Today at 3:00 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and Varsity Network Radio, #3 Stanford women’s basketball will officially begin their quest for another national championship against Morgan State.
Last time out: Stanford defeated Clarke in their exhibition game 105-35 last Saturday. Stanford junior guard Haley Jones led the way for the Cardinal with 14 points rebounds while sophomore forward Cameron Brink had 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
RECAP: Stanford WBB breezes past Clarke in exhibition
On Morgan State: The Bears hail from Baltimore, Maryland and compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Last year, they went 12-4 overall and 8-2 in the MEAC, playing well both at home and away. They averaged 64.3 points per game on 36.9% shooting from the field, 29.8% shooting from 3-point range, and 74.5% shooting from the foul line. They averaged a -1.7 rebound margin, 10.3 assists, 10.9 steals, 2.1 blocks, and 18.1 turnovers per game. Their opponents averaged 61.2 points per game on 38.4% shooting from the field, 28.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 65.5% shooting from the foul line.
The Bears are led by graduate student forward Dahnye Redd, who averaged 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season. Junior guard Ja’Niah Henson (11.3 points) and senior guard Ashia McCalla (10.6 points) also scored in double figures last year. As a trio, Redd, Henson, and McCalla form a pretty dangerous unit that has a nice blend of scoring inside and out.
As mid-major opponents go, Morgan State is really good. They had a great season last year and their core is back even more seasoned and experienced than before. They are certainly not a team to dismiss based off of their name and conference. They can really play and could flirt with an appearance in the AP Top 25 this season.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they’re going to have to do is control the glass. Redd is going to want to do her thing inside and get second chance scoring opportunities. If Stanford can keep her off the glass and limit those opportunities, that’s going to take a major weapon away from Morgan State.
Secondly, Stanford needs to defend the perimeter and keep Morgan State away from the foul line. The Bears are going to look to get some threes to fall early and they have the players to do so. Redd shot 45.5% from 3-point range last year (though it was just 11 attempts) and Henson shot 35.1%. Stanford cannot allow them to get going from deep.
Touching on the foul shooting, that might be Morgan State’s biggest strength as they shot 74.5% from the line last year. They’ll be looking to get to the foul line early and often. If Stanford can prevent that from happening, that’ll be key.
Lastly, Stanford just needs to get a little bit of help from everybody. That’s going to be their key to success all year long. The “tag team basketball” that Haley Jones mentioned that Tara VanDerveer likes to play. If everyone is doing their thing and contributing, Stanford will be really tough to stop.
Prediction: I need to stress once again that as mid-major opponents go, Morgan State is really good. They deserve to be respected and Stanford cannot hit the snooze button and expect to win by 20+ points. Stanford will need to be alert and active all game long in order to win comfortably.
That all said, when does a Tara VanDerveer team ever hit the snooze button? The answer is never and if anything they perhaps go above and beyond what they need to do to win. This is what makes them great and the defending national champions that they are.
I expect Stanford to win this game comfortably by a final score of 80-50. Once again, that score is by no means meant as a disrespect to Morgan State. It’s just that Stanford is who they are and quite honestly should be ranked as the number one team in America.
