GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Enjoying in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Convention match sport, Stanford misplaced 63-46 to Clemson on Wednesday evening, ending the Cardinal’s run earlier than it began.
For the Eleventh-seeded Cardinal (16-14), the upset loss in all probability ends their run of 36 straight NCAA Match appearances, second solely to Tennessee (42 years) in energetic streaks. It’s their first season underneath coach Kate Paye, the previous guard and assistant to the legendary Tara VanDerveer, who retired final spring.
Stanford gained 5 of its final six regular-season video games and was 14-3 at residence, however 2-11 on the highway and at impartial websites, together with 2-7 within the Jap Time Zone, the place most of its ACC highway video games had been performed.
In the meantime, Clemson (14-16) had gained simply three of its final 14 video games getting into the match after beating Stanford at residence in January.
Courtney Ogden was the one Stanford participant in double figures with 13 factors. The Cardinal shot simply 31%.
Nunu Agara, the Cardinal’s main scorer and rebounder, returned to motion after taking part in simply six minutes since an harm suffered Feb. 6 towards Notre Dame. She scored eight factors in 17 minutes. Stanford’s 46 factors had been the fewest it has scored this season, because it recorded simply seven assists and 13 turnovers.
“I thought we just really struggled offensively, and that caused us to get tight and maybe press on both ends of the floor a little bit,” Paye informed reporters postgame. “Again, I thought (our players) were playing really hard, but we just weren’t moving the ball the way I feel like we’ve been moving the ball the past couple weeks. We tried a lot of different combinations of people. It just wasn’t our day.”
Paye stated that if the Cardinal don’t make the NCAAs, they’d take into account attending one other match such because the NIT.
“We’re not going to let this one game define us or who we are,” she stated. “We’re hopeful we get to continue to play, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to be here today.”
Clemson’s Loyal McQueen scored 17 factors, Mia Moore had 14 with 4 3s, and Anya Poole added 12 for the Tigers, who shot 44% and made 8 of 17 3-pointers. Stanford made solely three on 11 makes an attempt.
Stanford led 6-0 earlier than McQueen scored 9 within the first quarter for an 11-10 lead. Anya Poole had eight factors within the second quarter when the Tigers outscored Stanford by 16-6 to guide 27-16 at halftime. The Cardinal shot simply 23% and had 10 turnovers.
After a primary half when neither workforce made a 3-pointer, Clemson hit 5 and Stanford three within the third quarter with the Tigers extending an 11-point halftime result in 18. The Cardinal had minimize the result in seven then Clemson hit 4 straight from the arc, together with Moore’s second and third of the quarter.
Clemson led by as many as 20 within the fourth quarter.
The Tigers will tackle six-seed Louisville in Thursday’s second spherical, whereas Stanford will await a possible postseason match invitation.
“We’re a very young team,” Ogden stated postgame. “so even though we weren’t able to show the confidence that we’ve worked for here, we can bring that into any games that we have left and also into the future.”
Initially Revealed: March 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM PST
