On New Year’s Eve at 6:00 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and Varsity Network Radio, #9 Stanford women’s basketball will welcome Morgan State to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 11-1 overall while Morgan State comes in at 4-9.
Last time out: On Friday, Stanford defeated Cal by a final score of 78-51. Talana Lepolo had a career-high 20 points for the Cardinal.
RECAP: #9 Stanford WBB outshines Cal in Berkeley
On Morgan State: The Bears are not off to a great start. They are 3-2 at home, but 0-6 on the road. They’ve also lost three games in a row. At #1 South Carolina, they got waxed 104-38. Just to give you a point of reference.
The Bears are led by graduate student forward Joelle Johnson, who is averaging 9.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Gabrielle Johnson is the number two scorer for the Bears with her 8.8 points per game.
As a team, the Bears are averaging 54.4 points per game on 34.1% shooting from the field, 23.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.7% shooting from the foul line. They average 32.8 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 12.7 steals, 2.5 blocks, and 16.8 turnovers per game. They also average a -4.8 rebound margin and a +4.6 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 63.3 points per game on 44.3% shooting from the field, 38.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 68.7% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is make sure they are taking good shots and not having bad possessions. As long as they do that, they’ll be fine. Morgan State can’t expect this game to be close if they are playing a Stanford team that is playing clean.
Secondly, Stanford needs to take advantage of their size. Few teams have an answer for Kiki Iriafen and Cameron Brink inside and I don’t think Morgan State is one of those few teams. As long as Stanford gets those two going, they’ll win with little trouble.
Finally, Stanford needs to control the tempo. As long as they play at the pace they like, they’ll win going away. Pacing is always important and when you are the superior team, you gotta dictate that.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning big. 100-40. Morgan State isn’t good at the mid-major level. No reason to think they even keep this remotely close. Especially given that Stanford is coming off a dominant win at Cal.
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