ESTERO, Fla. – Stanford's starting guards delivered on Friday in Florida. Lili Thompson put up 26, Briana Roberson added 18, Karlie Samuelson scored 15 and that trio went a combined 14-of-24 from 3-point range to lead No. 13 Stanford to an 82-65 win over Missouri State on the first day of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Stanford (4-1) advances to face Dayton (4-0) tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. The Flyers were victorious over Maine, 58-37, earlier on Friday afternoon.
TURNING POINT » Up one, Marta Sniezek hit a little runner in the lane and Lili Thompson buried her second 3-pointer to close the first quarter and give the Cardinal a 22-16 advantage. When the second started, Stanford exploded to go on a 20-3 run over the first 6:04 to jump out to a 42-19 lead. Samuelson started it by hitting from behind the arc and Roberson ended it in the same fashion. In between, Erica McCall contributed a basket, Thompson scored five, Roberson made a pull-up and sank two free throws and Kaylee Johnson drained three at the line.
CLOSING THE DOOR » Missouri State (2-3) pulled to within thirteen, 70-57, early in the fourth when Kenzie Williams converted at the rim with 8:13 to go before her team went cold. The Lady Bears went nearly six minutes without scoring and missed 11 straight shots while the Cardinal extended its lead back to 22 (79-57) when Samuelson made her fifth and final 3-pointer of the game (3:06).
RAINING DOWN » Stanford went 15-of-33 from behind the arc, converting at a 46.2 percent clip. It's only the second time in the past decade the Cardinal has made that many 3-pointers in a game. Stanford also hit 15 at Arizona on Jan. 17, 2014. Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to Jan. 20, 2005 to find the last time the team made 15 from deep (vs. UCLA).
MS. NOVEMBER » Lili Thompson was the game's high scorer, putting up 26 on 10-of-21 shooting in 27 minutes. The junior also contributed six assists against just one turnover and grabbed three rebounds. Thompson has scored more than 20 in each of her last four games and is averaging 19.8 points per game this season. It was her ninth career 20-point effort and eighth in the month of November. Thompson is the first Cardinal guard to score 20 in four straight games since Candice Wiggins in 2008.
ROBERSON AND SAMUELSON » Briana Roberson's four 3-pointers were a career high and her 18 points were just shy of a personal best, only trailing the 21 she put up at UCLA last Jan. 23. Karlie Samuelson, who was 5-of-7 from deep, made five 3-pointers for the third time in her career. The junior made six at New Mexico on Nov. 24, 2014 and five at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2014.
