SAN FRANCISCO – A vacation break couldn’t come at a greater time for the Stanford girls’s basketball crew.
Within the Cardinal’s final recreation of 2024, No. 11 Ohio State routed Stanford 84-59 within the Bay Space Girls’s Basic at Chase Heart on Friday night time.
With legendary coach Tara VanDerveer in attendance – now as a fan – her Cardinal had 19 turnovers and have been completely outmatched by its Large 10 opponent.
Nunu Agara led Stanford with 17 factors, and Tess Heal had 10. In the meantime, Cotie McMahon paced Ohio State with 16 factors as all 5 Buckeyes starters scored in double-figures.
Stanford, in its first season underneath coach Kate Paye, got here into the sport with out a lot momentum. The Cardinal had misplaced at No. 5 LSU 94-88 in additional time, and adopted that up with a shocking 83-63 defeat at rival Cal.
The Cardinal then beat UTSA 62-57 to stay 8-0 at house in Maples Pavilion. In fact, that meant Stanford was 0-3 on the street, and regardless that Chase Heart was only a 40-minute drive up 101, the Cardinal nonetheless struggled away from house.
Stanford’s offense, which ran by means of forwards Agara, Brooke Demetre and Elena Bosgana within the excessive submit, created open seems to be. However the Cardinal might solely make 2-11 pictures in opposition to the visiting Buckeyes within the first quarter, trailing 16-6 after 10 minutes.
After taking three minutes to attain to start out the primary quarter, the Cardinal went on one other lengthy drought to start the second interval as Ohio State went forward 20-6 till Chloe Clardy knifed into the lane for a layup.
That received the offense going for the Cardinal, as a result of a minute later, Jzaniya Harriel received the Stanford contingent one thing to actually cheer about when she hit a highly-difficult shot from simply contained in the arc because the shot clock expired.
These good vibes didn’t final lengthy as Oregon switch Probability Grey hit back-to-back jumpers to place Ohio State up 28-12, which finally was a 33-19 halftime deficit.
The two-16 mark from 3-point distance was eye-catching however not completely unsurprising for the Cardinal. Although Stanford entered second within the nation with a 42% accuracy fee from 3-point land, that determine was buoyed by unbelievable taking pictures throughout the Cardinal’s first three video games.
Previously eight video games, Stanford shot a strong however a lot decrease 34.5% on on 21 makes an attempt per night time. That’s a quantity the Cardinal would’ve fortunately settled for on Friday night time.
Stanford began the second half with three straight layups, eschewing the lengthy ball and getting constructive outcomes. However Ohio State saved its composure, increasing the lead 51-31 halfway by means of the third on the energy of a 14-4 run keyed by up-tempo play and swarming protection.
Stanford (8-4) will play its subsequent recreation at SMU on Jan. 2.
