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WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68, silencing Husky sell-out. - Printable Version

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WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68, silencing Husky sell-out. - 81alum - 01-29-2017

Preliminary:

Washington has to be considered the favored team today, given that it is the team that knocked us ignominiously out of the Pac 12 tournament last year in the first round, out of the NCAA tournament, and that it is improved since then.  Plum has become one of the greatest players in Pac 8/10/12 history, Osahor is a rebounding vacuum, Romeo hit 10 treys in their last game, they have more depth than a year ago, and they are playing at home--probably in front of a sell-out of 8000.  We have been improving steadily too.  To win today will require that we get the hot hand shooting, that Plum is kept to under 30 points, and that Romeo and Osahor return to the mean.  That is a lot to hope for.

Overview:

In front of Washington's first sellout crowd for WBB at 10,000, Stanford overcame an 18 point deficit and a 44 point Plum effort to edge Washington.  Certainly our best win since Notre Dame.  Roberson came alive in the second half to help us pull it off, and Britt contributed points and two critical defensive plays in the final minutes.

Flow of the Game:

The first quarter looked all too familiar, resembling our slow starts the last two times we played Washington.  We made a handful of layups and clanked all of our three point attempts.  Meanwhile, Washington made six treys--spreading the makes around the team, and our painful, plodding offense could not keep pace with their ridiculously high percentage bombing runs.  The first quarter ended with Washington up 21-12.

In the second quarter, Plum began to go off like a fireworks display.  She made 4 treys, 2 layups, and a jumper in the quarter, with only one miss during the sequence.  Fortunately, we got our offense going better than the first quarter, and we scored 21-- mainly on layups as Erica and others got better involved.  But we missed all of our three point attempts until Nadia came in at the very end and hit one to break the ice trey.  That left us at a horrid 1/11 at three point shooting, with Washington at a sizzling 11/19.  With four minutes left in the half Washington built an 18 point lead.  By the end, Plum already had 26 points--sometimes shooting treys right in the face of her defenders, and was 6/6 from three point range.  Our improved offense was not enough to keep up with the Plum show, and we fell three points further behind to 45-33.  I was sinking deeper into depression at the painful (if expected) result.

At halftime Tara said she thought her team would do a better job on defense and that we needed to get our offense going.  Almost any coach can say that at any halftime.  Well, whatever she did at halftime, it worked.

The third quarter did not start well, though as we turned the ball over and watched Plum sink a couple of free throws.  But then Marta hit a trey which was highly promising both for her development and for the team.  Erica hit a trey and further cut the lead to 8.  Britt began making some contorted layups and then, midway through the third quarter, Bri started to hit her jumper, whooshing two treys to help us further chip away at the lead and getting us within 3.  At the end of the quarter Washington held a 55-50 lead.

Foul trouble was having an impact on the game.  Erica picked up her fourth foul with 4:40 left in the third quarter on a hideous call--Osahor fouled her rather than the other way around.  In what may have been a make up call, Plum got her fourth foul with :37 left in the third quarter.  Before the game would be over, McPhee also had four, and Osahor, Collier, and Corral would have four.  Plum fouled out in the waning seconds.  All those players in foul trouble made for some interesting offense/defense substitutions as both coaches tried to keep their leading players in position to score in what was a tightening game.

The fourth quarter opened with Bri picking up where she left off and going for a layup to cut the lead, then on the next possession draining a trey to tie the score.  Britt gave us the lead with 8:32 left on a jumper, but Plum tied it back up at the other end.  The lead see-sawed on jumpers and free throws until it was tied up at 62, but then Plum hit a trey with 4:18 left and we all muttered "there she goes again..."  It felt as if our opportunity may have slipped away.  It got worse when Osahor hit a free throw to give them a 4 point lead and the score got stuck 66-62 all the way down to 2:21.

Marta took it to the basket to cut the lead to 2, and in the defensive play of the game, Britt blocked a Plum layup and retrieved the rebound with 2:02.  Tara called a timeout when our halfcourt looked stagnant, and out of the timeout Bri made a long off balance jumper to tie the score.

Then came a critical turning point--Britt poked the ball away from Romeo and took it all the way to the rim for a layup and a two point lead at 1:20.  Britt had given us two game-changing defensive plays in less than a minute.  Romeo missed a jumper at the other end and Britt got fouled at our end, making one of two free throws to give us a 3 point lead at :29.  We gave Plum the layup at the other end, forced them to foul Karlie after playing keep-away, watched as Karlie sank both free throws, and we were back up 3 with 11 seconds. Plum missed a trey for the first time in the entire game and then fouled out.  Erica made one of two free throws to close it out 72-68.

Performances:

Tara and the defense deserve credit for a massive turnaround in the second half.  After giving up 45 points in the first half, we gave up 23 in the second half.  We shot 43% for the game and held Washington to 36%--which is probably their worst offensive showing of the year.  That despite Plum shooting 17/27.  Osahor was 1/10, Collier 0/5, and Romeo--the same who had sunk 10 three pointers two days ago--was 0/4. 

We were exceptional at avoiding turnovers--only 7 to their 10, and had 5 blocks to their 1--while other team stats were not so far apart. 

