of the afternoon.  They would be able to keep up with the Cardinal for the first 5:30 of the game.  The game was tied at 11-11 before the Cardinal would take over.  Stanford would go on a ten minute 24-4 run before Arizona would hit their next field goal.  Arizona was only able to mustard up another field goal and two free throws to end the half.  Stanford was on top at the half by the score of 48-19.

Stanford would cruise to victory in the second half.  Arizona outscored the Cardinal in the second half 29-26.  However, Stanford played their reserves for most of the second half.  Chiney Ogwumike, who plays as much time as possible, only saw 22 minutes in the win, being her season low on minutes played this season.  The starter who saw the most minutes played was Amber Orrange, and she capped out at 24 minutes.

Bonnie Samuelson led the Cardinal in scoring with 17 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc.  Ogwumike finished with 15 points.  Lili Thompson and Orrange both had nine points in the game.  Orrange also had an astonishing nine assists.

Only six Wildcats played for Arizona.  Candice Warthen, Kama Griffitts and Keyahndra Cannon all played 40 minutes.  LaBrittney Jones led the team in scoring with 11 points.  She was the only Wildcat to get into double digits in scoring.

The Cardinal will finish off the road portion of their schedule next weekend as they travel to Los Angeles to take on USC on Friday and UCLA on Sunday.

Stanford Shuts Down Sun Devils

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal (23-2,12-1) returned to Maples Pavilion on Friday night, just five days after their disappointing loss in Seattle, to Washington on Sunday.  The Cardinal made up for it with a dominating performance over the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-5,9-4) with a 61-34 victory.

The Cardinal held the Sun Devils to one of the lowest scoring totals in Pac-12 history, with Arizona escaping that mark by one point.  The Cardinal’s impressive defense started early, as they held Arizona State to without a field goal until eight minutes into the first half.  This gave Stanford 14-3 lead, following a field goal and a free throw. “They had great defensive energy early, we never got into the flow of the game” said ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne.

The dominance continued as Stanford went into halftime leading the Sun Devils 32-12.  This is the 2nd time in Pac-12 history that Stanford has held an opponent to the least amount of points scored in a first half.  Arizona State shot 17% from the field in the first half, and it didn’t get much better from the charity strike, as they went two of seven from the line.

The second half wasn’t much better for the Sun Devils, as they continued to struggle shooting 30% from the field for a total game percentage of 24%.  The Sun Devils also finished the game shooting 8% from beyond the arc, as they only hit one shot in the 12 shots attempted.  It was an overall great defensive performance for the Cardinal, especially coming off of only their second loss of the season.  “We haven’t been this excited to play defense in a long time, and I’m excited that we are again” said star Chiney Ogwumike.

The Stanford defense kept the Sun Devil players from getting into double digits, as both Promise Amukamara and Sophie Brunner led Arizona State in scoring with nine points.  The leading scorer for the Sun Devils in the first meeting between these two top 15 opponents, Quinn Dornstauder, was held to only six points.

The offense was no slouch either for the Cardinal, as they had an impressive game on that side of the ball as well.  Stanford finished the game shooting 54% from the field.  Ogwumike led all scorers with 20 points in only 27 minutes of playing time, as she sat on the bench for the final 13 minutes of the game.  The player of the year candidate also finished with 13 rebounds, all of which came in the first half.  Amber Orrange had another amazing performance, as she finished the game with 14 points, five steals, three rebounds and three assists. “Amber took it upon herself to be the engine of the train” praised head coach, Tara VanDerveer, on Orrange’s performance.

The minutes were passed around equally for one of the first times this season, as 14 different players got into the game.  Out of those 14 players that saw time, ten of them got onto the scoring sheet.

With Friday’s game being one of the best performances of the season, there was still some criticism that came out of it.  One of which was the fact that Stanford had 17 turnovers.  “We have to play better, we have to take care of the ball better” commented VanDerveer.  Another problem that has been reoccurring all season is that Stanford has been giving up way too many offensive rebounds.  That trend would continue on Friday, as Arizona State had 12 offensive boards.   Of the 12 offensive rebounds, Arizona State was able to have eight second-chance points off of them.

Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, Arizona State more so than Stanford.  The Sun Devils shots one of 12 from three.   Stanford finished scoreless, but only had four attempts.  The three-pointer was not in the game plan mentioned VanDerveer after the game.

Stanford bounced back great, as they up their record to 23-2, 12-1.  Thus almost clinching the Pac-12 regular season title.  As long as they don’t fall off of the wagon, they will get the title.  Stanford looks to make it once step closer towards the regular season title, as they host the Wildcats of Arizona.