On Thursday, #1 Stanford women’s basketball defeated #9 Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament by a final score of 76-65. Stanford junior forward Cameron Brink led the way for the Cardinal with 22 points and 11 rebounds while senior guard Hannah Jump (13 points) and freshman guard Talana Lepolo (10 points) also scored in double figures. Oregon guards Te-Hina Paopao (28 points & 5 rebounds) and Endyia Rogers (15 points & 5 rebounds) were the top performers for the Ducks.
BOX SCORE: #1 Stanford vs. #9 Oregon-Pac-12 Tournament
“That was a great win for our team,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “Oregon has a really strong team and Paopao really got going on us. Just a very well coached team, really talented team, and so for us this is a big win. We went inside to Cam and she delivered, Fran came in and had a great game for us, I thought Talana Lepolo had a great game for us, Haley rebounded and had some great assists for us, a lot of different people stepped up. A lot of young players, Lauren Betts I thought came in and helped us, just, Indya Nivar had some nice plays, so our defense for the most part played really well except for maybe we just forgot to guard Paopao sometimes. She’s an exceptional player. So, I’m really excited that we’re moving on to play UCLA.”
Stanford got out to a strong start, leading 11-2 with 5:00 to go in the 1st quarter. Cameron Brink and Haley Jones each had 4 points for the Cardinal. Oregon was shooting 1-5 from the field while Stanford was shooting Stanford shooting 2-10 from the field and 7-7 from the foul line.At the end of the 1st quarter, Stanford led 16-9. Hannah Jump up was up to 6 points for the Cardinal. Both teams were shooting terribly from the field as Stanford was shooting 3-20 while Oregon was shooting 2-14. Foul shots were making the difference as Stanford was 9-11 from the charity stripe while Oregon was shooting 4-4. Stanford would continue to lead, going up 30-17 with 4:56 to go in the 2nd quarter. Brink was balling out with 12 points and 6 rebounds while Jump had 9 points. It was a strong start for both players.
“Cam is extremely motivated, she plays really hard,” VanDerveer said of Brink. “She’s incredibly talented and she just came out and said I gotta get going and she did and she put her team on her back. I think she had some great help from Fran, the two of them together rebounded really well for us and Haley rebounded. So, you got your upperclassmen stepping up and that’s how it should be.”
At halftime it was a 37-24 lead for Stanford. Cameron Brink (12 points & 6 rebounds) and Hannah Jump (11 points & 3 rebounds) were leading the way for the Cardinal while Haley Jones had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, & 2 blocks. Te-Hina Paopao (8 points) and Grace VanSlooten (7 points) were pacing the Ducks.
With 4:24 to go in the 3rd quarter, it was a 49-39 lead for Stanford. Brink had picked up her third foul and was on the bench. Paopao was up to 14 points for the Ducks. This one was getting interesting.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, it was a 58-45 lead for Stanford. Brink was back in the game and now had 16 points & 7 rebounds. Oregon made a real push in the 3rd quarter, getting within six points, but a huge triple by Lepolo to beat the buzzer gave the Cardinal a bit more of a cushion.
“I thought she had a fabulous game,” VanDerveer said of Lepolo. “I think that I have just the utmost confidence in Talana. She made her free throws, she had five assists no turnovers, she made some big threes, she defended a fabulous player Endyia Rogers who I think she worked really hard to guard her and she did a great job. So, it’s really exciting to see her have that type of game. But I think she’s really been doing it all year. She flies under the radar, but that’s ok with me.”
With 6:52 to go, Stanford led 60-50. Stanford was in a good spot. They just needed to finish strong.
Over the next couple of minutes, Stanford would lead 64-50 with 4:45 to go after back-to-back buckets from Cameron Brink and Francesca Belibi. It was now clear how this was going to go.
“Yeah, it was actually a really fun game,” Brink told Pac-12 Networks. “I think we were really calm and really collected as a team and they’re really great perimeter shooters, so our guards did a great job. Our guards did a really good job of taking away their lanes and everything like that. So, it was a fun game.”
In the end, Stanford walked out with a 76-65 victory. Oregon battled hard and made this one a bit interesting in the 3rd quarter, but in the end Stanford was able to get the win and that’s all that matters. It’s all about surviving and advancing at this stage and that’s exactly what Stanford did.
“Tara kinda always tells us that every team is going to bring their absolute A-game,” Belibi told Pac-12 Networks. “And after the loss to Utah, Tara kinda was talking to us in the locker room and she was saying that we were watching The Woman King and she said it’s better to be the hunter than the hunted and so I think we kinda came out with that mentality to this game. Just to play loose but knowing that we want to be the hunters out there and that’s how we went out there and played.”
For Oregon, they did not accomplish their main goal of winning, but they did accomplish a secondary goal which was to play Stanford tough and improve their standing with the NCAA tournament committee. After the game, the commentators were saying that it looked like Oregon had done enough to make the field based on their performance, but of course, they need to see how things shake out across the country until Selection Sunday. So, they’ll be sweating things out until they get final confirmation, but as of now, it seems like they’re in according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme.
Up next for Stanford is the semifinal round of the Pac-12 tournament against UCLA. That will tip-off on Friday at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
Semifinal prediction: I’m not doing a full preview for the semifinal game as I don’t do previews for tournament games that occur one day after, but I did want to get a quick prediction in. Stanford defeated UCLA twice this season in the regular season winning 72-59 on the road and 71-66 at home on Senior Day. I’m going to say Stanford finds a way to defeat UCLA for a third time, though I should say it’s never easy to beat the same team three times in the same season. Stanford 73 UCLA 67 is my prediction.
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