On Friday, (1) Stanford women’s basketball defeated (16) Montana State 78-37 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Maples Pavilion. Junior guard Hannah Jump (15 points on 5-11 FG/3PT), senior guard Lexie Hull (13 points & 5 assists), junior forward Francesca Belibi (12 points & 13 rebounds), and sophomore forward Cameron Brink (11 points, 11 rebounds, & 4 blocks) led the way for Stanford while sophomore forward Taylor Janssen (12 points & 3 rebounds) led the way for Montana State.
“I think that I just want to congratulate Montana State on getting into the NCAA,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “Tricia's team, I thought played really hard. Our team had to respond, and I thought we did. Especially our defense was really good, and Fran's dunk really made it exciting.”
From the jump, this one was all Stanford, who led 12-0 with 5:00 to go in the 1st quarter. Lexie Hull was up to 4 points while Stanford was shooting 5-9 from the field. Stanford would finish the quarter strong to lead 20-0 at the end of the first quarter, completing a shutout. South Carolina outscored Howard 22-2 in the first quarter of their game and Stanford was like “We can top that.” Cameron Brink was up to 7 points and 5 rebounds while Lexie Hull was up to 6 points. Both players were leading the way for the Cardinal.
“I think in the middle of the quarter, not necessarily something we were like, oh, we can do this this quarter, but just to take every possession seriously,” Lexie Hull said of the shut out. “And our coaches did a great job preparing us for tonight, and so we kind of knew going in what we thought they were going to do, and to be able to execute on defense what we've practiced these past couple weeks, it felt good. I think it just made us, like I said, more comfortable and into the game coming out like that.”
With 5:00 to go in the 2nd quarter, Stanford led 34-8 as Belibi was up to 11 points and 6 rebounds after completing an electrifying dunk. The crowd went into a state of pandemonium after the dunk, not to mention the entire team. That really put an exclamation mark on the game even though the first half wasn’t even over yet.
“Yeah, I think our coaches did a great job of preparing us for this game,” Belibi said when asked about the dunk. “We knew their post players like to shoot, so I was just trying to recover back. I got the block, which was cool, and then I was kind of dribbling down and I kind of looked over to see who was there and where she was, and then I got past the three-point line and I kind of went for it, so it worked out.”
“Yeah, I was running right behind her and it was like, we see a potential lane, and we're like, do it, do it, do it, and then when she did it, I was so excited,” Hull added. “I think, like, thinking back on plays, people don't remember, oh, it was a really cool three-point shot or it was a great shot. People remember the dunks. I remember every single one of Fran's. To be right there was super cool and definitely a memory I'll have forever.”
At halftime, Stanford led 41-12. Belibi (11 points & 6 rebounds) and Hull (10 points & 4 assists) were leading the way for the Cardinal. Janssen (6 points) was leading the Bobcats, scoring half of their points.
With 4:35 to go in the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 57-14. Jump was catching fire for Stanford with 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the field, all of which were 3-point attempts. Hull was up to 13 points while Brink had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Dominating stuff.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford was now up 63-16. Stanford had been especially dominating on the glass with a 48-23 rebounding advantage. Their length and athleticism was just too much for Montana State to overcome.
With the game in hand, Stanford pulled back in the 4th quarter as Montana State actually won the 4th quarter 16-15. In the end, it would be a 78-37 victory for Stanford. The 20-0 shut out in the 1st quarter really set the tone for the rest of the game. From there, it was just tough for Montana State to feel like the had any sort of chance.
“I think it was really important, and I was really excited that we did that,” VanDerveer said of the strong start her team had to the game. “That's what -- if you're a No. 1 seed, if you let a team hang around, anything can happen. I told our team that before the game. I just said, Kentucky could never imagine they would have lost to St. Peter's. It's like, you can't let a team hang around, so jump right on them, and I was excited that we did that.”
Up next for Stanford will be a home game on Sunday against (8) Kansas, who also had a dominating win at Maples, defeating (9) Georgia Tech 77-58 earlier in the day. That game will tip-off at 6:00 PM PT on ESPN.
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