Recap: #7 Stanford WBB dominates #2 Maryland to conclude Bahamas trip

On Saturday, #7 Stanford women’s basketball blew the doors off #2 Maryland 86-67 to conclude their three game trip to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops event. An event that I still don’t totally understand since not all the teams played the same number of games, but that’s another story. Stanford junior guard Hannah Jump led the way for the Cardinal with 21 points on 7-14 shooting from 3-point range while Haley Jones, Lexie Hull, and Francesca Belibi each scored 15 points. Junior guard Ashley Owusu was the top scorer for Maryland with 29 points. Stanford improves to 5-2 on the season while Maryland falls to 6-2.

Right before tipoff, Stanford made a change to their starting lineup, adding Hannah Jump and removing sophomore forward Cameron Brink, who would come off the bench due to not feeling well. Brink carried a lot of the load the first two games and Tara VanDerveer felt like she needed to give Brink a bit of a rest due to her not feeling at 100%. Also, Haley Jones got more of a run as she’s working her way back from a sprained ankle.

“This has been a really grind of a week,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “Playing last Sunday at Gonzaga, 19 hours to get down here to play against really great competition. I’m very proud of our team. I challenged our team to play their best basketball and we did. Hannah Jump got in the lineup at the very last second because Cam was sick and throwing up. I thought Hannah had a breakout game…We just know she was a knock down shooter…It was a great win for our team and we are very excited.

“Haley, she sprained her ankle. Wasn’t able to play on Sunday. She’s got some good genes, for her to be moving the way she was, I didn’t think it was gonna happen. I give Haley a lot of credit, she did a lot of rehab with our trainer. I thought she had a fantastic game, we really needed her.”

Stanford and Maryland were tied 9-9 with 4:52 to go in the 1st quarter. Senior guard Lexie Hull was up to 4 points for Stanford while senior forward Chloe Bibby was up to 5 points for Maryland. It was a tight game early.

At the end of the 1st quarter, Stanford led 22-15, finishing out the quarter on a 13-6 run. Jump made a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer as she was up to 9 points on 3-5 shooting from 3-point range. Belibi was up to 6 points for Stanford. It was a different energy from the Cardinal as they came out looking to make a statement. Bibby was doing her part for Maryland, up to 7 points on 3-3 shooting from the field.

Stanford continued to extend their lead as they would go up 29-17 with 6:50 to go in the 2nd quarter. Jump was up to 12 points on 4-6 shooting from 3-point range. She was feeling it from the perimeter.

At halftime, Stanford was now up 46-24. It appeared as though Stanford was taking things to another level as they ended the half on a 12-0 run. Jump was up to 15 points for Stanford on 5-9 shooting from 3-point range while Belibi was up to 9 points. Brink, who came into the game not feeling well, had 4 points. Bibby was up to 12 points for Maryland.

“I felt like we lost our minds in that quarter,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said of her team’s performance in the 2nd quarter. “What didn’t happen? Ashley getting the foul and the tech. Emotionally, mentally I thought we were not very good…I thought we lost our poise and composure and Stanford had a lot to do with that…I thought Stanford’s conditioning was at another level with three games in three days.”

Things did not get better for Maryland in the second half as Stanford led 67-38 with 3:48 to go in the 3rd quarter. This was getting ugly for the Terrapins. Hannah Jump (18 points) and Haley Jones (15 points) were leading the way for the Cardinal.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford would lead 75-48. Jump now had her 21 points. All of her shots in the game were threes and it was paying off handsomely for her. Stanford was shooting 11-15 (73.3%) at the free throw line. Much better than their last outing.

“I mean, I’m a shooter,” Jump said. “It’s kinda like what I hang my hat on. But I hit that big shot, which got me feeling it and my teammates did a good job finding me transition and we just ran on them and played a really fast paced game and that allowed for a lot of open shots.”

“She was stellar. Seven threes,” Frese said of Jump. “That one was disappointing knowing we let her get so many open threes, but she still had to knock them down.”

Stanford would then lead 81-55 with 4:39 to go. At this point, the game had officially entered garbage time and in truth, the entire 4th quarter really was garbage time as Stanford was on cruise control.

In the end, Stanford walked out with an 86-67 win. After losing to #18 South Florida the day before, to bounce back and blow out the #2 team in the nation really sent a message. Maryland was a bit shorthanded as they were without some players, but three of their top four scorers were present. The main player they were missing was graduate transfer guard Katie Benzan.

“I think it impacted us a lot,” Ashley Owusu said of Benzan’s absence. “Katie is a great great shooter. She spaces the floor…We just gotta play harder and be able to compete. I don’t think we came out to compete this whole tournament…I think we came out flat against both teams. That’s what happens against top five, top ten teams…I think we gotta come back and regroup.”

“We know we’re getting everyone’s A-game,” VanDerveer said. “I know we caught Maryland on a day when they had injuries and COVID. That’s part of the world we play in…I’m just really proud of our team….They’re ready and they’re playing hard.”

It was a grueling three games in three days for Stanford. Something that other teams wouldn’t do. VanDerveer is hoping that this will pay off for her team in the long run.

“I’m a skier and I usually don’t like to take my team to the top of the mountain and start with double black diamonds,” VanDerveer said. “Ideally we’d have some more greens and blues…But they’re welcoming the challenge and it is a challenge…I really feel like we can learn a lot…These are top 15, top 10 teams and our team wants to learn and grow and I think we really are.”

“I think we stuck together,” Jump added. “That’s something we can take from this. No matter what’s the score we play hard and play for each other.”

Up next for Stanford will be a home game against Pacific on Sunday, December 12th. That game will tip off at 12:00 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and Varsity Network radio. That game will also be the first of a two-game double header at Maples Pavilion as the men’s basketball team will welcome Oregon to Maples right after.

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