On Friday at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and Varsity Network radio, #6 Stanford women’s basketball will take on the Washington Huskies on the road in Seattle. Stanford comes in at 20-3 overall and 9-2 in the Pac-12 while Washington comes in at 13-8 overall and 3-7 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: On Sunday, Stanford defeated UCLA 80-60, bouncing back from their Friday loss to USC. Stanford fell to #6 in the nation following the weekend while UCLA fell to #9.
RECAP: #4 Stanford WBB shames #7 UCLA
On Washington: Washington comes into this game having lost four of their last five games, so they’re not exactly trending in the right direction. In their first meeting with Stanford on The Farm, they fell by a final score of 71-59. They played Stanford decently tough, but it wasn’t enough. Stanford was ranked #8 in the nation at the time, so Stanford’s ranking has slightly risen since then.
The Huskies are led by sophomore guard Elle Ladine (12.1 points & 5.7 rebounds), junior forward Dalayah Daniels (11.8 points & 7.2 rebounds), and senior forward Lauren Schwartz (10.9 points). The three of them are doing a nice job of providing a scoring balance. The issue is none of them are really explosive scorers. That’s what they are missing.
As a team, the Huskies average 64.8 points per game on 42.4% shooting from the field, 32.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 68.9% shooting from the foul line. They average 37.3 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 6.8 steals, 4.1 blocks, and 13.5 turnovers per game. They also average a +5.0 rebound margin and a -0.3 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 56.7 points per game on 38.0% shooting from the field, 28.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 69.1% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: The first thing Stanford needs to do is control the glass. In their first meeting, Stanford out-rebounded Washington 47-24. If they keep up that same intensity inside and win the rebounding margin by a similar margin, Stanford should be in a good spot.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is see if they can shoot more efficiently from the perimeter. In their first meeting, Stanford shot 7-25 from deep while Hannah Jump shot 4-13. Their inefficient perimeter shooting helped to keep the game as close as it was. If Stanford shoots better from deep, they should win handily.
Finally, Stanford should look to get more out of Talana Lepolo in this game. She had zero points and five assists against Washington on The Farm. Stanford should look to get more from her both in terms of points and assists. If Lepolo has a better night, I like Stanford’s chances to win.
Prediction: I gotta roll with the Cardinal tonight. They’re a top ten team and they handled Washington well the first go around. That said, I’m going to pick Washington to make this a game and keep it within single digits. Stanford 74 Washington 66 is how I see this one shaking out.
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