Stanford can learn from play of bench

Stanford’s strength this season had been its bench. Going up against the top team in the country, it was hardly to be seen. The reserves for the No. 2 team in the country added just nine points in Sunday’s loss to No. 1 South Carolina, a 76-71 overtime defeat riddled with late-game errors, foul trouble and offensive woes.

“Our turnovers really, really hurt us and that’s something that we have to do better,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It’s the combination of the turnovers, not getting the ball inbounds, taking a timeout, not boxing out, fouling out, all the things add up.”

Sophomore forward Kiki Iriafen, who entered Sunday the second-most efficient shooter in the nation, called a timeout the Cardinal didn’t have following a rebound from a missed Gamecocks free throw, earning her a technical foul.

That mistake has been cited as a play that cost Stanford the game. But long before that that error in judgment, the team’s offense had shut down and allowed South Carolina back into the game.

The uncharacteristically quiet scoring output was partially due to a 5-for-19 shooting effort from All-American Haley Jones. Aside from Cameron Brink (25 points) and a prolific welcome to the national stage for freshman point guard Talana Lepolo, the Stanford shooters weren’t ready for the moment.

“I think Haley is more capable, could help us more, she kind of struggled from the field a little bit. But we need her out there to help run our offense,” VanDerveer said.

During the fourth quarter and overtime combined, the Cardinal shot 4-for-19 from the field, scoring just 17 points as South Carolina clawed its way back. Their first fourth-quarter point came with four minutes left, on a Brink free throw.

Stanford had averaged 44 bench points a game over its first five. It was going to be lower against South Carolina, by going with a tightened rotation and starters playing more minutes against the Gamecocks’ key players. But for the reserves to put up just nine points compared to the 34 from South Carolina’s bench — who relied heavily on that group in the second quarter while Aliyah Boston was in foul trouble — was a letdown.

“It was very disappointing to have the lead that we had and not

finish the job,” VanDerveer said.

One of the biggest puzzles for Stanford this season is putting together the pieces of what has been a deep team. In the first five contests, albeit against lesser opponents, VanDerveer had used at least 14 of her players.

Freshman Lauren Betts hasn’t seen more than 14 minutes and has dazzled in that time, while thirdstring point guard Jzaniya Harriel has earned minutes down the stretch.

Against South Carolina, even with Brink in foul trouble, the only bench points were the four from Betts and five from Ashten Prechtel in 36 minutes, 32 of them Prechtel’s. Prechtel was the only reserve in double figures in minutes among the 52 the bench played. Fran Belibi was the only other non-starter who attempted a shot.

It’s early in the season, with just six games played, and when the Cardinal return from their Thanksgiving Hawaii tournament, they’ll add three more. South Carolina was likely their toughest test of the season, and not many teams get an early lesson about who they are this early in the year.

Most of the games Stanford plays the rest of the way also won’t look like Sunday’s contest. Especially in their upcoming weekend stretch of three games over three days in Hawaii, the bench will be tested. Until Pac-12 play, the toughest potential challenges on the schedule for the Cardinal are up-andcomer Gonzaga, faltering Tennessee and Creighton.

That is plenty of time to determine how much the bench is going to be involved in the games that matter. That might mean more time for Betts, who has been efficient, or finding out if the Cardinal can rely on Brooke Demetre and Elena Bosgana to boost scoring in the middle two quarters.

Stanford did have some positives to draw from their first defeat of the season. Lepolo’s performance likely locked her in as the long-term starting point guard, and the defensive effort from Precthel against Boston was admirable, as Prechtel contributed five blocks and seven rebounds.

The Cardinal have a blueprint of what has to get better. Less sloppiness, spreading the scoring around to the bench, and showing that they can close out games. To improve in those areas, they’ll need to rely on more than just Jones and Brink to run the offense. They appear to have the pieces to do that.

As Jones said of Sunday’s game: “I think there was a lot that we left out there on the court that we wish we had back.”