On Thursday, December 5th, Stanford women’s basketball fell to No. 5 LSU 94-88 in overtime. LSU guard Mikaylah Williams led the way for the Tigers with 32 points and nine rebounds while guard Flau’Jae Johnson had 21 points & six assists. Stanford forward Nunu Agara had a double-double for the Cardinal with 29 points & 13 rebounds while forward Brooke Demetre had 19 points and five rebounds. LSU improves to 10-0 overall while Stanford falls to 7-2.

BOX SCORE: Stanford at LSU-Thursday, December 5th

Stanford got off to a strong start in this game, leading 28-15 at the end of the 1st quarter. Agara was up to 10 points and six rebounds for Stanford, more than halfway to a double-double. Stanford was shooting 10-16 from the field while LSU was shooting 6-19.

At halftime, Stanford would lead 39-37 as LSU outscored them 22-11 in the 2nd quarter. Demetre was up to 13 points for Stanford to lead the Cardinal while Williams was up to 13 points for LSU. She was really heating up. Stanford was still shooting much better as they were 14-28 from the field while LSU was 15-38 from the field. What was keeping LSU in the game was the turnover disparity. LSU had two turnovers while Stanford had nine.

Stanford would lead 52-48 with 3:38 to go in the 3rd quarter. Stanford called for time as LSU was on a bit of a run. Williams was up to 17 points for the Tigers and keeping them within striking distance of the Cardinal. Demetre had 17 points of her own for the Cardinal.

Stanford would lead 57-52 at the end of the 3rd quarter after a huge 3-point play by Agara. That gave Stanford a little bit of breathing room as she was up to 17 points and 10 rebounds. Stanford was still in front, but LSU was hanging around.

With 2:52 to go in the 4th quarter, Stanford was up 76-70. Stanford was cutting, passing, and taking good shots. Jzaniya Harriel had a huge 3-pointer for Stanford.

LSU would keep chipping away as Stanford led 78-75 with 30.0 to go in the 4th quarter. Stanford called for time and had possession.

Stanford would lead 80-78 with 16.1 to go after Kailyn Gilbert hit a huge 3-pointer for LSU. Stanford had the ball, hoping to still fend off LSU. Stanford would instead turn the ball over on the inbound and Williams would hit a jumper to tie the game up 80-80, sending it into overtime.

In overtime, LSU would outscore Stanford 14-8 to win the game 94-88. Stanford didn’t give up the lead until the game went into overtime but given the way the game got sent into overtime, LSU had all the momentum and finished the job.

Obviously for LSU they should be breathing a sigh of relief after this one. One has to give them credit for taking advantage of Stanford’s mistakes at the end, but still. Stanford should have won this one and had they lost this, LSU’s ranking would have fallen at least a decent amount.

As for Stanford, the way they lost is painful given how close they were to winning. But at the same time, they should be encouraged that they nearly defeated a top five team on the road in a hostile environment. There’s a lot of positives Stanford can take from this game provided they don’t dwell too much on the ending. Agara was fantastic and for most of the game, they were able to make winning plays. They just fell apart in the final minute. They have to tell themselves that next time they’ll close this out.

Up next for Stanford is a road game at Cal on Friday, December 13th at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX. That will open up ACC play for both teams.

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