Recap: #7 Stanford WBB hangs on to beat #4 Indiana in the Bahamas
On Thanksgiving Day, #7 Stanford women’s basketball defeated #4 Indiana 69-66. Stanford sophomore forward Cameron Brink led the way for the Cardinal with 21 points, 22 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks while junior forward Francesca Belibi finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds. Senior guards Ali Patberg (19 points) and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary (18 points & 8 rebounds) were the top performers for Indiana. Stanford improves to 4-1 on the year while Indiana falls to 4-1.
With 4:41 to go in the 1st quarter, the game was tied 8-8 as Hannah Jump, Francesca Belibi, Cameron Brink, and Lacie Hull were all on the board for the Cardinal. Stanford would go on to lead 17-14 at the end of the 1st quarter as Belibi was up to 9 points on 4-5 shooting from the field. Senior guard Grace Berger was leading Indiana with 6 points. One of the questions coming into this game for Stanford was the availability of junior guard Haley Jones. Jones did return and got some time in the 1st quarter, attempting a shot, which she missed. It was nice for Stanford to have her back on the floor against an elite Indiana team.
Stanford jumped out in front a bit to lead 24-16 with 8:14 to go in the 2nd quarter. The Hoosiers called for time as the Cardinal were on a 7-0 run. Brink was up to 8 points and 5 rebounds for Stanford.
Stanford would then lead 35-25 with 3:41 to go in the 2nd quarter. Belibi (13 points) and Brink (10 points) continued to lead the Cardinal. Berger was leading the Hoosiers with 10 points. The Cardinal had kicked it up a step.
Rather than letting Stanford gain even more of a lead, Indiana responded and kicked it up step as well, closing the half on a 7-0 run over the last 1:50. Stanford had 0 points in the last 2:10. As a result, Stanford would lead 37-34 at halftime.
The game continued to remain tight as Stanford would lead 48-45 with 4:23 to go in the 3rd quarter. Cameron Brink was now up to 16 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. She was making her presence felt inside.
Stanford would take a 55-52 lead into the 4th quarter. Haley Jones was up to 6 points for the Cardinal, making an impact in her return. Ali Patberg was up to 15 points for the Hoosiers after getting a jumper to beat the buzzer. Stanford was holding Indiana to 19-55 (34.5%) shooting from the field.
Stanford would lead 61-58 with 4:33 to go after Haley Jones knocked down a pair of clutch free throws. She was up to 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Cameron Brink was unleashing her inner Wilt Chamberlain: 18 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks.
Stanford would soon call for time up 61-59 with 3:12 to go as they had 0 points in the last 2:03. Indiana was having scoring struggles of their own as they had 0 field goals in the last 2:45. Stanford would go up by five points to lead 68-63 with 45 seconds to go. It was now 0 field goals for Indiana in the last 5:12 as they called for time.
The timeout by Indiana worked as Aleksa Gulbe hit a 3-pointer to make it a 68-66 game with 38 seconds to go. Gulbe was up to 8 points. On the next Stanford possession, the Cardinal would turn it over as Gulbe got a steal. Indiana called for time with 13 seconds to go, hoping to tie the game up.
Stanford fouled Grace Berger and sent her to the foul line where she went 0-2. Cameron Brink would get the defensive rebound, get fouled, and go 1-2 at the line. As a result, Stanford led 69-66 with 6 seconds to go. Indiana called for time, hoping to force overtime on their last possession.
The Hoosiers were unable to get a shot to drop at the end as Stanford escaped with a 69-66 win. Brink was obviously huge in this one, but it really was a team effort. Stanford played great defense in this game, holding Indiana to 32.4% shooting from the field while also dominating the glass 59-38. Belibi had a really nice outing and then the return of Haley Jones did make a difference as she walked out with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Considering that Indiana came in ranked higher than Stanford, the Cardinal have to feel good about this win. It was a tough, gritty game away from home, much like the previous game at Gonzaga, and they found a way to get the job done.
At the same time, there are areas that Stanford still needs to improve on that I’m sure Tara VanDerveer is going to highlight to her team: The 8-18 (44.4%) shooting from the foul line is terrible and the 3-12 (25.0%) shooting from 3-point range is also bad. Stanford also turned the ball over 16 times. One has to think if they clean those things up, they could be close to unstoppable.
Up next for Stanford will be a game against #18 South Florida on Black Friday at 9:00 AM PT on FloHoops and Varsity Network. Click here to read the preview of that matchup if you missed it earlier.