This version of Stanford does not match up well against UCLA and yet led by the superb effort of Kiana Williams the Cardinal were within four points with about three minutes to play before falling 79-69.
This would have been Stanford's third win over a top 10 team. Instead Stanford needs to rally together to get a critical split before going to the mountain schools.
No. 10 UCLA has one of the best players in the country and Michaela Onyenwere was nearly unstoppable, scoring 29 points on 10-16 FGA. It was a marvelous performance to watch and Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer rotated everyone available to try to stop Onyenwere. Nothing worked.
Kiana Williams does not appear to be 100 percent but played 38 minutes and hurled herself into the fray time and again to try to create something, anything, on offense when everything else was broken down. She scored 25 points on 9-22 FGA and many of her misses were the result of attempting drives to the basket when there was no choice but to try a last-ditch plunge into the paint. Williams also had eight assists.
She came close to willing the Cardinal into position to snatch a victory it didn't really deserve.
UCLA's smaller but quick perimeter players were a menace for Lexie and Lacie Hull to try to drive against and Lexie in particular struggled against the straitjacket-close defense. Stanford's offense was often pushed beyond the perimeter to start its action and there often was a lot of dribbling by players trying to create space.
Ashten Prechtel had a tough game from the standpoint of finishing through contact or the expectation of contact. Several of her teammates struggled with the same issue but Prechtel missed 12 of her 17 shots and several were makeable if she didn't rush herself. Prechtel has a very quick trigger when she has room to catch and shoot on the perimeter. She's not shy about throwing up shots but was 0-6 3FGA.
Lexie is arguably Stanford's best player this season in terms of production. She was largely shut down. Lacie made three critical three pointers that all seemed to come when they did a lot of good. There was one at the end of the half that shined a little light of hope in an otherwise dreary second quarter.
Nadia Fingall was held scoreless. It was a tough night against the Bruins defense and VanDerveer was disappointed by the group's effort.
Every team has injuries and that's part of the challenge of getting through a season, but without Haley Jones, DiJonai Carrington and Maya Dodson Stanford is in a difficult spot against top teams moving forward. If Jones had been on the court tonight that would have been a big help. And at the very least, Carrington's presence would provide a significant change to the on-court personality of the group.
VanDerveer quickly acknowledged after the game that Stanford did not match up well defensively against UCLA. They attempted to use zone early in the second half but it didn't solve the problem.
This would have been Stanford's third win over a top 10 team. Instead Stanford needs to rally together to get a critical split before going to the mountain schools.
No. 10 UCLA has one of the best players in the country and Michaela Onyenwere was nearly unstoppable, scoring 29 points on 10-16 FGA. It was a marvelous performance to watch and Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer rotated everyone available to try to stop Onyenwere. Nothing worked.
Kiana Williams does not appear to be 100 percent but played 38 minutes and hurled herself into the fray time and again to try to create something, anything, on offense when everything else was broken down. She scored 25 points on 9-22 FGA and many of her misses were the result of attempting drives to the basket when there was no choice but to try a last-ditch plunge into the paint. Williams also had eight assists.
She came close to willing the Cardinal into position to snatch a victory it didn't really deserve.
UCLA's smaller but quick perimeter players were a menace for Lexie and Lacie Hull to try to drive against and Lexie in particular struggled against the straitjacket-close defense. Stanford's offense was often pushed beyond the perimeter to start its action and there often was a lot of dribbling by players trying to create space.
Ashten Prechtel had a tough game from the standpoint of finishing through contact or the expectation of contact. Several of her teammates struggled with the same issue but Prechtel missed 12 of her 17 shots and several were makeable if she didn't rush herself. Prechtel has a very quick trigger when she has room to catch and shoot on the perimeter. She's not shy about throwing up shots but was 0-6 3FGA.
Lexie is arguably Stanford's best player this season in terms of production. She was largely shut down. Lacie made three critical three pointers that all seemed to come when they did a lot of good. There was one at the end of the half that shined a little light of hope in an otherwise dreary second quarter.
Nadia Fingall was held scoreless. It was a tough night against the Bruins defense and VanDerveer was disappointed by the group's effort.
Every team has injuries and that's part of the challenge of getting through a season, but without Haley Jones, DiJonai Carrington and Maya Dodson Stanford is in a difficult spot against top teams moving forward. If Jones had been on the court tonight that would have been a big help. And at the very least, Carrington's presence would provide a significant change to the on-court personality of the group.
VanDerveer quickly acknowledged after the game that Stanford did not match up well defensively against UCLA. They attempted to use zone early in the second half but it didn't solve the problem.
