Nov. 1, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - Freshly minted as the No. 2 team in the land according to the Associated Press Preseason Poll Saturday, the Stanford women's basketball team looked every bit the part of one of the nation's best in a 123-39 rout of Chico State in the exhibition opener at Maples Pavilion.
All 13 healthy players that suited up for the Cardinal saw action and scored at least two points. Freshman Lindy La Rocque's team-leading 21 points came courtesy of seven three-pointers, while four other members of the Cardinal, Jeanette Pohlen (19 points), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (17), Jayne Appel (15) and Sarah Boothe (12) all registered double-digit point totals.
Along with the 86-point margin of victory, the Cardinal also out-rebounded the Wildcats 56-24, passed out 32 assists to just seven for Chico State and had 12 steals against just four for the Wildcats.
Sophomore Kayla Pedersen grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Cardinal, while Appel, Ogwumike and Pohlen each pulled down eight as the Cardinal dominated the boards in the contest.
Stanford shot 59.7 percent from the field in Saturday's win, including a 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) showing from behind the arc. La Rocque's seven threes along with Pohlen's perfect 4-for-4 shooting from long distance highlighted the Cardinal performance.
Appel's three-point play a minute into the game helped the Cardinal to a quick 7-0 lead before Chico State got on the board. It was all Stanford from that point on, as the Cardinal opened the game on a 38-5 run over the first 15:17 of the opening half. This run included a stretch of 2:18 where Rosalyn Gold-Onwude scored all seven of her points in the game thanks to a pair of layups capped off with a three-pointer that gave the Cardinal 23-5 advantage.
While the Wildcats managed to score 13 points over the final five minutes of the half, they still could not stop the Cardinal tidal wave. A pair of treys from Pohlen sandwiched a three from La Rocque and Ogwumike showed her superb athleticism to chip in seven points on two jumpers and three free throws in the final minutes to give Stanford a 57-18 halftime lead.
Pedersen's three-pointer would get a 10-0 Cardinal run started to open the second half as Stanford continued to cruise. The highlight of the second half came when La Rocque drilled a trio of threes in a 4:05 stretch which helped take the Cardinal lead from 84-22 to 98-27.
The contest featured new faces and the long-awaited return of a couple of familiar faces, as well. Freshmen Ogwumike, Boothe, La Rocque and Grace Mashore all made their Maples Pavilion debuts, combining to score 54 points and shooting a collective 64.5 percent (20-for-31) from the floor and 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from three-point range.
Guard Melanie Murphy and forward Michelle Harrison made their returns to the court from knee injuries that cut short their respective 2007-08 seasons. Harrison scored four points in the win while Murphy scored two points as the duo saw their first game action in over 11 months.
The Cardinal completes its exhibition slate Friday night, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. taking on Vanguard University at Maples Pavilion.