Top-seeded Stanford women rout Missouri State.
When Stanford met Missouri State in the 2019 women’s NCAA Sweet 16, Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer compared the experience to “an absolute root canal.” Sunday’s rematch was much more enjoyable.
Overall No. 1 seed Stanford continued its dominating form Sunday, defeating No. 5 Missouri State 89-62 in an Alamo Region semifinal at the Alamodome.
“It was really fun to see people get out in transition,” said VanDerveer, who has won a record 1,122 games. “I think we made it an up-tempo game. A high-scoring game. … So it was not a root canal for sure.”
The Cardinal (28-2) will face second-seeded Louisville on Tuesday for the chance to advance to their 14th Final Four.
Stanford has won 17 straight games, with 13 coming by at least 20 points. The Cardinal were in command throughout against Missouri State (23-3), leading 23-15 after the first quarter, 49-26 at halftime and 71-37 after three. The lead grew to as much as 38 with 6:23 remaining.
In the 2019 Sweet 16 matchup, both teams shot 25 percent from the field in Stanford’s 55-46 win. While the Cardinal kept up the defensive intensity, it had no problems scoring this time, continuing to take advantage of the long ball. The Cardinal have hit 43 3-pointers and shot 48 percent from behind the arc through three tournament games after going 15 for 32 Sunday.
Hannah Jump, who had a teamhigh 17 points, led the charge by hitting 5 of 7 from long range. Playing in her hometown, Kiana Williams had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Haley Jones added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Ashten Prechtel had eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists off the bench.
But the breakout star on offense was senior guard Anna Wilson, the Pac-12 co-defensive player of the year.
She continued her strong defensive play, recording three steals and helping to keep Missouri Valley Conference player of the year Brice Carlip to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting. But Wilson also contributed 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting.
“Tara always talks about this — she didn’t recruit any of us for our defense,” Wilson said. “And so I think for me it’s just trying to find time to be aggressive.”
Wilson’s brother, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, was among the 1,072 fans at the Alamodome.
“Overall team (grade) would be a ‘B,’” VanDerveer said. “But I thought we had an absolute ‘A’ game from Anna Wilson. ‘A’ for Anna. I thought she really came to play.”
Cameron Brink had five blocks despite being limited to 10 minutes because of foul trouble as Stanford held Missouri State to 31.3 percent shooting.
“I’m excited about beating an excellent Missouri State team that we struggled with when we played them two years ago,” VanDerveer said. “They had eight players back from that loss. I thought we came out and put the hammer down and we did a great job.”