When Stanford met Missouri State in the 2019 women’s NCAA Sweet 16, cardinal trainer Tara VanDerveer compared the experience to « an absolute canal. » The rematch on Sunday was much more enjoyable.
Overall, Stanford continued in dominant form on Sunday, defeating Missouri State 89-62 No. 5 in an Alamo region semi-finals at the Alamodome.
« It was really fun to see people getting out in transition, » said VanDerveer, who won a record 1,122 games. “I think we made it a quick game. A high score game. … So it was definitely not a root canal. »
The Cardinal (28-2) faces either Louisville # 2 or Oregon # 6 on Tuesday for a chance of the 14th Final Four. Stanford defeated Oregon twice with a total of nine points in the conference game.
Stanford has won 17 games in a row, 13 of which have at least 20 points. The cardinal was consistently in command against the State of Missouri (23: 3) and led after the first quarter with 23:15, at halftime with 49:26 and after three with 71:37. The lead rose to 38 with 6:23 remaining .
In the 2019 Sweet 16 matchup, both teams shot 25 percent off the pitch in Stanford’s 55:46 win. While maintaining defensive intensity, the Cardinal had no problem scoring a goal this time around and continued to use the long ball. The Cardinal has scored 43 3-point hits and shot 48 percent behind the bow in three tournament games after scoring on Sunday Had played 15 against 32.
Hannah Jump, who had a team high of 17, led the charges by hitting 5 out of 7 from a long distance. Kiana Williams played in her hometown and had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Haley Jones added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Ashten Prechtel had eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists off the bench.
But the breakout star on the offensive was Senior Guard Anna Wilson, Pac-12 co-defensive player of the year. She continued her strong defensive play, recording three steals and helping bring Missouri Valley Conference player of the year Brice Carlip to nine points on the 3-of-10. But Wilson also contributed 13 points out of 5 out of 6 shots.
« Tara always talks about it – she hasn’t recruited either of us to our defense, » said Wilson. « And so I think that for me it’s just about finding time to be aggressive. »
Wilson’s brother, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, was among the 1,072 fans at the Alamodome.
« The whole team (grade) would be a ‘B' », said VanDerveer. « But I thought we had an absolute ‘A’ from Anna Wilson. ‘A’ for Anna. I thought she really came to play. »
Cameron Brink had five blocks despite being limited to 10 minutes because of bad issues when Stanford held Missouri state at 31.3 percent.
« I’m looking forward to beating an excellent team from Missouri State that we struggled with two years ago, » said VanDerveer. “They had eight players back from that defeat. I thought we came out and put the hammer down and we did a great job. «
Ref: https://www.eastbaytimes.com
