Smith too much for Bears again

Australia native strong under basket as Cardinal remain in a tie for first

STANFORD — They don’t celebrate Senior Nights in Australia, where serious basketball is played outside the schools.

But Alanna Smith made sure her three Stanford senior teammates had a memorable final game at Maples Pavilion on Sunday evening.

The sophomore from Melbourne dominated under the basket as No. 10 Stanford remained in a first-place tie in the Pac-12 Conference after a con-

vincing 72-54 victory over rival Cal.

After scoring a careerhigh 27 points Thursday night at Berkeley, Smith had 17 points and eight rebounds to pace the Cardinal (24-4, 13-2) ahead of its showdown this week at Oregon State.

“You just have to find an opening at the basket,” Smith said of her twisting and turning in the block. “You can’t always be systemic. Sometimes you have to throw in a little bit of something else.”

Smith, whose father is a former Australian pro, has emerged as one of Stanford’s best players in the past five games while averaging 16 points an outing. Coach Tara VanDerveer’s first international recruit at Stanford has arrived at the perfect time.

“When she scores she likes to score and keep scoring,” senior Karlie Samuelson said. “So we like to feed her the ball.”

While the occasion belonged to seniors Erica McCall, Briana Roberson and Samuelson, a crowd of 4,327 fans couldn’t ignore the 6-foot-3 Smith. After burning Cal from long-range last week, the Aussie worked inside to frustrate the Golden Bears, who are in need of a signature victory to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The performance didn’t surprise Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

“I had heard a ton about her when they recruited her,” she said. “At Stanford, you have to wait your turn a little bit, sometimes you’re not the key story when there are three other All-Americans.”

Smith’s rise could be an important factor as Stanford plays at No. 11 Oregon State (14-2) on Friday before ending the regular season Sunday at Oregon.

Cal (17-11-5-11), on the other hand, just needs some victories. The Bears are in a four-way tie for seventh place heading to Oregon this week.

Cal lost its fourth in a row because of poor shooting after making only 3 of 17 from beyond the arc. But Gottlieb credited Stanford’s interior defense that stymied leading scorer and rebounder Kristine Anigwe. The Cal sophomore was held to 12 points and four rebounds.

“Stanford did a better job tonight crowding the driving lane,” Gottlieb said. “If that’s the case, you have to make some shots.”

But the Bears couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity with Stanford’s seniors leading the defense.

“Collectively they are so strong,” Van Derveer said. “Collectively they have great work ethic. They all give us great things for our team to be successful. If things don’t go their way, they keep working.”

It certainly has been a slog for McCall, who has struggled in five consecutive games. She has lost her confidence in making jump shots. McCall ended with seven points while making only 3 of 10 from the field.

Roberson added nine points to her consistently gritty defense. But Stanford won its eighth in nine games against Cal because of a Wonder from Down Under.

Smith credited her sudden rise to the Australian system where top juniors play regularly against the senior national team.

“If you’re an elite prospect, they get you among their senior players,” she said. “We played against the best.”

But perhaps equally important was learning to play as a unit because it’s a hallmark of a Van Derveer coached team.

“We rely on each other,” Smith said.

Sunday, the Cardinal relied on their sophomore to keep them in the league race.