STANFORD, Calif. – Despite a barrage of threes down the stretch, No. 13 Stanford was unable to overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit, falling to Santa Clara 61-58 on Monday night in Maples Pavilion.
It was the Cardinal's first home loss to an unranked nonconference opponent since losing to Florida State, 68-61, in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, and just the program's fifth at the hands of the Broncos in 34 total meetings. SCU (2-2) had not won at Maples since 1984 and had not beaten the Cardinal (3-1) since 1998.
"First of all, congratulations to Santa Clara, I thought they played a really gritty game," Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Overall, our whole team is very disappointed, but we just have to go back the drawing board and really look at things. We did make a nice rally--I thought we played better in the second half offensively."
Stanford struggled to get in any type of offensive rhythm in the first half, scoring eight points on two made field goals in the first quarter, and totaling just 22 points by halftime. Yet the score was tied, thanks in large part to three Cardinal blocks and an 0-for-9 mark for SCU from behind the arc. A lengthy delay in the middle of the second quarter due an issue with the shot clock negated any flow or momentum either team may have had.
The Cardinal turned the ball over 26 times, leading to 24 points for Santa Clara and 18 more shot attempts. Stanford hadn't had that many miscues in a game since Jan. 16, 2003 when it had 28 in an 85-56 win over Washington State.
Lili Thompson's trey a minute into the third gave Stanford its largest lead of the game at 25-22, but two quick fouls on Briana Roberson and Karlie Samuelson put Santa Clara in the bonus. Shannon Coffee's layup put Stanford back up by three at 27-24, but the Broncos went on a 17-6 run to end the quarter, regaining the lead for good on Brooke Gallaway's 3-pointer. Thompson's drive to basket with 14 seconds left narrowed the deficit to 41-33 heading into the fourth.
Stanford did not go quietly on its home floor, as Thompson, Roberson and Samuelson shot their team back into the game in the fourth. The trio combined for six 3-pointers in the quarter, the first coming courtesy of Roberson to cut the Santa Clara lead to five at 43-38. Thompson then nailed a three from the top of key to bring the Cardinal within two, and Roberson flushed a long ball from the corner--getting fouled in the process--to tie the game at 45.
"Coach has big confidence in my shooting ability as well as my teammates, so I just let it fly," Roberson said. "Regardless of whether [the Santa Clara defender] was closing out on me, I knew it was a good shot to take and she ended up fouling me. I thought it was a really good energy play for our team."
But Santa Clara was relentless on the offensive glass, and pushed its advantage to 57-50 with under one minute on the clock. Thompson drained a trey with 13 seconds left to get Stanford close, but the Broncos made enough of its free throws down the stretch to hold off the Cardinal.
"I think they played a very effective 3-2 zone," Thompson said. "There's some things we can look to do against it to improve, and I think that's where we have to go from here. Just learn from this loss and learn from the things we weren't able to execute today and move on and use that for the rest of the season."
ROUGH START » The Cardinal scored a season-low eight points in the first quarter on 2-of-12 shooting, including 1-of-7 from behind the arc and 3-of-6 at the charity stripe. Its previous low was 11 points in the second quarter in a win over UC-Davis on November 13. Though Stanford improved its offensive production in the second--doubling its field goal percentage--its 22 first half points were still the least through the first four games.
TARA VANDERVEER » We talked about [that] you can't just show up. You have to really come out and be aggressive. We're playing a lot of young people. [Santa Clara] came out very aggressive. They played some good competition, and I think they've learned from that competition, and they came in and they were fierce. Give all the credit to them [for] how hard they played. Their zone was very effective.
MCCALL IN RAREFIED AIR » With her 12-point, 11-rebound performance against the Broncos, Erica McCall now has four double-doubles to begin the season. The Bakersfield, California native is now tied with Cardinal legend and current WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike for most double-doubles to begin a season for Stanford in the last decade.
TARA VANDERVEER II » [Erica] played with tremendous heart--she hardly came out of the game. She's our best rebounder in this game, 4-of-9 [shooting] is not bad, a couple of free throws we would've liked. We turned the ball over, and we need to establish her a little bit more in the half-court offense.
N7 EXPLAINED » In a pre-game video message, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer explained the meaning behind Nike's "N7" project honoring Native American Heritage Month. The letter "N" stands for Native and/or Nike; in Native American lore, "7" refers to the number of generations one's decisions can impact. And turquoise--the color of the Cardinal's jerseys on Monday--represents harmony, friendship and fellowship in the Native American culture. Local Native American dance and cultural groups Calpulli Tonalehqueh and Native Boogie and Beats performed at halftime.
SUNSHINE STATE AWAITS » Stanford will head to Florida later this week to play in the Gulf Coast Showcase, and is slated to face Missouri State on Friday. Should the Cardinal win, it would play the winner of Dayton/Maine on Saturday; the tournament's championship game is scheduled for Sunday. The team will then take a two-week break from competition during the school's final examination period before returning to action against Texas on December 13.