Stanford Beats South Dakota, Advances

Well round one is done and in the books. The Stanford Women’s Basketball team with the #2 seed, beat #15 seed South Dakota 81-62 to advance to the round of 32 (which needs a cute nickname). One more win puts them back in the familiar territory of Maples for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.

Stanford’s all everything Chiney Ogwumike scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds. For Stanford to do well, she needs her supporting cast to help her. She did get some help from her starting guards. Amber Orrrrange had 10 points and nine assists and freshman Lili Thompson, playing in her first NCAA tournament game, added 11 points. Bench player and three-point specialist Bonnie Samuelson scored 18 points, all of them threes.

Chiney Ogwumike helps Stanford to a first round victory (Photo: Associated Press )

Things you won’t see in the box score:

• With her first basket of the game, Chiney set the Pac-12 record for scoring. Then she fought for an offensive rebound and put it back up in traffic. She also holds the Pac-12 record for rebounding, too. In case you are wondering who she passed for the scoring record, it was former Stanford great Candice Wiggins (Still a Sentimental fave). Chiney now has 2,652 points and counting. 

• Fifth year senior Mikaela Ruef went to the floor hard and hit her head on the court with five minutes left in the first half. She did not return. She was shown on the bench looking lucid and cheering. Hope there is not a concussion and she can play on Monday. 

• Sara James, in a rare display of emotion, got a technical foul. Refs were not calling much contact during this game and when she was whistled for a foul that she thought should have been on South Dakota, she slammed the ball in frustration. She got T’ed up. 

• Stanford did a good job defensively on South Dakota except for Australian guard Nicole Seekamp. She scored 22 points. Can't let the other team's star score.

• Lili had to play with three fouls from early on in the second half. The freshie will need to play smarter and avoid foul trouble in the coming games. 

• Amber Orrange’s great pass to an open Chiney all alone under the basket on a fast break. Awesome. 

• Bonnie's threes…well you can get that in a box score but still...Bonnie matched her career high with six 3-pointers. All her points came off of threes. 

Next up is Florida State, which knocked off Iowa State. Could be a blessing in disguise, as Stanford would have had to play Iowa on their home floor. But then again, FSU might be pretty physical for Stanford.

The really bad news is that the game is set for Monday and might be on during work hours here on the Pacific Coast. Might have to BYOD. Bring your own device to work to watch Stanford.

Only five more games to go…

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