On Sunday, (1) Stanford women’s basketball suffered a shocking 54-49 home defeat to (8) Ole Miss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss guard Angel Baker (13 points & 4 rebounds), forward Marquesha Davis (12 points & 4 rebounds), and forward Madison Scott (11 points & 5 rebounds) led the way for the Rebels while Stanford junior forward Cameron Brink (20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, & 7 blocks) and senior guard Haley Jones (16 points & 8 rebounds) were the top performers for the Cardinal.
BOX SCORE: (1) Stanford vs. (8) Ole Miss
VIDEO: Stanford WBB press conference-Ole Miss
“I thought our team really battled in the second half,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “We kind of dug ourselves a hole but you know, we battled back. We tied it up and we had an opportunity to win the game. I think Mississippi, they are a very experienced and very determined team. They made plays down the stretch that we didn't make.
“Having said that, I'm really proud of how our team battled, and just both Cam and Haley made big plays for us and Cam I think made all of her free throws, I didn't see a stats sheet, but she was just a workhorse in there. It was very physical. I think our team tried very hard to do the best we could today and I'm very proud of our team. Just really sad that our season is over.”
Ole Miss never trailed in this game, leading 13-8 with 4:14 to go in the 1st quarter. Baker was leading the Rebels with 7 points while Jones had 4 points for the Cardinal. The Rebels were coming out with really good energy. The Cardinal needed to match it.
Ole Miss led 18-13 at the end of the 1st quarter. The Rebels were shooting 8-20 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range while Stanford was shooting 6-13 from the field and 1-2 from 3-point range. The Rebels had an 11-8 rebounding edge.
Ole Miss led 23-20 with 6:26 to go in the 2nd quarter. Stanford had some momentum after three straight blocks from Brink and a jumper by Jones. Ole Miss called for time.
Ole Miss then led 26-20 with 4:40 to go in the 2nd quarter. Baker was up to 9 points for the Rebels, really balling out. Stanford was not taking good care of the ball as they had 10 turnovers. They needed to cut back on those.
At halftime, it was a 29-20 lead for the Rebels. Angel Baker and Ayanna Thompson each had 9 points for the Rebels. Haley Jones was leading the Cardinal with 8 points and 3 rebounds. Stanford needed to wake up in the second half.
Ole Miss got off to a strong start in the 3rd quarter, leading 35-23 with 6:43 to go in the quarter. Brink was protecting the paint with 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 blocks. The Cardinal offense needed to get rolling.
Ole Miss then led 38-25 with 4:18 to go in the 3rd. Stanford had 17 turnovers which had led to 19 Ole Miss points. Ole Miss had 11 turnovers which had led to two Stanford points. That was making the difference.
With 2:05 to go in the quarter, it was a 38-31 lead for Ole Miss. Cameron Brink was coming alive for the Cardinal with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2 steals on 6-6 shooting from the foul line.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, it was a 42-35 lead for Ole Miss. Stanford outscored Ole Miss 15-13 in the 3rd quarter. Brink (12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks, & 2 steals) and Jones (12 points & 5 rebounds) were trying to will the Cardinal back in this.
With 4:22 to go, Ole Miss led 49-43. Stanford still had a pulse as they had possession. Brink was up to 18 points and 12 rebounds while Jones had 14 points and 7 rebounds. This game was going down to the wire.
“She's a battler,” VanDerveer said of Brink. “It was extremely physical in there. I mean, she just was going up through hands, arms, bodies, I'm proud of Cam and I love coaching Cam. She plays hard. It's tough, but again, some of it, I think she did the best she could today and I don't think we could ask much more from her.”
It would then be a 49-47 lead for Ole Miss with 1:16 to go as Stanford now trailed by just two points. Brink was set to go to the foul line and made both of her foul shots to make it a 49-49 game. After Jones got a defensive rebound, the Cardinal had possession with a chance to take the lead. 40.9 to go.
Stanford would not get a shot off in the next possession as Hannah Jump made a bad pass to turn it over. Ole Miss got fouled and went to the foul line, making both free throws. It was now a 51-49 lead for the Rebels with 23.0 to go. Clutch foul shooting from Scott.
“First, Coach told us from the jump, we had to knock down our free throws, we may not get many of them but when we got to the line, be composed and knock them down,” Scott said. “That's key on the road, in an environment like this, the fans going crazy. We wanted to win. We didn't want to go home.
“So we wanted to make sure that we knock down our free throws, dialed in, and that's just the work that we've been putting in. Before we left, we were in Oxford shooting free throws every day before practice, after practice. The work shows and it's just a testament to how hard we work.”
After another Stanford turnover, it became a 53-49 lead for Ole Miss after the Rebels knocked down two more free throws. 15.4 was left on the clock. Davis was the one who knocked down those free throws and boy were they big. Stanford had the ball down by four points. Time was not on their side.
In the end, Ole Miss walked out with a 54-49 victory after Myah Taylor went 1-2 at the foul line following another Stanford turnover. The Rebels rushed the floor in excitement. With a rebel yell, they knew they were going to be playing more, more, more.
