On Thanksgiving Eve, #4 Stanford women’s basketball defeated Belmont 74-55 at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada. Stanford senior forward Cameron Brink led the way for the Cardinal with 27 points, 16 rebounds, and two blocks on 9-16 shooting from the field and 9-10 shooting from the foul line while junior forward Kiki Iriafen had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Belmont redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones and junior forward Tessa Miller each had 18 points for the Bruins. Stanford improves to 5-0 overall while Belmont falls to 2-3.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Belmont-Wednesday, November 22nd
Stanford got off to a strong start, leading 12-7 with 4:58 to go in the 1st quarter after a nice layup from Elena Bosgana. Brink, Iriafen, and Bosgana each had four points, so there was nice scoring balance. Stanford would end up leading 20-14 at the end of the 1st quarter as Iriafen was up to eight points on 3-5 shooting from the field and 2-2 shooting from the foul line.
Belmont did a nice job in the 2nd quarter to come back as it was a 24-22 game after Miller got a nice bucket inside. The Bruins were now down by just two points with 7:08 to go until halftime. Belmont continued to battle, taking a 31-29 lead with 1:42 to go in the half after a 3-pointer by Jones. Stanford would end up taking a 32-31 lead into halftime after Brooke Demetre came up with a huge triple with 22 seconds to go in the half. This one was a game at the break.
The 3rd quarter was also tight. Stanford did lead 43-35 with 5:00 to go in the 3rd after Brink had eight points in the quarter while Hannah Jump had a 3-pointer. However, Belmont would battle back as Blair Schoenwald hit a huge triple to make it 43-38. From there, it would be back and forth quarter as Stanford led by just five points 53-48 at the end of the quarter. Belmont entered the 4th quarter with a bit of momentum as Jailyn Banks hit a two point bucket to beat the buzzer.
After three tight quarters, this game looked like the 4th quarter might be tight as well. The Cardinal had other ideas as they really put the clamps down on the Bruins, outscoring them 21-7 in the quarter. Brink and Jump both had six points in the 4th quarter, really going to work. The Bruins were unable to keep up in the end. 74-55 would be the final score.
For Stanford, the only thing that went wrong in this game was Cameron Brink’s free throw streak coming to an end. She shot 9-10 at the line, ending her streak at 73 consecutive foul shots, only a couple off the national women’s record of 75 set by North Dakota’s Michelle Gaislerova (2018-2020). Aside from that, not a lot for Stanford to be too upset about. I guess maybe they should have put Belmont away sooner, but in the end they did.
Up next for Stanford is a game against #13 Florida State on Black Friday. That will begin at 6:30 PM PT on Flo Hoops TV and Varsity Network radio.
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