Stanford Wallops Washington State

So usually when you play Washington State, you have to be aware of the Tia and Lia show. WSU has two great players in guard Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley. Lia showed why she deserves lot of defensive attention, scoring 18 before fouling out with two minutes left in the game. However, Stanford’s defense held Tia to four points, 15 below her average. She was 1-10 from the field. Lia and Tia didn’t get much scoring help from their teammates, either.

Or maybe a better headline would be Stanford is basketball’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stanford would make a brilliant play and then follow it up with a boneheaded play. Or else WSU was just that good at forcing turnovers, which they did well in the first half. WSU forced 13 turnovers in the first half, and converted that into 14 points. A lot of them came off a full court press. Stanford was lucky to only be down 39-37 at the half.

However, Stanford must be slipping something in to the Gatorade at half, because again it was a different story in the second frame. Turnovers for Stanford were kept to a manageable five. WSU shot just 7-36 in the second. This time in the second half when WSU used their press, a Stanford guard would just drive coast to coast with an open path to the basket, instead of a turnover. Plus Stanford got WSU into foul trouble in the second and went to the line 16 times for the game. WSU only went to the line once in the second half.

Amber Orrange surpassed 500 career assists against WSU (Norbert von der Groeben/ Isiphotos.com)

Always steady Amber Orrange scored 15 and had six assists. Amber became the seventh Stanford player to reach 500 assists. She now has 503 and counting.

Also today the post game got going, with good looks insides, especially by Erica McCall. Stanford also won the rebounding game, 47-30 (In the first half it was a 22-9 Stanford advantage). Erica McCall scored 14 and grabbed seven boards, with most of her points were from inside.  Bri Roberson added 11, despite having to sit with foul trouble, Lili Thompson and Karlie Samuelson each added 10, so having five players in double figures is always good. Freshie Kaylee Johnson chipped in seven pints and a game-high 11 rebounds. That makes 10 games for Kaylee with 10 or more rebounds in her young Stanford career.

Oh, by the way, WSU is now 0-59 against Stanford, proving to be the Washington Generals of the Pac-12.

Next up is Washington at Maples on Monday.

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