Stanford got an expected tough game from Colorado, which came in better than their three wins in the conference would indicate. For three quarters the Colorado defense made life tough for Stanford's offense and don't expect that to change in the future. Colorado coach RJ Payne was at Santa Clara last season, which beat Stanford with its gritty style. The conference will only get tougher the longer she's at Colorado.
But the Cardinal persevered through some rough play with a big scoring effort from Brittany McPhee, and strong rebounding, to post a 64-51 win.
"I'm really proud how our team battled," VanDerveer said. "Colorado played us really tough and I'm really proud of our defense. I thought people kept playing hard the whole game and we took care of the ball better the second half. We rebounded well. Brit really carried us with her scoring. We got a great game from Alanna. She really helped us. They were all over Karlie (Samuelson). It was really physical. We're really excited about how the team is playing and battled back."
McPhee scored 20 of her 26 points in the second half and recorded her first double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds as well. McPhee has struggled at times from the lines -- free throw and three point -- but most defenders can't stop her from getting to the basket.
McPhee doesn't need to score 26 points a game, but VanDerveer said, "This is what we need to go where we want to go, to have this kind of effort from Brit and other people stepping up."
McPhee's effort helped pick up Erica McCall, who in the past two games has made eight of her last 27 shots from the field. McCall still finished with a double-double (15 and 10), including a crucial three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter. It gave Stanford a 46-44 lead.
"She was rushing, I thought," VanDerveer. "She hit a big three for us. She stays with things no matter what is happening out there. She doesn't show her frustration. She keeps playing hard. She keeps cheering for her teammates."
On defense, Briana Roberson was a standout by holding Kennedy Leonard, the sophomore star and leading scorer for Colorado, to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. "That was phenomenal," VanDerveer said.
Stanford winning despite several players struggling with their offense was noteworthy on a night when USC thumped No. 9 Oregon State 70-50 and Oregon beat No. 15 UCLA 84-75. The Ducks have a dynamic young team that is rounding into form behind a healthy freshman Sabrina Ionescu, who had a triple-double Friday night (11 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds).
Stanford finishes the regular season with a road trip to the Oregon schools. Oregon State, Stanford and Washington each have two conference losses. The Cardinal lost to the Beavers and beat UW in their only meeting of the season.
"A lot of things happened tonight in the Pac-12," VanDerveer said. "This is a hell of a conference. It's Rock n' Roll every night. You have to be ready. The challenge is to come out every night ready to play hard. I thought our team played hard."
But the Cardinal persevered through some rough play with a big scoring effort from Brittany McPhee, and strong rebounding, to post a 64-51 win.
"I'm really proud how our team battled," VanDerveer said. "Colorado played us really tough and I'm really proud of our defense. I thought people kept playing hard the whole game and we took care of the ball better the second half. We rebounded well. Brit really carried us with her scoring. We got a great game from Alanna. She really helped us. They were all over Karlie (Samuelson). It was really physical. We're really excited about how the team is playing and battled back."
McPhee scored 20 of her 26 points in the second half and recorded her first double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds as well. McPhee has struggled at times from the lines -- free throw and three point -- but most defenders can't stop her from getting to the basket.
McPhee doesn't need to score 26 points a game, but VanDerveer said, "This is what we need to go where we want to go, to have this kind of effort from Brit and other people stepping up."
McPhee's effort helped pick up Erica McCall, who in the past two games has made eight of her last 27 shots from the field. McCall still finished with a double-double (15 and 10), including a crucial three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter. It gave Stanford a 46-44 lead.
"She was rushing, I thought," VanDerveer. "She hit a big three for us. She stays with things no matter what is happening out there. She doesn't show her frustration. She keeps playing hard. She keeps cheering for her teammates."
On defense, Briana Roberson was a standout by holding Kennedy Leonard, the sophomore star and leading scorer for Colorado, to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting. "That was phenomenal," VanDerveer said.
Stanford winning despite several players struggling with their offense was noteworthy on a night when USC thumped No. 9 Oregon State 70-50 and Oregon beat No. 15 UCLA 84-75. The Ducks have a dynamic young team that is rounding into form behind a healthy freshman Sabrina Ionescu, who had a triple-double Friday night (11 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds).
Stanford finishes the regular season with a road trip to the Oregon schools. Oregon State, Stanford and Washington each have two conference losses. The Cardinal lost to the Beavers and beat UW in their only meeting of the season.
"A lot of things happened tonight in the Pac-12," VanDerveer said. "This is a hell of a conference. It's Rock n' Roll every night. You have to be ready. The challenge is to come out every night ready to play hard. I thought our team played hard."
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