For Ole Miss, this is obviously a monumental win. To knock off Stanford on the road to advance to the Sweet Sixteen is big time. It’s a huge step for their program and they showed in this game that they can do more than hang with the best teams in the nation, they can knock them off as well.
As for Stanford, this really stings. This is the last time the Funky Four (Fran Belibi, Ashten Prechtel, Hannah Jump, and Haley Jones) will all play together at Maples. This is not the way they wanted their final game at Maples Pavilion to go.
“It's not the way I wanted my senior year to end. It's disappointing -- I wouldn't say depressing. I would say disappointing,” Jones said. “I think it's tough when you lose a game when you feel like as a team it wasn't your best all-around game, right.
“I think they were aggressive. I think we matched their aggressiveness. I think like Tara said, we dug ourselves a hole. I was proud of the way that our team stuck together. I thought we made big plays down the stretch and it just didn't end up in our favor.
“Yeah, it's disappointing for my four years at Stanford to close in this fashion. It's not where we wanted to go. I think this team had the capability to go all the way, and sometimes it just doesn't end that way which is very frustrating to deal with.
“I think it hasn't really hit me yet, I don't know, I told Ash in the locker room, "I think I'm in shock." I don't know when that will hit. It's disappointing but there's still things to be proud of this season. Yeah, I don't really have much to say.”
Tara VanDerveer said after the game that Jump will be back next season and that Belibi is planning to attend grad school at Harvard while both Prechtel and Jones will be going pro. So of that group, only Jump will be back next season.
“Yeah, the 'Funky Four,' they were some of my closest friends my freshman year, and then they have taught me everything I know pretty much,” Brink said. “They helped me figure out the plays and whatever we're doing.
“So it's going to be really weird not having them by my side. I still feel like a kid honestly, so I'm really going to miss all of them telling me what to do and encouraging me and telling me to calm down and all that stuff. Yeah, they are just amazing. I think I'm like Haley, I'm still in shock, still processing that; that was my last game with all of them, so yeah.”
On top of the disappointment of not giving the Funky Four the proper send off, this Stanford team had national championship aspirations and certainly felt like they were going to get back to the Final Four. To go out this early and not even make it to Seattle for the Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight is beyond disappointing. This is a program that had made the Sweet Sixteen fourteen straight times coming into this game.
I’ll share more thoughts in a future write up that reflects on the season, but in short, this loss just showed why they needed Lexie Hull, Lacie Hull, and Anna Wilson so much last season. Brink and Jones tried to do too much and in the end, that came back to haunt them. Just not enough of a supporting cast around them.
That all said, this season wasn’t a total failure for the Cardinal. VanDerveer was quick to point out that while their season was a disappointment relative to the standards that they set for their program, they still had a season that their men’s counterparts would be tickled pink to have had.
“I'm not going to fall into the trap of saying, wow, we had a horrible season,” VanDerveer said. “I know that our men's team would be ecstatic to be playing two games in the NCAA Tournament, and Bernard would be happy about that, too.”
At this point, all that Stanford can do is learn from this game and look forward to next season. While only Hannah Jump will be back amongst that Funky Four group, they bring in a talented recruiting class of McDonald’s All-American Courtney Ogden, Nunu Agara, and Chloe Clardy. And on top of that, they return a cast of players that should get better. While this isn’t the way Stanford wanted this season to end, they definitely can turn lemons into lemonade and have an improved 2023-24 run.
“I think it was a great experience, for our freshmen, for Talana, for Indya, for Lauren to be out there,” VanDerveer said. “I thought Fran gave us some real good minutes. We needed to take care of the basketball better. We needed to have some flow to what we are doing and finish at the rim.”
Finally, I just want to say that I am really impressed by Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. She is such a warm, friendly person. The journey she has been on coming up through the JuCo ranks is truly inspiring and the way she wears her faith in Christ on her sleeve is really heartwarming. If there’s any consolation Stanford fans can take from this loss, it’s that the team that knocked them out has a coach who is as wonderful and amazing as McPhee-McCuin. One of the most friendly, down to earth, and likable personalities I’ve ever been around. She radiates light and it’s clear that her team feeds off of that.
“First of all, just incredibly grateful,” McPhee-McCuin said after the game. “I have a lot of mentors in my life, and one of my mentors would all say to me that the person with the experience is at the mercy of the one with the anointing.
“He spoke that over my life maybe like ten years ago. And so to be in this situation right now, to take down an historical program like Stanford, a coach and a woman that I admire and I've watched, is incredible. I'm incredibly grateful to be in this position and I look forward to -- I told my team, like, I just love them so much.
“I don't want to stop having this feeling, so who knows, maybe we end up in Dallas. But right now, at least we know we punched our ticket to the Sweet 16, so, grateful.
“Oh, shoot, I was -- I was a mess (laughs). Joy. Joy. Tears of joy. Tears of just humility, you know. Like come on, everyone had a dream coming up, and when you're coaching, I'm a dreamer, you know, and I try to be a dream merchant for my players.
“But like how cool is it to take down someone that you admire? Like that was pretty freaking cool. Because I admire Tara, you know, so I'll never forget this.”
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