On Wednesday at 7:00 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and Varsity Network radio, #2 Stanford women’s basketball will take on the Santa Clara Broncos at home. Stanford comes in at 8-1 overall while Santa Clara comes in at 5-3.
Last time out: Stanford went 3-0 on at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu, Hawaii. They defeated Florida Gulf Coast 93-69, Grambling State 87-50, and Hawaii 68-39. The game against Hawaii appears to have counted as a true road game.
As a result of winning the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, Stanford picked up a trophy. Haley Jones was named tournament MVP while Cameron Brink was named to the All-Tournament Team.
RECAP: Stanford WBB pulls away from Florida Gulf Coast in 4th quarter
Recap via Stanford Athletics: Smooth Sailing-Grambling State
Recap via Stanford Athletics: Hardware in Hawaii-Hawaii
On Santa Clara: After a shaky start, the Broncos have won three games in a row with their most recent victory coming against Washington by a final score of 71-58. The fact that they have beaten a Pac-12 team shows that they can play and should be a factor in the WCC.
The Broncos are led by freshman guard Tess Heal, who is averaging 17.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. She is really balling out and is a major reason why the Broncos are heating up. Senior guard Ayzhiana Basallo is the number two scorer on this Broncos team and the other player scoring in double figures, averaging 11.0 points per game. Heal and Basallo are a pretty potent duo in the backcourt. They’re also good shooters, both shooting north of 80% at the foul line.
As a team, the Broncos average 72.4 points per game on 43.6% shooting from the field, 34.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.3% from the foul line. They average 35.3 rebounds, 14.9 assists, 5.8 steals, 3.0 blocks, and 14.8 turnovers per game. They also average a -0.3 rebound margin and a +0.6 turnover margin. Their opponents average 66.4 points per game on 40.0% shooting from the field, 32.4% shooting from 3-point range, and 76.6% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: The first thing Stanford needs to do is take advantage of their size. Santa Clara is not a great rebounding team, losing the battle on the glass on average. If Stanford dominates the paint, they should win this game with little to no trouble.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is make their free throws. Stanford actually shoots a better percentage from the foul line on average than Santa Clara does, shooting 74.0% from the foul line, but as we saw in their game against Florida Gulf Coast, foul shooting is what kept them in front at halftime. If Stanford can keep up the quality foul shooting, they should be fine.
Finally, Stanford needs to find the hot hand. Every night it seems like it’s someone new who heats up. One night it’s Hannah Jump, the next it’s Haley Jones, the next it’s Cameron Brink, and other nights it’s someone like Ashten Prechtel. If Stanford identifies who has the hot hand tonight and feeds them, they should win with ease.
Prediction: Santa Clara is a good team and has shown they can beat Pac-12 teams. So this could be a bit interesting in the first quarter or even first half. However, I do expect Stanford to pull away at some point and with ease. Especially being at home. I got Stanford winning 85-60.
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