Cardinal display bench depth in opening rout
The Stanford women led throughout in a season-opening 86-48 romp over San Diego State at Maples Pavilion on Monday night.
The game marked the college debut for Lauren Betts, ESPN's No. 1 recruit from the high school class of 2022, and the fifth-ranked incoming class.
The Aztecs received votes in USA Today's coaches' poll, but struggled against Stanford's prolific offense. The Cardinal scored the game's first 10 points, shot 52% from the floor and got as many bench points as SDSU got from its entire roster.
“It's great when you can get everyone into the game,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “A lot of different people played really well. I'm really excited abour our super sophomores.”
Stanford has been considered a program in transition even while being ranked No. 2 in the country. Yet on first look, its depth might be its strongest asset.
Depth on display: The Cardinal cycled through 12 players in the first half, nine of whom played at least five minutes. In one stretch, four of the five players on the floor were underclassmen as VanDerveer used all 15 players — and 11 of them scored.
VanDerveer showed a lot of trust in her young players. Talana Lepolo (team-high 11 assists) was the first player off the bench and Indya Nivar was third — both are freshmen. Betts, who's 6-foot-7, played only a minute in the first half, but did make her first basket in the fourth quarter and finished with five points.
Among the “super sophomores” highlighted by VanDerveer is Elena Bosgana, who
scored a career-high 15 points in 15 minutes off the bench, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer heading into halftime.
“Last year, we had great seniors next to us,” Bosgana said. “I think learning from them and watching them has really helped give me confidence.”
Nivar and Iriafen thrive: Several times in the preseason, VanDerveer spoke of her excitement
about Nivar without being prompted to do so. On Monday, it was easy to see why.
Nivar scored eight points and had four rebounds and two steals in nine first-half minutes. She finished her first college game with 13 points, five rebounds and went 4-for-8 from the field — including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc — in 13 minutes.
“She's very aggressive defensively, too,” VanDerveer said. “She can handle the ball, and she's a competitor. They might be freshmen, but they're collegeready.”
Sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen also has drawn praise from her coach. Iriafen opened the second half with six consecutive points after she had gotten into mild foul trouble in the first two quarters. After having come off the bench in her 33 games last season, Irafen started against SDSU.
Iriafen's reputation as a sharp shooter is well-earned. She was second on the team from the floor last season (57.1%) and began Monday's opener by making her first four shots. She finished 7-for-8 on her way to scoring a career-best and team-leading 16.
Iriafen “has worked so hard in the offseason,” VanDerveer said. “She's really helped us a lot. They were reserves last year and now they're saying it's my turn and I love how (the underclassmen) are stepping up.”
More than 44% of the Cardinal's points came from the paint, a good portion from Iriafen and Nivar.
The Cameron Brink show is here: The hype train for Brink's junior season was already well out of the station before Monday,
but the opener was a terrific vibe setter for expectations.
Brink, a preseason All-American (along with teammate Haley Jones), led the Cardinal with eight rebounds and a careerhigh-tying six blocks. She opened the game with a 3-pointer — an important addition to her game — and shot 5-for-6 from the floor. She finished with 13 points, playing limited minutes in the second half as the Cardinal lead escalated.
“I think Cam understands what we're doing,” VanDerveere said. San Diego State “is a physical team. Our team battled, and Cam battled.”