On Monday, Stanford women’s basketball defeated UTSA at home by a final score of 62-57. Stanford guard Elena Bosgana led the way for the Cardinal with 13 points and 11 rebounds while guard Jzaniya Harriel (12 points & 5 rebounds) and forward Brooke Demetre (11 points) also finished in double figures. UTSA guard Sidney Love (14 points & 4 rebounds), forward Jordyn Jenkins (14 points & 5 rebounds), and guard Nina De Leon Negron (12 points & 10 rebounds) scored in double figures for the Roadrunners. Stanford improves to 8-3 overall while UTSA falls to 7-2.

BOX SCORE: UTSA at Stanford-Monday, December 16th

Stanford would lead 14-11 at the end of the 1st quarter. Jzaniya Harriel had half of Stanford’s points with seven. Both teams were having a tough time shooting. Stanford was shooting 5-17 from the field while UTSA was shooting 4-15.

At halftime, Stanford only led by one point as they were up 26-25. Jzaniya Harriel’s 10 points was leading the Cardinal while Brooke Demetre had eight points. Stanford was shooting 9-30 from the field, struggling to get rolling on offense.

Stanford would turn on the jets in the 3rd quarter, outscoring UTSA 21-10. As a result, Stanford led 47-35 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Demetre (11 points) and Harriel (10 points) were the ones in double figures for the Cardinal. After a tight first half, the Cardinal finally had some distance from the Roadrunners.

Living true to their nickname, the Roadrunners were not intimidated by the distance needed to close the gap as they would make it a four point game with 2:03 to go, making it a 57-53 lead for Stanford. The Roadrunners were on an 11-0 run while Stanford had scored zero points in the last 3:46.

With 13 seconds to go, Stanford led 60-57 after Elena Bosgana went 1-2 at the charity stripe. UTSA called for time, hoping to draw up a good play to force overtime. UTSA would turn the ball over on their final possession as Harriel got a steal and a subsequent layup to beat the buzzer, making it a 62-57 victory for the Cardinal. It was a close one, but the Cardinal found a way to pull it out in the end.

For Stanford, this was not a pretty win, but after the way they got dominated in Berkeley by Cal, getting back in the win column was the main objective coming into this game and they accomplished that. Of course, Harriel and Bosgana were the two stars of the game for Stanford. Bosgana’s double-double was key and then Harriel’s last second steal and layup clinched the game. Winning tight games is always a good thing for a team to experience and Stanford learned that when the chips are down, they can find ways to pull out close games.

One other thing I wanted to mention is this game was played at noon, giving local school kids a chance to watch the team play. It’s really cool that Stanford is getting involved with the community like this and creating opportunities to give back in this kind of way. The kids all seemed to have a great time, which makes for a rewarding and fulfilling experience for all involved.

Up next for Stanford is the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic in San Francisco at the Chase Center against No. 11 Ohio State on Friday, December 20th. Tipoff is set for 5:30 PM PT on FS1.

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