Near-record treys propel Cardinal’s romp over Dons
After tying a school record with 16 three-pointers Sunday against Idaho, the Stanford women nearly did it again Thursday night against USF.
Their 15th trey, by Estella Moschkau, came with 3½ minutes to play, but Shannon Coffee missed their only remaining attempt.
It didn’t matter a bit as the No. 7 Cardinal trounced USF 96-62 at Maples Pavilion.
In fact, forward Alanna Smith said the team wasn’t even aware of how close the record was.
“That’s not something we focus on as a team, trying to break records,” she said. “It just comes with us working hard. We are all confident shooters, and we have confidence in each other, too.”
The Cardinal hit their first four shots from distance and finished 15-for-32, repeatedly getting open looks.
Kiana Williams hit four three-pointers on her way to 21 points. Smith was 5-for-8 on threes, getting 18 points. And the much-improved Maya Dodson added 10 points, six assists and four blocks.
“I really pride myself on defense,” said Dodson, a 6foot-3 forward. “One thing I try to do is, if my teammates need help, be a big presence in there.”
Stanford used 14 players, and 12 of them scored.
“It’s exciting being able to have multiple players coming off the bench and being a threat,” Smith said. “I think teams should be worried when they play against us. We’ve got the starting five, and we’ve got another five who can pretty much do the same thing. They’re going to be threats.”
Head coach Tara VanDerveer said the depth helped wear down the Dons (1-1).
“There will be some games when only eight or nine people play,” she said. “It’s going to be based on what we need and how we’re playing.”
Julia Nielacna, a 6-foot forward from Poland, led the Dons with 15 points. Veronica Preciado had 11 and Shannon Powell 10.
USF head coach Molly Goodenbour and associate head coach Katy Steding have been used to much more successful outings at Maples. Both played on Stanford’s 1990 national championship team, and Goodenbour was the Most Outstanding Player when the Cardinal won their second NCAA title two years later.
“Molly has a lot of new players,” VanDerveer said. “They’re very offensive, and I think they’re going to have a really good year.”
Against the taller Cardinal, the Dons nevertheless had a 39-34 rebounding advantage. “We didn’t get on the O-boards as much as we needed to,” VanDerveer said. “They have some big, physical bodies.”
In addition to Nielacna, the Dons have freshmen from Croatia (twins Marta and Marija Galic), Finland (Kia Vaalavirta), Latvia (Marianna Klavina), Denmark (Amalie Langer) and Sweden (Moa Lundqvist), plus Bec Black, a sophomore from Australia.
Stanford returns to Maples on Sunday afternoon to play Ohio State. The Buckeyes’ scheduled game at Sacramento State on Thursday night was scratched because of poor air quality.