On Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ESPN 2, No. 2 Stanford women’s basketball will take on No. 15 Norfolk State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Stanford comes in at 28-5 overall having gone 15-3 in the Pac-12 and falling to USC in the Pac-12 tournament championship game after winning the Pac-12 regular season title. As for Norfolk State, they come in at 27-5 overall having gone 13-1 in the MEAC and winning the MEAC tournament on top of the regular season title.
VIDEO: Stanford WBB head coach Tara VanDerveer looks ahead to facing Norfolk State
VIDEO: Stanford WBB players look ahead to Norfolk State in NCAA tournament
On Norfolk State: The Spartans have had a strong season. As I wrote above, they won the MEAC regular season title and backed that up by winning the conference tournament. They dominated their league and come into the NCAA tournament with a lot of momentum.
Without intending to disrespect the rest of the players on the team, the Spartans are really a two-player attack on offense in junior point guard Diamond Johnson (20.3 points & 5.4 assists) and junior forward Kierra Wheeler (17.6 points & 9.7) rebounds. Nobody else on the team scores in doubles figures on average, so there’s a lot of pressure on the two of them to really deliver the goods.
“They’ve had a great season,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said of the Spartans during Thursday’s press conference. “You asked about their mascot. I think they’re the Spartans. They have really talented players. Obviously you pointed out Diamond Johnson, but they’re really a complete team.”
As a team, the Spartans average 67.5 points per game on 40.7% shooting from the field, 32.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 73.1% shooting from the foul line. They average 37.2 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 12.6 steals, 3.1 blocks, and 7.6 turnovers per game. They also average a +2.7 rebound margin and a +7.6 turnover margin. Their opponents average 52.3 points per game on 35.6% shooting from the field, 28.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 69.1% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: As you can tell from the stats, the Spartans force a lot of turnovers and get a lot of steals. They press a lot and play a very aggressive style of play on defense. That’s something that Stanford is well aware of and are emphasizing. If Stanford handles the press well and takes care of the ball, they’ll be fine. If not, maybe the Spartans will make this interesting.
“We know that they’re very good, that they press a lot, that they’re very aggressive,” Stanford junior guard Elena Bosgana said of the Spartans. “Tara says that we need to focus on us in every game, so that’s what we’re going to do. I think we’re very well-prepared, and we’re going to do our best tomorrow.”
“They play a different style than probably we’ve played against a lot,” VanDerveer added. “They press and play more of a three two zone. But they’re very capable to mix it up. We know that we’re going to be very challenged, and we will have to play very well. Our team is really excited about the opportunity.”
The next thing Stanford needs to do is feed the post. Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen are such a great duo inside. The best low-post duo in the nation. Few teams can handle them inside and I don’t think Norfolk State is one of those teams. If those two play big inside, Stanford should be in a good spot to win this one.
Finally, Stanford needs to defend Diamond Johnson well. Johnson will look to test Stanford’s backcourt early and see how well they can defend her. If Stanford defends her well, they’ll be fine. If Johnson goes off for a big performance, Stanford could be in trouble.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning by a final score of 78-55. I’m going to say Norfolk State’s press gives Stanford some trouble and makes the game a bit more interesting than Stanford would like it to be. Stanford will still come out on top in the end, though. Johnson and Wheeler might have good outings, but they just don’t have enough firepower to overcome all the weapons Stanford has. If Stanford wins more handily than I predict, that’ll be encouraging because a team that presses and puts pressure on the ball handlers is the recipe for success against them given their point guard play at times is dicey.
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