On Friday, #4 Stanford women’s basketball defeated #8 Utah 74-62 on The Farm. Stanford senior guard Haley Jones (25 points, 12 rebounds, & 4 assists) and junior forward Cameron Brink (25 points, 14 rebounds, & 3 blocks) had phenomenal performances for the Cardinal. To say they “led the way” is an understatement. This was the first time they both scored 20+ points in the same game.
As for Utah, forward Alissa Pili (25 points & 5 rebounds) and guard Gianna Kneepkens (19 points) were the top performers, having very strong outings as well. Stanford improves to 18-2 overall and 6-1 in the Pac-12 while Utah falls to 15-2 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-12.
“This is a great win for our team,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “First of all Utah is a really talented, extremely well-coached team with great weapons inside and out and our team, not only did we have to just play a great team, but we had to play without our starting point guard [Talana Lepolo] who plays basically 30 minutes a game and that’s where I think Indya Nivar came in and did a fabulous job for our team. Running the offense, playing great defense.
“Excellent game for Haley, just competitor, just got the job done and did what we needed to do. I thought Cam played really well for us and then different people came in. We had great contributions off the bench: Fran, her defense. Just, everyone came in and did a really good job. Starting the game, Agnes really worked hard defensively and Hannah Jump had a really great game, too.”
“I thought it’s a hard fought game,” Utah head coach Lynne Roberts said in her opening post-game remarks. “I think our players did a good job competing. If you look at their box scores, I mean Brink and Jones had 50 and 26. Those two are just tough, man. But for us, in terms of our offense and what makes us go, if we’re gonna shoot 19 percent from the three, it’s gonna be tough to come in here and win. But I, that was my fault. I didn’t use our bench today very well, I didn’t sub well, so we ran out of gas. I thought we came out of halftime really good and we just got a little tired and that’s my fault.
“So, but credit to Stanford. They’re so good and they’re so deep. It feels like they keep bringing in somebody 6’5” all the time. But, they did a good job and they scored when they needed to and again, it was Jones and Brink. So, credit to them, I thought we battled, we just didn’t shoot well enough."
Utah jumped out to an early 7-2 lead as Kneepkens had five points within the first two minutes of the game. After Utah went up 10-2, Hannah Jump hit a huge 3-pointer for Stanford to make it 10-5, swinging some momentum back in the direction of the Cardinal.
With 4:43 to go in the 1st quarter, it was tied 12-12 after Jump hit another 3-pointer, giving her 8 points for the game. After having a quiet past few games, Jump was back to her regular self, which was a welcome sight for the Cardinal. At the end of the quarter, Stanford led 24-22. Jump was up to 12 points. Without her stellar shooting, Stanford would have been down.
Stanford opened up the 2nd quarter on a 10-0 run, leading 34-22 with 5:37 to go until halftime. Stanford clearly wanted to gain some separation from Utah early on in the quarter and did a great job of accomplishing their goal.
“I think we had a really good second quarter, maybe not as good a third quarter,” VanDerveer admitted. “But, I like the energy on the court. I liked how we were moving the ball. I thought for the most part we were taking good shots, people were working extremely hard defensively. So even if they got shots they were contested. They’re a terrific, terrific team. So, I mean I can go to bed happy tonight.”
Stanford would go on to lead 41-32 at halftime, outscoring Utah 17-10 in the 2nd quarter. Brink was up to 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks while Jump was up to 13 points. As for Utah, Pili was in double figures with 11 points.
Rather than falling apart in the second half, Utah came roaring back in the 3rd quarter, cutting Stanford’s lead to three points (49-46) with 3:11 to go in the quarter. Kneepkens was up to 14 points for Utah after nailing a huge 3-pointer. Utah was hanging tough and playing like a top ten team.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 55-50. Utah outscored Stanford 18-14 in the quarter, doing a great job of battling back. Pili (20 points) and Kneepkens (14 points) were keeping the Utes in this. Haley Jones (17 points & 8 rebounds) and Cameron Brink (18 points & 12 rebounds) continued to carry the Cardinal on their shoulders.
With 7:03 to go in the 4th quarter, Stanford led 62-54, doing a nice job of building their lead up. Brink was up to 23 points and 13 rebounds for Stanford, continuing to dominate. As for Utah, Pili was up to 23 points as she was doing her best to keep her team in it.
Over the next couple minutes, the game slowed down as both teams traded baskets with it being 64-56 with 4:29 to go. Stanford just needed to finish strong and not allow Utah to make a last minute push.
In the end, Utah faded as Stanford won 74-62. Haley Jones closed things off with a pretty reverse layup to get to 25 points and make it 74-59 with 4 seconds to go while Gianna Kneepkens struck back with a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, making it a 74-62 final.
“I don’t know,” Jones said of the key to making those reverse layups. “I feel like I just try to take the open shot and for some reason I find myself there a lot. So you know, if I find myself there a lot on the court or in the midrange a lot than I try to work on those shots. I’m prepared to take them. Indya had a nice one today, very tough through the lane. But yeah, I think it’s kinda once you find your places in the offense, then you try to focus on those shots.”
