On Thursday, Stanford women’s basketball fell to SMU on the road by a final score of 67-63. SMU guards Nya Robertson (21 points) and Zanai Jones (20 points, 4 rebounds, & 5 assists) were the top scorers for the Mustangs while center Jessica Peterson (9 points & 16 rebounds) nearly had a double-double. Stanford guard Elena Bosgana (20 points & 6 rebounds) and forward Nunu Agara (19 points & 12 rebounds) were the top performers for the Cardinal. SMU improves to 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.

AUDIO: Stanford WBB Postgame Press Conference: SMU

BOX SCORE: Stanford at SMU-Thursday, January 2nd

“I thought SMU played a great game,” Stanford head coach Kate Paye said after the game. “They got off to a really quick start and kinda punched us in the mouth. Their guards are very talented. Electric scoring guards. I was very proud that our team stuck with things and battled back. We had a great run, gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game. I think the challenge for our team is to figure out how to play with that sense of urgency that we felt in the last maybe five minutes of the fourth quarter. Play with it for the entire game.

“I am extremely proud of how Nunu battled and Elena battled. Shay Ijiwoye gave us terrific minutes off the bench as a freshman. Our speed and quickness is extremely helpful. This was kind of a homecoming for Chloe Clardy, who is from Arkansas. She had a lot of people here and I thought she had a very nice game and worked really hard out there.

“SMU is a very good team. We’re fellow newcomers to the ACC and we have a lot of respect for their coaching staff. I thought they did a great job. They’re obviously excellent rebounders. I thought our team battled on the boards and this is just something that we’re gonna have to learn from. It’s not going to get any easier. Obviously Clemson had a nice win against Cal, this is a very competitive league and this will help our team as long as we learn from it. It is very painful, but I know we’ll bounce back.”

SMU jumped out to a 10-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game as Stanford was on their heels from the jump. Stanford would settle in and get some shots to fall, but SMU still had a comfortable lead at the end of the 1st quarter, leading 24-13. Nya Robertson was up to 12 points for the Mustangs while Nunu Agara had six points for Stanford, needing more help.

SMU would lead 35-27 at halftime as Robertson (14 points) and Jones (10 points) were in double figures. Bosgana’s eight points led the Cardinal. Despite a rough start to the game, the Cardinal were still in it.

SMU really jumped on Stanford in the 3rd quarter, leading 48-30 with 4:52 to go in the quarter as they were on a 13-0 run. Stanford couldn’t get any shots to fall while SMU was getting whatever they wanted.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, SMU led 54-44. Stanford was hanging around as Agara was up to 13 points while Bosgana had 12 points. Shay Ijiwoye also had her first career 3-pointer for the Cardinal. Jones and Robertson each had 17 points for the Mustangs. Stanford was still hanging around, but they needed to get on a run.

With 6:16 to go, Stanford was within single digits as it was a 57-50 lead for SMU. The Mustangs hadn’t scored in the last 3:05. Stanford needed to take advantage. Bosgana (15 points) and Agara (13 points) continued to lead the Cardinal.

Stanford would continue to scrap and play with fight, forcing some turnovers as players like Shay Ijiwoye played with a lot of heart. They were rewarded with an 11-0 run to make it a 64-63 game with 42.6 to go after Agara had a clutch 3-point play.

Zanai Jones would then get a hoop plus the harm for SMU, but failed to make the free throw, giving the ball back to Stanford. That made it 66-63 with under 14 seconds to go as Stanford had a chance to even things up. Stanford would run a play to give Agara a 3-point shot, but her shot was a bit wide. SMU would get the rebound sending TK Pitts to the foul line. Pitts went 1-2 at the line, making it 67-63, which would be the final score.

For SMU, this is a nice win. Even though Stanford is in a rebuilding season, they still got weapons. SMU came out with more energy from the opening tip and in the end, that’s what made the difference. They played the better game for four quarters and were the more deserving team.

As for Stanford, this loss is disappointing given that SMU had only one win against power conference teams this season coming in. I picked Stanford to win this one for that very reason. Even more disappointing is the way they lost. Had Stanford matched SMU’s energy from the opening tip, they would have won this one. Instead, they were playing catchup the whole game after playing lethargically the first two minutes of the game. It’s tough to win when you are playing from behind the whole night.

That all said, Stanford can still take some positives from this game. They didn’t give up and played hard the entire 4th quarter. As a result, they had a chance all the way until the very end. Once again, you can’t let your opponent open the game on a 10-0 run.

Up next for Stanford is a road game at Clemson on Sunday, January 5th. Tipoff is set for 11:00 AM PT on The CW.

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