On Sunday, #8 Stanford women’s basketball fell to #5 Colorado on the road in Boulder by a final score of 71-59. Colorado guard Jaylyn Sherrod (13 points & 4 assists), center Quay Miller (13 points & 10 rebounds), guard Maddie Nolan (12 points & 5 rebounds), and guard Kindyll Wetta (12 points & 6 rebounds) led the way for the Buffaloes while Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen (19 points & 17 rebounds) was the top performer for the Cardinal. Colorado improves to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 15-2 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Colorado-Sunday, January 14th
“Colorado outplayed us,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “They were aggressive, they made shots, we didn’t play to the caliber that we needed to. I just wanted to say though I’m really proud of how Kiki Iriafen played. I thought she had a great game, she had a great weekend, and I think that other people can improve and we can play better. But, I thought she was the main weapon…Kiki just brought it. She’s really matured a lot. It’s real exciting to see how well she’s playing.”
Colorado led 18-17 at the end of the 1st quarter. Sherrod was leading the Buffaloes with six points and two assists. Colorado was shooting 6-14 from the field. Cameron Brink was up to eight points for the Cardinal.
The 2nd quarter was tight as Colorado outscored Stanford 18-13. As a result, the Buffaloes led 36-30 at halftime. Sherrod was the top performer for the Buffaloes with nine points and two assists. Iriafen was leading the Cardinal with 11 points and 11 rebounds. It was still a tight game.
With 4:47 to go in the 3rd quarter, Colorado led 46-35. Frida Formann was coming alive for the Buffs with 10 points. As for the Cardinal, Iriafen was up to 13 points and 12 rebounds. She was doing all she could to keep the Cardinal in the game but needed more help.
At the end of the 3rd quarter Colorado led 58-41. Colorado outscored Stanford 22-11 in the 3rd quarter, really blowing the game open. Sherrod (11 points), Wetta (10 points), and Formann (10 points) were all in double figures for the Buffaloes. Iriafen was up to 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinal while Brink had 10 points and nine rebounds. Everyone else was too quiet for the Cardinal.
Colorado would lead 61-52 with 4:54 to go as Stanford was trying to make a comeback. Stanford was outscoring them 11-3 in the 4th quarter so far. Brooke Demetre was up to 12 points, really coming alive for the Cardinal on 4-6 shooting from 3-point range. With 1:32 to go, Colorado led 65-57. Jzaniya Harriel hit a huge three for the Cardinal to keep them alive. Colorado called for time, hoping to finish strong.
In the end, Colorado would go on to win 71-59. Stanford fought all the way until the end, but Colorado found and extra gear and pulled away in the end. A big problem for Stanford was their 18 turnovers. You can’t expect to win a game with that stat. Especially on the road against an elite team like Colorado.
For Colorado, this is a big win. They defended their home court against a top ten Stanford team that came in with confidence having defeated Utah on Friday. While Stanford made a run late, they were able to fend them off and do what they were supposed to do. They needed this win.
“I think it’s exactly what we expected in terms of physicality,” Iriafen said. “They’re very aggressive. They’re a very strong team. So inside I had to battle, work for every single bucket, every single rebound, so I think that aspect we expected that. We expected the pressure, we weren’t able to handle it as well as we wanted to, but Colorado, they did what they needed to do today.”
As for Stanford, it’s a disappointing loss in that they would have loved the Rocky Mountain road sweep, but at least they got the split with a win at Utah. This has been the toughest road trip in the Pac-12 and is one where a split is totally ok. Especially when both opponents are ranked. All that Stanford can do is just get ready for the next week.
“We need our team to be healthy, we need to work harder,” VanDerveer said. “We got a split on the toughest road trip in the Pac-12. I think this is on top of the great teams, you got the travel that you’re dealing with. So, it’s disappointing but we’ll get better.”
That all said, Stanford does need to get more out of their guards. The only guard who had a decent game was Jzaniya Harriel with her nine points. Talana Lepolo has to produce more than two points. Especially since she is capable of providing quality shooting.
On top of that, Cameron Brink needs to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble. She had four personal fouls and only played 23 minutes. She needs to figure out how to stay on the floor so she can better help her team.
“We just need to get people playing together better and get her the ball more,” VanDerveer said. “And obviously it hurts when she gets in foul trouble. So you know, she’s gotta make the decision to stay out of foul trouble.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Oregon on Friday. That will tip off at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Networks.
“We learned a lot from our Gonzaga loss, so I know we’re gonna learn so much from this loss as well,” Iriafen said. “Losses aren’t always bad is what Tara tells us. So we’ll learn so much from this. We’re excited to go home. We have Monday off. So we’ll regroup and get ready for these next couple games this weekend.”
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