McPhee, playing in front of family and friends from the Seattle area, won the game for us, in my opinion, with her defensive heroics.  Her offense was vitally necessary, and she led us with 17 points, but she was just 7/20 and 0/5 from three point range.  She had our only three steals, though, and one of them was priceless.

McCall was next with 16 points, but they were hard earned on 7/13 shooting and 9 rebounds, despite constant foul trouble that limited her to 25 minutes.

Roberson had one of her best games with 14 points on 5/9 shooting--mostly coming at the critical juncture in the second half.  She and Britt were responsible for changing the momentum and playing with confidence from behind.

Samuelson played all 40 minutes and had just 10  points, missing all 3 of her treys, but going 6/7 from the line.  In a game when we had only 9 assists, she dished out 4 of them.

Sniezek contributed 8 clutch points, going 2/2 and also 3/4 from the line.  She had the other 5 assists and three turnovers.  She did not make many of those overly-aggressive turnovers, and she scored, making her quite effective.

Fingall had just 4 minutes and buried a trey, Smith got 12 minutes and went 1/4, and Kaylee had 17 minutes and went 1/5.

Conclusion:

A superb win that I hope will give our team confidence going forward, and move us up the RPI.  It also makes it possible for Tara to get to 1000 on Friday against SC.  EVERYONE SHOULD BE THERE. 

However, Washington has a much easier schedule the rest of the way than we do,  Next will be SC that just beat ASU--they are no longer pushovers, then UCLA is up next, and after the mountain schools and two games against C.al we have to go north to an emerging Oregon team and our old nemesis Oregon State.  Then, if we play well, it is likely we shall face Washington again in the tournament. 



Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - JJJ - 01-29-2017

Looks like the men's game vs Cal basically overlaps with this one. Will we have dueling game threads? #GoCard #NerdNation #DVRworkingovertime 8)

Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - TheFarm07 - 01-29-2017

What's the game plan on both offense and defense?

We need to score points to keep up with them on our end of the court. Obviously, they'll be focused on our big three, blanketing Karlie from the perimeter and Osahor on McCall inside. I think Erica needs to go to that mid-range jumper, because I don't think she can battle with Osahor in the low post. Kaylee will be important if the interior defense is concentrated on Erica. I suspect Marta may be given room to hit jumpers and she needs to, because I don't think she will have much luck driving.

On defense, will Bri be on Plum? Will we double team Osahor? Who guards Romero to prevent her from going off from long range? Are we going to make their 4 and 5 players beat us?

Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - 81alum - 01-29-2017

From our losses last year, these write-ups might give us some ideas:

http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=14683.0

http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=14800.msg159593#msg159593

Interestingly, we started the same five against Washington last year as have been starting this year--since that was the game that Lili was back and did not start.  Washington played zone and our offense foundered in the first half--Erica needed to make jumpers and she didn't.  We figured it out in the second half and got our offense going to the tune of 20 points a quarter, but it was not enough.  We gave Washington 47% shooting and so it was really our defense that let us down in the first game.

In the season ender, we missed four shots and turned it over twice to start the game and were down 12-0 right at the start.  Again we got our offense going in the second half--scored 50 in that half for one of our best offensive halves all last season.  But it was not enough.

I guess what we can conclude from last year is the need to start fast and keep going.  We can't afford to take a half to find our offense.  We let Washington shoot 49% in the second game, and 47% in the first, so I don't think we are going to win on the basis of suffocating defense alone.

Yes, I would expect Bri to be on Plum--our quickest player.  Romeo could be guarded by Karlie I think.  Romeo is deadly accurate but WSU had a lot of poor defense on her--I think we will do better.  I remember Kaylee coming out to the edge to guard Osahor's three point attempts last year, but no one is going to be able to push her out of the paint, so it is a matter of getting a couple of posts in position to box her out--something that I think no one has been able to do one on one.

It would be nice to get a little help from the refs--calling Plum on her constant charges, calling Osahor for her body fouls.  But I hardly expect any help, especially in light of a loud home crowd.

I remember Tara talking about guarding Plum--she said something like "you can't devote too much attention to her or everyone else will run wild."  But I wonder if we should just double her and take our chances.  It is a strategy that finally worked against Griner.  Who is the weakest Washington scorer--and give her open shots.  Can it be worse than 49%?


Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - 81alum - 01-29-2017

Oregon State just knocked off Oregon.  Oregon came from behind and took a 6 point lead in the fourth quarter.  They were playing 4 freshmen and a sophomore at that point.  Weise then did to them what she did to us--hit three absolutely clutch treys to regain the lead and break the momentum.  I will be glad to see her graduate, along with Plum.  Without Weise's end-of-game heroics, OSU loses several more games this year.

Oregon is going to be very, very good next year.  In fact, they will be a dangerous team to play for our last pac-12 regular season game in Eugene this year.  Ionescu, McGwire and Ruthy Hebard looked very good for frosh.

Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - TheFarm07 - 01-29-2017

I just looked at the box score from the Elite 8 game, of the 15 made field goals we had in the second half, 10 of them were from 3-point range, so we got hot from long range. I hate that we might be dependent on a hot shooting night to win, especially since Karlie is really our only dependable long range threat. Though we have gotten better lately, no one besides Karlie shoots above 34% from long distance

I also noticed in the 3 games (we won our first meeting at Stanford -- don't forget), UW doesn't turn the ball over (less than 10 each game). So we can ill afford to cough the ball, though we had 17 turnovers in the game we did win. But our defense was great that game and we limited Osahor to single digit rebounds as we demolished them on the boards 49-30.

Lili was the star in our win with 27 points and Kaylee grabbed 14 rebounds.

Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - 81alum - 01-29-2017

We are lucky to only be down 12 after the first half.  We are 1/11 at three point shooting and Washington is 11/19.  Plum already has 26 points--sometimes shooting treys right in the face of her defenders.  Meanwhile, as with the last two times we played them, our offense was slow to get started, although Erica has been getting more into the act in the second quarter with 10 points.  We came out clearly intending to double Plum as much as possible even if it meant leaving others open, and she is 10/13 for 26 points.  Treys, unstoppable fadeaway jumpers, etc.

Re: WBB: Stanford at Washington, 5pm - BostonCard - 01-29-2017

Not a good first half; we trail 45-33.

BC

Re: WBB: Washington 55 Stanford 50 after 3rd quarter - 81alum - 01-29-2017

The third quarter was better and we closed the gap.  However, a horrendous 4th foul was called on Erica, sending her to the bench.  Ugh.

But Plum just picked up her 4th too.  Interesting.

Re: WBB: Washington 55 Stanford 50 after 3rd quarter - BostonCard - 01-29-2017

(01-29-2017, 07:26 PM)81alum link Wrote:The third quarter was better and we closed the gap.  However, a horrendous 4th foul was called on Erica, sending her to the bench.  Ugh.

But Plum just picked up her 4th too.  Interesting.

I have a hard time believing the refs would call a foul on Plum, let alone 4.

BC

Re: WBB: Washington 55 Stanford 50 after 3rd quarter - Card Fan in OR - 01-29-2017

Update, update, please--good or bad. Dish just took away our Pac-12 network channels to extort more $$ from us.

Re: WBB: Washington 55 Stanford 50 after 3rd quarter - BigEasyCard - 01-29-2017

(01-29-2017, 07:46 PM)Card Fan in OR link Wrote:Update, update, please--good or bad. Dish just took away our Pac-12 network channels to extort more $$ from us.

Stanford 72 Washington 68 Final!

Geaux Cardinal!

Re: WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68!!! - IM in OC - 01-29-2017

Wow what a game. Great comeback.
McPhee is the definition of hustle all the time. Some big plays from her.

Re: WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68!!! - 81alum - 01-29-2017

The most impressive win for us since Notre Dame in the NCAAs last year.  This time, Tara did solve the Washington puzzle at half time, holding Washington to 23 point in the second half.

Re: WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68!!! - Griffins78 - 01-29-2017

What are GREAT game by our women! So thrilled for them. They played such a great game. Wasn't like shots were falling - they worked so hard. So proud of them. Great, great coaching.

They shut down Karlie and Bird but Bri and McPhee had gritty, phenomenal games.

Re: WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68!!! - Card Fan in OR - 01-29-2017

Ohmigod. Seriously? That is nothing short of amazing. I look for to the game summary from 81alum.

I have been waiting for the team to gel into "more than the sum of its parts," like the MM teams of yore. Seems like this game may have been that. I'm ecstatic.

Re: WBB: Washington 55 Stanford 50 after 3rd quarter - Griffins78 - 01-29-2017

(01-29-2017, 07:26 PM)81alum link Wrote:The third quarter was better and we closed the gap.  However, a horrendous 4th foul was called on Erica, sending her to the bench.  Ugh.

But Plum just picked up her 4th too.  Interesting.
That was the worst. Looked like Osofer fouled Erica in a way Stanford was called several times.

Re: WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68!!! - mbdude - 01-29-2017

heck of a game. Clutch games by Roberson and McPhee


Great defensive effort in 2nd half. Plum had 44 of their 68 - but Romeo didn't score and Osafor only 1 for 10 field goals


Re: WBB: Washington 55 Stanford 50 after 3rd quarter - CompSci87 - 01-29-2017

(01-29-2017, 08:02 PM)Griffin78 link Wrote:[quote author=81alum link=topic=16504.msg187594#msg187594 date=1485743170]
The third quarter was better and we closed the gap.  However, a horrendous 4th foul was called on Erica, sending her to the bench.  Ugh.

But Plum just picked up her 4th too.  Interesting.
That was the worst. Looked like Osofer fouled Erica in a way Stanford was called several times.
[/quote]

Osahor loves to turn into her defender and bump her. The defender may get a clean block on the ball, but gets called for the body bump. Except it was Osahor who initiated the contact and got the advantage from it, not the defender. Those should mostly be no-calls, IMO, as usually it's not enough for an offensive foul.

Re: WBB: Stanford 72 Washington 68!!! - SamuelMcF - 01-29-2017

The pac-12 network's twitter feed was literally just Washington highlights and things about Washington up until we won. Ridiculous.