On Friday at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and Varsity Network radio, #3 Stanford women’s basketball will welcome Arizona to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 23-3 overall and 12-2 in the Pac-12 while Arizona comes in at 14-12 overall and 6-8 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: Stanford dominated Cal 84-49 last Friday.
RECAP: #3 Stanford WBB obliterates Cal
On Arizona: The Wildcats have had an up and down season. In their first meeting with Stanford in Tucson, they got destroyed 96-64. They’ve had a tough time with ranked opponents with Utah being the lone ranked team they’ve beaten all season. On the bright side, they are coming to town having won two straight games over the Washington schools.
Sophomore guard Kailyn Gilbert continues to lead the Wildcats with her 15.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Fifth year forward Esmery Martinez (11.1 points & 6.4 rebounds) and sophomore forward Maya Nnaji (10.2 points) continue to score in double figures, taking some of the pressure off Gilbert.
As a team, Arizona averages 70.3 points per game on 44.4% shooting from the field, 31.5% from 3-point range, and 73.6% shooting from the foul line. They average 33.2 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 11.3 steals, 4.1 blocks, and 15.1 turnovers per game. They also average a -2.9 rebound margin and a +4.3 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 65.5 points per game on 41.6% shooting from the field, 31.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 68.8% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is make sure they take good care of the ball. Winning the turnover battle is a major strength of this Arizona team. If Stanford takes that away from them, it should be a long night for Arizona. The second thing Stanford needs to do is keep up their defensive intensity. If they shut down Gilbert and find a way to hold Arizona to at least one single digit quarter, Stanford will be fine.
Finally, Stanford needs to feed the post. I don’t think Arizona has any answer inside for Kiki Iriafen and Cameron Brink. If Stanford gets those two in a nice flow, they’ll win handily.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning handily. These kinds of games are always tough to predict, but I’ll say Stanford wins 85-55.
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