On Wednesday, #15 Stanford women’s basketball defeated Dominican 126-53 in their exhibition game at Maples Pavilion. Stanford junior guard Elena Bosgana (19 points) and junior forward Kiki Iriafen (19 points & 14 rebounds) led the Cardinal in scoring while Dominican guard Andraya Perez was the top scorer for the Penguins with 14 points.
BOX SCORE: Dominican at Stanford-Wednesday, November 1st
The game was higher scoring than I thought as I predicted a 100-33 victory for the Cardinal. The pace was faster as both teams were relatively quick in their possessions. Stanford had 13 steals, so they were active in passing lanes all night, making things tough on the Penguins.
“We want to play fast,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “We want to play fast. I thought we rebounded well, we got the ball high outlet, people were running their lane, I call it tag team. Like, different people getting out. Now obviously, let’s be real, it’s an exhibition game you know. But, I thought people did very well. They played hard, they got out in their lane, and we hit open shots. It’s the same basket and the same ball for a real game.”
At the end of the 1st quarter, Stanford led 40-10 as Elena Bosgana, Cameron Brink, and Kiki Iriafen each had eight points. Stanford was shooting 15-24 (62.5%) from the field, pretty much getting whatever they wanted.
At halftime, Stanford led 78-18. Kiki Iriafen already had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Hannah Jump (11 points), Jzaniya Harriel (11 points), Elena Bosgana (10 points), and Cameron Brink (10 points) were also in double figures.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 111-32 as Iriafen was up to 19 points and 14 rebounds while Nunu Agara had come alive with 16 points and four rebounds. The fact that Stanford eclipsed 100 points in three quarters is pretty crazy. Even if it was against a Division II program.
In the end, Stanford would win 126-53. It was an all-around team effort as everyone got into the game and made a contribution of some kind. In an exhibition game, that’s the kind of result you want to see.
“Making a great effort, having a great attitude, playing with each other,” VanDerveer said of what her main points of emphasis were for her team. “I thought they shared the ball extremely well. Rebounding with capital letters. I thought we rebounded well. They just looked like they were having fun. Just have fun.”
“Biggest thing was run our offense,” Iriafen added. “Play hard, get a lot of transition. Something that we talked about is playing better defense. So that’s something that we’re gonna continue to work on, but just everybody getting a sweat out there.”
A big focus coming into the game was the freshmen getting some action and that went well as Courtney Ogden (16 points), Nunu Agara (16 points), and Chloe Clardy (8 points) all had solid outings. They should feel more comfortable in the regular season opener next week after getting this game under their belts.
“I thought all the freshmen were absolutely phenomenal,” VanDerveer said. “Courtney big time, Nunu, Chloe, the steal Chloe had. Like, wow. I thought they all did extremely well. And we need them to.”
“It was incredible,” Ogden said of playing a game at Maples. “Especially to see the fans and the energy in the crowd. I mean, it was amazing. First time there’s obviously going to be some nerves, but I think after we got in, all the freshmen did very well…I was just going out there having fun. Like Kiki said, running the offense, doing what we’re supposed to do, and that’s what happens when you do what you’re supposed to do.”
One other thing I should note is that Stanford shot 15-17 from the foul line. Perhaps the lack of pressure in an exhibition contributed to those numbers, but even so. That’s the kind of foul shooting that Stanford should hope to see night in and night out.
Up next for Stanford is their regular season opener at home against Hawaii next week. That will begin at 7:00 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and Varsity Network Radio.
“We're so tired of playing each other, we're so tired of playing our practice players,” Iriafen said of the benefit of the exhibition. “So it was nice to play somebody else and like be on the same team because in practice we're going against each other, so it's nice for all of us to cheer for each other and kind of go against new opponents.”
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