For Utah, while this loss didn’t go their way, they played Stanford tough and really made them earn the victory. They knew Stanford was going to come in motivated after losing to USC. It wasn’t a surprise to them at all that Stanford came out with a little bit of blood in their eye.
“I’ve been joking all week that the saying of ‘Hell has no fury like a woman’s scorn’, but Hell knows no fury like Tara after a loss, either,” Roberts joked. “And I knew that they’d be ready to go and they competed and they came out very sharp and I thought that first quarter was great. Second quarter, we didn’t start off right and got in a little bit of a hole, but yeah, I mean, we knew [they were coming off a loss]. But the other thing is we told our team, too. They gotta beat us and we’re capable. And just not be intimidated by that. But yeah, we were aware that it was gonna be a tough one.”
Utah feels like they learned some lessons from this game and hope to apply those lessons for their rematch in Salt Lake City at the end of February. After the loss, they talked about making sure they get even with the Cardinal later on this season.
“Yeah, and that’s what we just talked about as a team,” Roberts said. “Like, if we’re lucky, we’ll play them three times. And that’s what it is and we’ve played them tough at home for the last few years. So, it should be a great game and they’re really good. And they’re gonna be at the top and hopefully we’re right there with them when it’s all on that, whatever it is, February 27th [25th] or whatever, it’ll be fun.
"But, I told the team, too: Sunday’s no less important than tonight is, right? Like we wanted to win tonight and our players are disappointed and upset, but Sunday is just as important against Cal. So we’ve gotta refocus, recalibrate, get some rest, and re-attack.”
Utah also knows that climbing the mountain is a process and overall, they are proud of the progress they are making. The state of Utah has a rich basketball tradition and they are excited to put Utah women’s basketball on the map.
“It’s a huge thing for me,” Roberts said of putting Utah women’s basketball on the map. “And that’s one of the reasons why I took the job and wanted the job was to make women’s basketball nationally relevant and it is a basketball city, you’re right. And we’re starting to see it, we’ve been having great crowds and people are getting behind it and I wanna change the perception of women’s basketball in the state of Utah and become nationally relevant and we’re on our way. It’s satisfying, but we haven’t reached where we want to, so we just keep pushing. But that’s a big thing for me.”
“I think that Lynne and her staff have done just an excellent job,” VanDerveer said of Utah. “They got a great young team, they’re really fast, they’re really quick with the ball, move the ball really well, they got an inside-outside game. I think we have a lot of teams in the Pac-12 that are tournament teams and they’re a tournament team. I think she’s done a fabulous job and I’m really excited for them when they’re playing other people.”
One thing that was cool for Utah was to have former quarterback Alex Smith in attendance cheering them on. Almost like a folk hero, Smith is larger than life at the University of Utah. Having him show support for them meant a lot and shows how much their program is gaining recognition.
“He’s a big deal,” Roberts said with a smile. “We did know he was coming. We actually randomly ran into he and his wife in Memphis right outside the civil rights museum this, when was that, November? Kinda randomly and hung out with them and they said they were coming. So it’s a big deal. He’s a legend and the best to ever put on the quarterback jersey there and it means a lot that he’s here and supporting and cheering for us!”
Switching gears to Stanford, this is a big-time win. After laying an egg at USC, they bounced back in full force, recapturing first place in the Pac-12. Stanford hasn’t lost a home game immediately after losing a road game since 2001 and they weren’t about to buck that trend in this game.
While Jones and Brink were fantastic on the offensive end, their rebounding and defense were just as important. Stanford has won the rebounding battle every game this season and they held Utah to a season-low shooting percentage of 34%. When they defend like that and also have that kind of offensive output, Stanford is nearly impossible to beat.
“Our team had to work really hard,” VanDerveer said of her team’s defense. “And they competed at a really high level. I think that we felt a little bit like our backs were against the wall, we had come off of really a less than excellent performance on Sunday and I think our team had something to prove to ourselves. And what better opportunity than against a team like Utah who is a ranked team, only one loss, and so I think that for us right now this sets up a great matchup with Colorado because they’re coming in with one loss, too.”
Stanford also won this game without their starting point guard Talana Lepolo. The freshman went down with a left ankle injury early in the game and did not return. She watched the rest of the game on the sideline with a boot on. As a result, freshman Indya Nivar had to fill in, playing a career-high 27 minutes.
“I think she just turned her ankle a little bit,” VanDerveer said of Lepolo. “So hopefully she’ll be alright.”
“Yeah, you know it’s always hard seeing a teammate go down,” Nivar said. “But for me, this whole season, just staying ready. Going hard in practice, I think it’s keeping my confidence up because I hope to continue throughout the season.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game against #24 Colorado on Sunday. That will tipoff at 2:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
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