On Sunday, in Spokane, Washington #2 Stanford women’s basketball defeated #6 Texas by a final score of 59-50 in the Elite Eight/Spokane Regional Final to advance to the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stanford came in as the top seed in the Spokane region while Texas came in as the number two seed. Stanford senior guard Lexie Hull (20 points), junior guard Haley Jones (18 points, 12 rebounds, & 4 assists), and sophomore forward Cameron Brink (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 blocks, & 1 steal) led the way for the Cardinal while senior guard Joanne Allen-Taylor (15 points) and freshman guard Rori Harmon (14 points) were the top performers for the Longhorns.
"First, I just want to congratulate Texas on a great season,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “What a tough game that was for us. Second, I just want to congratulate our team because we battled. I think it showed how much people have improved. Just Lacie, Anna Wilson, they really did a great job running our point.
“I thought Haley had a great game. She really carried us. Cam had a great second half, and Lexie battled the whole game. I'm proud of our team, I'm really happy for our team. And we are going to Minneapolis, and we're dancing!”
Early on the game was tight as both teams were tied at 14 apiece after the 1st quarter. Lexie Hull (5 points) was leading the way for the Cardinal while Joanne Allen-Taylor (7 points) was leading Texas. Neither team was letting the other team get anything easy.
Stanford would take a slight 22-21 lead with 4:01 to go in the half. Francesca Belibi found a cutting Lexie Hull for a layup to put Stanford in front. Texas was shooting 2-4 from 3-point range while Stanford was shooting 0-6. The Cardinal needed to get some triples to fall.
At halftime, Stanford led 30-27. Stanford got lucky as Texas forward/center Lauren Ebo missed two foul shots with 0.5 to go in the half. Anna Wilson committed the foul inside. At the halftime mark, Hull (12 points) and Jones (9 points) were leading Stanford while Allen-Taylor (9 points) was leading Texas.
With 4:53 to go in the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 37-35. Hull was now up to 12 points for Stanford while Harmon was up to 13 points for Texas. Both guards were in a nice groove.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 45-40. Brink had a huge 3-pointer and some big-time blocks. In a reversal of what happened at the end of the first half, Jones got fouled right before the buzzer sounded attempting a 3-pointer and made all three of her foul shots. That was another nice break for the Cardinal.
“I don't think there is ever a point in any game where you're comfortable,” Jones said. “I think the Pac-12 conference has prepared us for this season. Maryland last night, we are up by 20-something, and we end up not winning by double digits. So you can never be comfortable if you want to achieve what we want to achieve.
“When it gets down to the end of the game, it is still a close game. Texas is a great game. Every team we're going to play down the stretch is going to be a great team. So there's not time to be comfortable because even though you may have the lead, it can go away in an instant. So I think our team does a really good job of keeping that sense of urgency as the game goes on no matter what the score is.”
With 6:30 to go, Stanford was up 48-42. They just needed to finish strong. With 5:05 to go, it was now a 50-43 game after Jones got a nice bucket inside. Brink was doing too much heat checking as she was taking some threes that she probably shouldn’t have been taking. Stanford once again just needed to play smart. With 4:08 to go, it was now a 50-45 Stanford lead after Texas got a bucket inside. This one had the looks of a game going right down to the wire.
After a huge 3-point play from Lexie Hull, it was now a 53-48 Stanford lead with 2:20 to go. And after she made another foul shot, going 1-2, it was a 54-50 lead with 1:50 to go. Stanford would then benefit from four straight foul shots from Haley Jones to go up 58-50 with 41.1 to go. Both she and Hull had taken over. Stanford would add another point to lead 59-50 with 14.1 to go. At this point, the game was well in hand.
“Yeah, I think we knew it was going to be super physical, and it definitely was,” Hull said. “But I'm just super proud of our team for staying with it, sticking with each other and being gritty. I think it came down to who was the grittier team tonight and who was willing to get on the floor and battle inside. Really proud of our team and how we came out on top today.”
In the end, 59-50 would be the final score as Stanford secured a trip to the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Texas played tough in the rematch, but Stanford just proved to be too good. Stanford clearly is a better team than they were in November and it showed in this performance.
“I am absolutely thrilled that we're going to the Final Four,” VanDerveer said. “I'm thrilled because of the team that I'm coaching. It's crazy to say this, but you're always happy to go to the Final Four, but sometimes you're really happy, and I'm really happy! It is a great group to be with. They care about each other, they'll do whatever -- I wasn't worried about the effort at all today.
“We have great leadership, unselfishness. I think whoever we play, whether it's Connecticut or NC State, we will be ready and we will enjoy our experience there, and we're excited to have fans, because last year it was more fans than we had all year, but it still wasn't the same atmosphere that it is now.
“We've had this on our radar all year. We've never really talked about going to the Final Four. We've talked about it but now we're really going. It does not get old.”
Stanford has arguably been the best team in the nation all year long and certainly been the best team west of the Mississippi. The whole Stanford community is behind them and athletes from other sports have been excited to see their success.
“Of course, of course, we’re always following our other Stanford sports,” Stanford catcher Kody Huff said on Sunday. “The women’s basketball team has been one of the most fun teams to watch since I’ve been here. They really dominate their sport and are great examples of playing hard and respecting the game as well and it’s a lot of fun to watch them. Wish them the best of look and I know they’re going to win and hopefully bring it home back to back.”
“We’ve been following them, we love watching them,” Stanford pitcher Drew Dowd added. “They’re awesome. They’re the cream of the crop of the country for women’s basketball and we’re really proud of them as a team and we’re looking forward to watching them next week when we’re in Corvallis.”
Up next for Stanford is their Final Four game on Friday in Minneapolis against either NC State or UConn. The game will be held in the Target Center, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. Tip-off time to be determined.
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