On Friday, #2 Stanford women’s basketball defeated Colorado 71-45 in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. Stanford guard Haley Jones (17 points), forward Cameron Brink (14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks), and guard Anna Wilson (12 points) led the way for the Cardinal while Colorado guard Kindyll Wetta (12 points) and guard Jaylyn Sherrod (10 points) led the way for the Buffaloes. Stanford advances to the Pac-12 tournament title game against Utah.
“I'm just proud of our team, the way everyone stayed together kept playing hard,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “Our defense I thought was outstanding. Just, we struggled a little bit I think offensively. We weren't rebounding the way I thought we needed to. But people made big play after big play. I loved the play where Anna chased down the ball. She came right, made a defensive play, I think, on Miller. I loved when she saw the shot clock was going down, she sized her up and hit the 3 off the screen.
“Cam was unstoppable inside. She's really playing really well. She's so strong on the block. She can face up and hit the 3. Runs the floor, really working hard defensively. I think, again, Haley stepped up in the second half. We had great defense from Lexie on 21, Hollingshed. They're definitely a NCAA team. They play hard. When we're not playing against them I'll be rooting for them.”
Stanford led 11-10 at the end of the 1st quarter as it was a slow start for both teams. Brink was leading Stanford and all scorers with 6 points on 3-3 shooting from the field. She was in a nice flow early.
Things would start to get a little chippy as Cameron Brink and Mya Hollingshed got into a bit of a tussle. With 7:12 to go in the 2nd quarter, Stanford led 14-10 thanks to a triple from Wilson. Her first points of the night.
“Well, I think, first of all, Cam is a competitor and she's fearless,” VanDerveer said of that moment. “I don't think any of us want to have someone's hand in their face. But that, sometimes whatever it takes, got Cam going. And she responded to the challenge. We don't like any type of non-basketball behavior happening on the court. And there was some non-basketball behavior. But I think the officials, they didn't throw people out of the game, which was -- I didn't want Cam leaving the game obviously. But they just, we moved on from that point and I thought Cam played really, really well. And I don't think it sparked our team. I think our team was already sparking. But it might have been a little bit of a turning point.”
“I just thought it was a heated moment,” Brink added. “But kind of, we use it as fuel.”
With 3:58 to go in the half, Stanford led 26-15 as Colorado called for time. Stanford was outscoring Colorado 15-5 in the 2nd quarter so far. Brink just popped a triple and was up to 14 points and 5 rebounds. She was balling out for the Cardinal.
At halftime, Stanford led 33-18. Brink’s 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steals was leading the way for the Cardinal. She was playing like a vintage Andrei Kirilenko due to her versatility on both ends of the floor. Wetta was leading Colorado with 7 points.
With 4:45 to go in the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 37-26. Senior guard Lexie Hull was up to 9 points for Stanford. Colorado was dominating the glass 26-14. Stanford needed to be more physical inside.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 53-37. Wilson went wild in the 3rd quarter, scoring 9 points including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. She was up to 12 points. Stanford was in firm control.
“My energy came from Cam's play after the altercation,” Wilson said. “And the I think that, for me, I just wanted to be really aggressive offensively. And it just happened to end that way at the end of the quarter. And my team has a lot of confidence in me. So when I made that shot I just kind of looked at them because I thought it would be kind of funny, but I am pretty stoic.”
Stanford was in firm control up 59-39 with 5:46 to go. Haley Jones just hit a pretty turnaround jumper and was up to 15 points. Colorado had just two points in the 4th quarter, really struggling to get going offensively.
In the end, Stanford walked out with a 71-45 win. Jones, Brink, and Wilson were all fantastic for the Cardinal. Each stepping up at different times to put this one out of reach. Stanford had two really dominant quarters, outscoring Colorado 22-8 in the 2nd quarter and 18-8 in the 4th quarter. That’s really the tale of the game.
While it seems like Tara VanDerveer is reaching new milestones with every game, this win was her 1,000th career victory as a head coach at Stanford. Even though she has been the all-time wins leader for a little while now and keeps adding to that record, getting her 1,000th career win as a head coach at Stanford is very special.
“I wasn't thinking about it at all, but some little birdie brought that up in the locker room to me,” VanDerveer said in a classic low-key response. “It's a lot of games. And I love where I work. And I'm really -- I love coaching this team. So I hope we can get a thousand and one on Sunday.”
Stanford’s Pac-12 tournament championship game will be on Sunday, which means they’re getting Saturday off. That game will tip-off at 3:00 PM PT on ESPN2.
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