Nov. 3, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - Another 3-point barrage combined with an aggressive defensive effort closed out No. 4/4 Stanford's exhibition slate Saturday at Maples Pavilion with an 82-47 victory over Vanguard University.
It's final tune-up in the books, the Cardinal now looks ahead to officially opening the 2012-13 season next Friday, Nov. 9 against Fresno State at Maples Pavilion. Stanford has won a national-best 79 straight games at home entering the 2012-13 campaign.
Saturday, sophomore Bonnie Samuelson led all players for the second straight exhibition with 18 points. The Cardinal sharpshooter opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and went 5-for-12 from behind the arc in the contest. Stanford hit a total of 13 3-pointers in the contest, as Taylor Greenfield and Sara James each added four to account for the rest of the triples.
Greenfield ended the contest with 16 points, while James scored 14 as both players scored in double figures for the second time in the exhibition slate.
Preseason All-American Chiney Ogwumike scored 11 points with eight rebounds over 21 minutes of action and senior Joslyn Tinkle grabbed 10 rebounds as the Cardinal out-rebounded the Lions by a 55-30 margin. Point guard Amber Orrange passed out seven assists to go with seven points of her own.
Stanford opened the contest with a 13-0 run as four of its five starters registered points. Vanguard got on the board thanks to Nicole Ballestero's trey with 13:29 to go in the half, but 3-pointers from Greenfield and Samuelson helped the Cardinal answer with 11 straight points to go up 24-3 with 10:06 to go. Stanford's lead got up to 22 at 34-12 following a free throw by Orrange, then the speedy sophomore helped the Cardinal end the first half with a bang minutes later, feeding Samuelson for a pair of 3-pointers, the last coming just before time expired to give Stanford a 44-21 halftime edge.
The Cardinal defense held Vanguard to just 21.9 percent shooting from the field for the half as the Lions managed just seven field goals. For the game the Lions shot 27.1 percent (16-for-59) and were led by Ballastero's 13 points despite her being held to 3-for-18 shooting from the field.
Tinkle, Ogwumike and Greenfield accounted for Stanford's first 12 points of the second half as the lead swelled to 28 at 56-28 by the 15:29 mark. Erica Payne and freshman center Tess Picknell got on the scoresheet minutes later as the Cardinal lead reached its peak for the game at 68-29 with 11:01 to play.
The Cardinal continued to use its size to control action around the paint, as four players grabbed at least eight rebounds. Stanford was paced by Tinkle's 10 while Ogwumike, Picknell and Mikaela Ruef each grabbed eight. Ruef also passed out four assists in an encouraging effort after the redshirt junior missed all but three games last season due to foot issues.