NCAA Women

New Year, Still Winning – Stanford University Athletics

New Year, Still Winning - Stanford University Athletics


STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — When the shots weren’t falling, coach Tara VanDerveer‘s Stanford team turned it up on the defensive end to stymie high-scoring Arizona.

Haley Jones had 18 points, a season-high 16 rebounds and five assists, and second-ranked Stanford picked up the intensity on both ends after the first quarter and rolled past No. 15 Arizona 73-57 in a Monday showdown of the 2021 national champion Cardinal and NCAA runner-up Wildcats.

“I recruited every player for their offense not their defense but our defense was what was really great,” VanDerveer said. “Our team locked in on the scouting report.”

Francesca Belibi contributed season-bests of 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Stanford (15-1, 3-0 Pac-12), which held Arizona to seven second-quarter points on the way to winning its 10th straight game since the team’s lone defeat in a 76-71 overtime loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 20.

Jade Loville scored 12 for a Wildcats team (12-2, 2-1) that came in averaging 81.2 points per game and was beating teams by an average of 22.2 points — but no team has scored more than 77 points against the Cardinal since the start of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.

Both power programs struggled to find their 3-point grooves — Arizona going 1 for 6 in the first half and Stanford 3 of 13. Hannah Jump made four for Stanford on the way to 13 points.

Cameron Brink overcame a cold shooting day to finish with 12 points, six rebounds and three more blocks. She shot 3 of 15, missing all six of her 3-point tries and with four turnovers but was picked up by Stanford’s deep supporting cast.

“Cam didn’t have her best game of the year but thankfully other people stepped up,” VanDeveer said.

Stanford committed five quick turnovers and missed its initial three shots before Jump hit a 3-pointer at the 6:14 mark of the first. That helped the Cardinal warm up and use a 6-0 burst to get going as Arizona had a short drought.

During a timeout, VanDerveer told the Cardinal to settle into the game.

“Whenever Hannah hits a 3 it gets us going. We expect it to go in every time,” Jones said. “Once you see the ball go in the basket no matter who it’s from it just kind of gets you going.”

The Cardinal made five straight shots during a 7-0 run to go ahead 17-11 and led…

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