On Sunday, #2 Stanford women’s basketball, the top seed in the Spokane Region of the NCAA tournament defeated Kansas, the 8th seed in the region, by a final score of 91-65 at Maples Pavilion in the second round. Stanford senior guard Lexie Hull exploded for a career-high 36 points and 6 rebounds while sophomore forward Cameron Brink had 13 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Kansas junior guard Zakiyah Franklin was the top performer for the Jayhawks with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Kansas on a great season,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game. “At halftime I wasn't really sure who was going to Spokane. They have a really exceptional team, and we had to play really well in the second half. I think it really boiled down to we had Lexie and they didn't. I mean, she was on fire. She played a great game. Possibly her last game in Maples, but she really showed up. I'm just being hopeful, Lex. I thought Cam had a great game, too. She really battled in there. It was very physical. I thought our team really stepped up. We needed different people. Haley helped run our offense when we got a couple people in foul trouble, but today was Lexie's day.”
Stanford led 10-8 with 4:58 to go in the 1st quarter. Brink was up to 5 points and 1 rebound for Stanford, getting after it early. As for Kansas, guard Holly Kersgieter was up to 4 points. It was a tight game so far.
The rest of the quarter remained tight as Stanford led 20-18 at its conclusion. Brink was leading the way with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. As for Kansas, forward Ioanna Chatzileonti was up to 7 points, including a corner triple to beat the buzzer right in front of where I was sitting on press row.
With 4:54 to go in the half, Stanford was up 25-20, starting to gain a little bit of separation. Stanford was shooting 9-19 (47.4%) from the field and 4-8 from 3-point range. Kansas was shooting 7-22 (31.8%) from the field and 1-5 from beyond the arc.
At halftime, it was a 33-31 Stanford lead as Kansas was hanging tough. Lexie Hull was starting to heat up for Stanford with 11 points while Cameron Brink was up to 9 points and 7 rebounds to go along with her 2 blocks. Chatzileonti was leading Kansas with 9 points and 4 rebounds.
In the 3rd quarter, Stanford started to pull away. With 4:34 to go in the quarter, they were up 50-42 as Hull was going wild with 23 points on 9-14 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from 3-point range. Offensively, she was really the difference for the Cardinal.
With 2:34 to go in the quarter, it was now a 56-44 lead for Stanford, who was on a 6-0 run over the last 1:33. Francesca Belibi just got a nice hoop plus the harm. She would convert at the foul line.
Stanford would end up winning the 3rd quarter 32-15 to lead 65-46. They closed the quarter out on a 15-2 run as Hull was up to 25 points. She was on fire. At this point, it was clear that Stanford had all the momentum. It was just a matter of finishing strong.
“Tara I think made a point to us that we weren't playing our best, to put it nicely,” Hull said of VanDerveer’s halftime message. “We knew we could play a lot better, and I think we didn't want to come back into the locker room on a loss and our season being over. I think that was the message for all of us was to get out there, lay everything out on the court and hopefully be able to play another day, practice another day together, and so that was the message. We don't want to go home.”
Rather than allowing Kansas to get back in the game, Stanford continued to dominate, leading 80-50 with 4:54 to go. Hull was now up to her career-high 36 points. To say she was incredible is an understatement.
“That was really totally in the flow,” VanDerveer said of Hull’s night. “In fact, one play we were calling wasn't even for her and she scored on it. You know, I just think she can get like this. I mean, we've seen this against Oregon; she had 33. The basket was big for her, and she knew it, and everyone else knew it, so let's give her the ball, and they did.
“One thing I think about our team is that all of them already referenced this a little bit, but a lot of times there is a lot of attention for Cam or a lot of attention for Haley or Fran dunks, and Lexie and Lacie do a lot of the dirty work. They're on the floor for the ball. They're making -- they're hustling. They're scrapping. They're super competitive. I was really -- I'm really glad that for today the spotlight was on Lexie.
“But the rest of the team is so excited. She had to come in with a different shirt on because they drenched her with water. They didn't get her with the big bucket but they did it with water bottles. They're a great group. They're a really close group, and you can be happy for her because she's so unselfish. But she likes to score.”
In the end, Stanford walked out with a 91-65 victory. After a neck and neck first half, Stanford blew past Kansas in the second half like a dominant thoroughbred would do. Lexie Hull’s career-high 36 points really made the difference. It was her last game in Maples and she knew she wanted to go out on a high note.
“Yeah, Lacie and I looked at each other before we started running out, and we said to each other, this is our last one running out in Maples, so we wanted to give it everything we had, and I think we did that tonight from the jump and then especially coming in the second half,” Hull said. “We knew it was over if we didn't win, so we didn't want it to be over, we wanted to make it to Spokane. It's awesome to have a night like tonight in Maples with a crowd like we had. I really felt the love, really felt the support, and it was super exciting.”
“Now I'm going to get emotional again,” Brink said when asked about the Hull twins. “Right before we ran out, I looked at Lexie and I was like, I'm going to start crying right now, and Lacie told me, she's like, not yet. She's so serious; she's like, don't cry, Cameron. I don't know, they're just the heart of our team. They really are. They're the glue. Off the court, too, they plan every like function we do as a team. I'm just -- Lex is such a great person, and I just love you. That's all I can say right now.”
As for Kansas, they should feel proud of how they competed. While Stanford proved to be the more dominant team, Kansas showed they have what it takes to hang with elite competition. They’re a pretty young team and should learn from this experience, hopefully putting together a better season next year.
“I was really proud of our team's effort today,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “I thought we were highly competitive for about 25 minutes of the game. Give Stanford a lot of credit; I thought they were incredible in the third quarter. Lexie just went into takeover mode and it was as elite an offensive performance as I've witnessed in person, in the manner in which she scored in just every way possible. A lot of credit to her and to Stanford on their performance tonight.”
Up next for Stanford is the Sweet Sixteen in Spokane, Washington where they’ll face #13 Maryland, the 4 seed in the region. That game will be on Friday. Tip-off time to be determined.
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