Recap: #2 Stanford WBB picks up tenacious victory at #22 Colorado
On Friday night, #2 Stanford women’s basketball picked up a tenacious 60-52 victory at #22 Colorado. Junior guard Haley Jones (11 points, 8 rebounds, & 5 assists), sophomore forward Cameron Brink (10 points, 7 rebounds, & 2 blocks), and junior forward Ashten Prechtel (10 points & 8 rebounds) led the way for the Cardinal while junior center Quay Miller was the top performer for Colorado, fouling out with 16 points. Stanford improves to 12-3 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12 while Colorado falls to 13-1 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12.
Colorado got off to a 12-4 lead with 4:03 to go in the 1st quarter. Stanford already had 9 turnovers as Colorado’s pressure was working really well. Colorado was shooting 5-11 from the field while Stanford was shooting 1-4. This was not the start that Stanford wanted.
At the end of the 1st quarter, Colorado led 15-8. Jaylyn Sherrod was leading the way for the Buffaloes with 4 points while Lexie Hull was leading Stanford with 4 points on 4-4 shooting from the foul line. Stanford was up to 13 turnovers. They really needed to cut back on those.
Stanford started the 2nd quarter strong, as Colorado’s lead shrunk to two points (21-19) with 4:40 to go until halftime. Stanford had 0 turnovers in the quarter so far, doing a much better job of playing clean basketball. Hannah Jump and Jana Van Glytenbeek each nailed a 3-pointer, giving the Cardinal the 3-point shooting that they needed.
Colorado would go up 28-19, but Stanford ended up closing the half on a 5-0 run. Anna Wilson hit a huge triple for Stanford to make it a 28-24 game at halftime. Wilson’s 6 points were a team-high while Miller’s 10 points was leading Colorado.
With 4:57 to go in the 3rd quarter, Colorado led 35-32 as Stanford had tightened things up. Miller was up to 13 points and 3 rebounds for Colorado. Stanford needed to find a way to contain her.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, the game was tied 41-41. It really had been a committee effort by Stanford up to this point as Wilson, Brink, Jones, and Jump each had 6 points. Miller’s 16 points led Colorado. It was a fight.
The 4th quarter proved to be all Stanford. With 7:55 to go, Stanford led 46-41 after Ashten Prechtel nailed a huge 3-pointer forcing Colorado to call for time. Stanford’s lead would expand 53-45 with 3:23 go as Prechtel would be up to 10 points after her second triple of the night. She was really coming alive.
In the end, Stanford would hang on to win 60-52. Both teams essentially traded baskets the rest of the way as Colorado was not able to come back. After getting punched in the mouth early, Stanford hunkered down and pulled out a very impressive, gritty road victory against a team that was undefeated coming into the game and had beaten them the previous year.
While Stanford played far from a perfect game with 22 turnovers, they showed that they won’t go down without a fight and that they can adjust and get back into games even after having a slow start. All things considered, Stanford should feel good with how this one went.
Up next for Stanford will be a road game at Utah on Sunday. That game will tip-off at 11:00 AM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
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