On Friday, #2 Stanford women’s basketball defeated Washington State in Pullman by a final score of 71-38. Stanford senior guard Haley Jones led the way for the Cardinal with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists while freshman center Lauren Betts had 10 points and 8 rebounds to go along with 1 block and 1 steal. Charlisse Leger-Walker was the top scorer for the Cougars with 8 points. Stanford improves to 22-2 overall and 10-1 in the Pac-12 while Washington State falls to 15-7 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-12.
Stanford got off to a strong start, leading 8-3 with 4:37 to go in the 1st quarter. Jones had 4 points for the Cardinal on 2-3 shooting from the field while Leger-Walker had 3 points on 1-2 shooting from the field and 1-1 shooting from 3-point range.
At the end of the 1st quarter, Stanford led 15-3. Jones was up to 6 points and 3 rebounds for the Cardinal while Cameron Brink had 4 points and 5 rebounds. Washington State was building a house of bricks, shooting 1-11 from the field. The Big Bad Wolf would have had a hard time blowing down the house they were building.
Stanford would continue to dominate, going up 22-13 with 4:38 to go until halftime. Haley Jones was up to 11 points and 4 rebounds. Both teams were struggling to shoot. Stanford was shooting 9-24 from the field and 0-6 from 3-point range while Washington State was shooting 5-19 from the field and 2-8 from 3-point range.
At halftime, Stanford led 36-18. Jones was leading the Cardinal with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists while Brink had 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block. Betts was also starting to heat up for the Cardinal with 4 points and 1 steal. Leger-Walker was leading the Cougars with 5 points. The Cardinal were dominating.
With 2:27 to go in the 3rd quarter, Stanford had now blown this game wide open as they led 51-27. Jones was up to 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists while Betts had 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal. Stanford was putting the hurt on Washington State.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 51-30. Jones was nearing a double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds. Washington State was shooting 10-41 from the field and 3-16 from 3-point range. Stanford’s defense was keeping them out of rhythm all night.
The entire 4th quarter was garbage time as Stanford led 61-34 with 4:10 to go. Washington State was waiving the white flag at this point. In the end, Stanford walked out with a 71-38 victory. One-way traffic all night for the Cardinal. The Cardinal set the tone with that 15-3 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and didn’t look back.
For Stanford, what made this win particularly great was they did this with Cameron Brink having a bit of an off night. She was in foul trouble finishing with three fouls in 16 minutes, limiting her to 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. For Stanford to win with her having an off night is big.
As for Washington State, they just gotta shake this one off and move on to Cal. This one didn’t go the way they wanted, but they can’t let this affect the rest of their season. They’re still having a solid season and can’t lose sight of that.
Up next for Stanford is a road game at Washington on Sunday. That will tip-off at 12:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
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