Recap: #2 Stanford WBB defeats Utah to win Pac-12 tournament
On Sunday, #2 Stanford women’s basketball defeated Utah 73-48 to win the Pac-12 tournament. Stanford junior guard Haley Jones (19 points, 6 rebounds, & 4 assists), sophomore forward Cameron Brink (16 points, 4 rebounds, & 4 blocks), and senior guard Lexie Hull (15 points & 5 rebounds) led the way for the Cardinal while Utah junior guard Brynna Maxwell (16 points) was the top performer for the Utes.
“First of all, I’m really proud of our team,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “It’s been a long Pac-12 schedule and to go undefeated and then win the championship in the tournament I think says a lot about these young ladies, how hard they play, and how well they play together. I also want to give a shout out to Utah and the great job that Lynne Roberts and her staff have done. They have a fantastic team and we wish them the absolute best in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s not ever easy. It’s really challenging. At halftime, things didn’t look good. We were fouling too much and I think when we came out we went to Cam. She really delivered. I thought Haley had a great game on both sides of the ball, playing defense. Knocking her three down and Lexie really stepped up in the second half, too. We shot the ball better, I think our defense kicked in better, and it’s a great team win. I’m really proud of our team.”
Early on the game was tight as Stanford led 13-9 with 3:37 to go in the 1st quarter. Cameron Brink already had 6 points for the Cardinal and was doing her part to get her team the early lead. Stanford would finish the quarter strong to lead 21-11 as Jones was up to 8 points. All things were going Stanford’s way.
To Utah’s credit, they started to creep back into this game, trailing by just five points (28-23) with 4:56 to go until halftime. After having a strong 1st quarter, things weren’t going as easily for Stanford. Utah would end up out-scoring Stanford 19-11 in the 2nd quarter to make it a 32-30 halftime lead for Stanford. Haley Jones’ 13 points was leading Stanford while Dasia Young’s 9 points was leading Utah. The Utes were back in the game.
That would be the closest Utah would get as Stanford started to slowly build up their lead again, going up 45-36 with 4:58 to go in the 3rd quarter. Jones (17 points) and Brink (10 points & 4 blocks) were really carrying the load for the Cardinal. Stanford was on a 6-0 run over the last 1:26.
“I don’t know if it was anything strategically different,” VanDerveer said of her team’s second half defensive effort. “I think it was just maybe a little better concentration. They got together and talked about it and just said hey, if we want to be the Pac-12 champions, we’ve gotta play better. It was also I think a team, you know, they played four games and they didn’t seem to have their legs in the second half as much. We were running better and we were knocking down shots, so it helped us. It helps your defense when your offense goes, too.”
That nine point Cardinal lead would hold as Stanford led 52-43 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Jones (19 points & 5 rebounds) and Brink (14 points & 4 blocks) were balling out for Stanford. Haley Jones (ankle) did head to the locker room while Lexie Hull had a collision that resulted in a bloody nose. Both were back in the game. Maxwell had her 16 points for Utah.
“Yeah, I rolled my ankle,” Jones said of her injury. “I went over and I got retaped and then I came back. That’s really it. Yeah. I ran and I said Tara, I’m good! And then I went and subbed back in the game. Yeah.”
With 4:45 to go in the game, it was all Cardinal as Stanford led 67-46. Lexie Hull was up to 12 points while her sister Lacie was up to 6 points following a triple. Francesca Belibi was up to 6 points for Stanford after Lexie found her inside.
In the end, Stanford walked out with a 73-48 victory, outscoring Utah 21-5 in the 4th quarter. By winning the Pac-12 tournament, Stanford finishes the season 19-0 in the Pac-12. Pure dominance.
“No, no, it never gets old,” Hull said of celebrating championships. “I think Tara can attest to this; she loves it every time. We joke about it. Her best look is the backwards hat Tara and the only way you get a backwards hat is if you win, so we love celebrating.”
“I think we’re hyped,” Jones added. “I think every year we go into the season with a lot of goals and the first two goals being, well I mean, I guess five. We want the undefeated. What is that, pre-season, we didn’t get that one, so the next two on the list were regular season Pac-12 and tournament. So we got both of those, so it’s kind of a fuel on our fire to keep that competitive energy going into the tournament where we won last year and we have the target on our back, which I think we embrace. This kind of motivation and a competitive spirit to get back out into the tournament this year and try to bring another one home.”
For Stanford, this Pac-12 tournament title caps off an amazing run in the conference. They’ve been the best team in the league all year winning the regular season title and are more than deserving to be the ones holding up the trophy at the end. On top of that, they did this amid a very emotional week at Stanford. This is a testament to how tough and strong this Cardinal team is.
“We all had such an individual relationship with her,” Jones said of Katie Meyer. “And it was because of who she was. She was for women’s sports, she was enthusiastic, she was so positive, so loving, so outgoing, so compassionate in everything that she did. So, I think going into this tournament we had very heavy hearts for her, ourselves, her family, the soccer team, but I think we try to embody that spirt like Anna said. We tried to be competitive, be gritty.
“She’s one of the most enthusiastic players I’ve ever seen. Getting to watch her play in the soccer final four, we all went to their games. So, to be able to win and bring this home and be with our Stanford family when we get back is going to be really special. But, I think we did a really good job embodying that for her and for each other.”
Up next for Stanford is the NCAA tournament. Selection Sunday will be on March 13th, so Stanford has a week off to heal up and get ready. The big question right now is whether or not they’ll get the number one overall seed in the tournament. They got a number one seed locked up, but with South Carolina falling to Kentucky in the SEC tournament title game, there’s an outside possibility that Stanford will take over that number one overall seed. It’ll be interesting to see how that resolves itself on Selection Sunday.
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