On Friday, (1) Stanford women’s basketball defeated (16) Sacred Heart 92-49 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Maples Pavilion. Stanford senior guard Haley Jones led the way for the Cardinal with 17 points and 6 rebounds while senior guard Hannah Jump (12 points), senior forward Francesca Belibi (12 points & 10 rebounds), freshman guard Indya Nivar (11 points), and freshman center Lauren Betts (10 points, 7 rebounds, & 3 blocks) also scored in double figures. Sacred Heart freshman guard Ny’Ceara Pryor led the way for the Pioneers with 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Stanford advances to face (8) Ole Miss on Sunday.
BOX SCORE: (1) Stanford vs. (16) Sacred Heart
Video: Stanford WBB Press Conference: Sacred Heart
Quotes: Stanford vs. Sacred Heart
“We're really excited to be moving on and playing the winner of Mississippi or Gonzaga,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “I thought our team really played with a lot of energy today. You know, we obviously were without two players, Cameron Brink and Jzaniya Harriel, but I think everyone stepped up.
“Lauren had a great game. Indya had a great game, playing really hard defensively. Just want to compliment Sacred Heart on an excellent season. Very well-coached team. In the first quarter I think we kind of just able to use our depth and wear them out little bit. Congratulations to them on a great season.”
Sacred Heart got out to a strong start, leading 9-7 with 4:55 to go in the 1st quarter. With Cameron Brink out due to a stomach flu, Belibi got the start for the Cardinal, looking to give her team a much-needed lift.
Stanford would push ahead to lead 23-18 at the end of the 1st quarter. Jump and Jones each had 6 points for the Cardinal while Pryor also had 6 points for the Pioneers. Stanford was shooting 10-14 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range while Sacred Heart was shooting 6-13 from the field.
With 4:59 to go in the 2nd quarter, Stanford led 32-20. Haley Jones was really catching fire for the Cardinal with 13 points and 3 rebounds. Stanford was outscoring Sacred Heart 9-2 in the 2nd quarter so far.
“We had a great second quarter,” VanDerveer said. “I thought that some of it is adjusting a little bit to the officiating and how tight things are going to be called. I thought we needed to be more aggressive defensively, and we gave up too many points in the first quarter.
“So I think we tightened up our defense. You know, it is really different not having Cam out there, but I thought different people stepped up very well for us. And we got our defense going. We had great contributions off the bench. Agnes came in, made some really good, big plays. Talana with seven assists was great. Her pass was to Hannah Jump for the last three that set the record for the most threes in a Stanford single season.
“So we're excited about that. But our defense got going. Again, I think that they had a game two days ago, they traveled out here. You know, I thought they gave us a great game in the first quarter and then we kind of put the hammer down.”
At halftime, Stanford led 45-26. Hannah Jump was up to 9 points after Talana Lepolo found her for a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer. Jump was fired up after that one. Haley Jones was up to 17 points and 5 rebounds, her point total for the entire game.
“I mean, Hannah, she's a great player,” VanDerveer said of Jump. “She is an extraordinary shooter, but she does a lot more. She had assists for us. She rebounds. Talks out on the floor. Runs the floor hard. I think some of it is, again, the times that she maybe didn't score were times she was tired, and that's on me maybe giving her more rest. Try to give her a little more rest.
“So I'm looking at that, and that might be one of the lowest numbers she had all season long. Just to rest her more and keep her fresh so she has her legs for her shot. You know, I was excited to see her get going. She looked very confident out there. She's been shooting the ball really well in practice. You know, it was fun to see her knock it down.”
Stanford came out strong in the second half, leading 58-33 with 4:36 to go in the 3rd quarter. Belibi was doing work inside with 10 points and 8 rebounds. She was really stepping up with Brink being out.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 73-37. It was pretty much garbage time at this point. Stanford had their B team in, which is still a good team. Stanford had a done a great job of containing Pryor, holding her to 8 points. As Sting says in his song “Be Still My Beating Heart”, Sacred Heart was sinking like a stone that had been thrown in the ocean.
From there, Stanford went on to win 92-49. The Pioneers battled hard all night and made Stanford earn it by playing tough in the 1st quarter, but in the end, the Cardinal had too many weapons. Even with Brink out.
“If you're going to lose to a team in the tournament, let it be to Stanford,” Sacred Heart head coach Jessica Mannetti said. “I mean, just being able to play against that level of talent was such an incredible experience to witness. They almost had seven players in double digits. They have weapons all over the floor, and I think I'm the most proud of our kids because we weren't scared of that. We did a tremendous job starting the game at the pace we wanted, getting the shots we wanted, and really coming out of the gate firing. I was really proud of our effort. Really, really proud of the way that we responded through some of the runs that they had.
“At the end of the day we did what we came here to do, which was compete nationally. We came here as NEC champions; won that First Four game and were able to really bring a lot of pride to our university and make history. You know, unfortunately most seasons end with a loss unless you win some sort of championship, but this doesn't feel like a loss to us today. I'm very, very proud of our program.”
While this game went smoothly for Stanford, it was still nice for their freshmen to get their first NCAA Tournament game under their belts. It was a new experience for them and to get the win behind a strong support from their home fans meant a lot.
“It's just really exciting,” Betts said. “Like this is something that Indya and I have grown up watching for a very long time, so it's just an honor to be here and play on this team and just have this experience with the amazing people I get to be with every day.
“So honestly it just felt like a regular game. Obviously there is a lot of hype and everything around it, but just have to trust that we're going to go out there and do what we have to do. So, yeah.”
“Yeah, always growing up watching the tournament, looking forward to it,” Nivar added. “Being in it is kind of exciting because like I really -- I worked hard to get here, and being in it I am just excited every game. This game was kind of like the same as the other ones, but just with a little bit more excitement behind it knowing that this game we have to do what we have to do to get to the next.”
Up next for Stanford is a game against the 8th seed Ole Miss on Sunday. That will tip-off at 6:30 PM PT on ESPN and Varsity Network Radio. Stanford is expected to have Cameron Brink back after she went through practice on Saturday. Her return will be huge.
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