On Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX, Stanford women’s basketball will take on the Morgan State Lady Bears. Stanford comes in at 4-1 overall while Morgan State comes in at 4-3.
Last time out: Stanford fell to Indiana on the road on Sunday by a final score of 79-66. Nunu Agara was the top performer for Stanford with 15 points.
RECAP: Stanford WBB falls to Indiana on the road
On Morgan State: The Lady Bears are 4-0 at home and 0-3 on the road. Their wins are over small programs while their losses are against bigger programs, though still outside the power four level. Old Dominion defeated them 60-48, Richmond defeated them 93-39, and UMBC defeated them 81-72. In truth, only really Richmond being an Atlantic-10 team is considered a bigger program. The Atlantic-10 is considered a high major conference, though probably the weakest of all the high major conferences.
The Lady Bears are led by junior guard Ja’la Bannerman, who averages 12.6 points per game on 48.4% shooting from the field, 48.3% shooting from 3-point range, and 82.4% shooting from the foul line. The only other player scoring in double figures on average is senior forward Laila Fair, who is averaging 10.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
As a team, the Lady Bears average 63.6 points per game on 38.8% shooting from the field, 29.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 56.6% shooting from the foul line. They average 39.7 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 11.3 steals, and 3.4 blocks per game. They also average a +6.4 rebound margin and a +0.3 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 63.9 points per game on 42.3% shooting from the field, 31.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 70.6% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is simply defend. They’ve struggled at times with defending the perimeter and having good defensive rotations. As long as Stanford defends and doesn’t give up easy shots, they’ll be fine.
Secondly, Stanford needs to keep up their quality ball movement. As long as they move the ball well and take good shots, they should be fine. They have plenty of good shooters like Jzaniya Harriel, Elena Bosgana, and Courtney Ogden. They just need to make sure they’re getting good looks.
Finally, Stanford just needs to play smart. As long as the run their offense well and play smart, they should be fine. They’re far ahead of Morgan State talent wise such that it would take some stupid play by Stanford to cost them this game.
Prediction: I mean no disrespect whatsoever to Morgan State as I say this, but as you can tell, I really don’t see this being much of a game. Stanford is in need of a bounce back win and Morgan State is just what the doctor ordered. I got Stanford winning easily: 90-35.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Blue Sky: @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
