STANFORD, Calif. – Minus leading scorer Lili Thompson, No. 13 Stanford used career performances from Erica McCall and Karlie Samuelson to storm past No. 7 Oregon State, 76-54, in Maples Pavilion on Friday. It was the Cardinal's 1000th win in its 40-plus year history, moving the program into an elite group of seven schools that have reached the 1,000-victory mark.
After letting a fourth quarter lead slip away last time out against the Beavers (24-4, 15-2 Pac-12), the Cardinal (23-6, 13-4 Pac-12) made sure there was no question in this one. McCall's career-high 25 points helped keep OSU at bay, as did Samuelson's 13 points and career-high 12 rebounds. Both players hit three 3-pointers, and combined to go 15-of-28 from the field. Brittany McPhee, starting in place of Thompson who was out of town dealing with a family matter, finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, adding four rebounds and a career-high four assists. Stanford as a whole shot a torrid 57.7 percent (30-of-52), also a season-best.
Stanford excelled on the defensive end, too, holding Oregon State well below its season averages for points (68.2), field goal percentage (.444) and rebounds (44.4). Potent Beavers' guard Jamie Weisner was held in check by a contingent of McPhee and a few others, tallying just four points on one made field goal.
TURNING POINT » Down 8-2 early in the first, Stanford went on an 8-2 spurt of its own to tie the score at 10, and took its first lead at 16-15 on a lay-in by Alanna Smith. Smith then banked in a three with 38 seconds left in the period to give the Cardinal a 21-19 advantage, which it would never relinquish. A 9-0 run early in the second quarter broke the game open, with McCall adding ten points in the quarter to push the host's halftime lead to 41-27. Keyed by the combination of McCall and Samuelson, the Cardinal went up by as many as 30 in the second half to hand Oregon State its worst loss of the season.
TARA VANDERVEER » This was a really big game for us to prove to ourselves how much we've improved and asking different people to step up. It was a great team effort.
1K CONQUERED » Friday night's victory was the 1000th in Cardinal program history with 824 of those coming under its current Hall of Fame head coach. Stanford is the seventh Division I institution to reach the 1000-win plateau, joining Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, James Madison, Old Dominion, Texas and Stephen F. Austin. The Cardinal's overall record since its first varsity season in 1975 is 1,000-310 (.763), and 824-172 (.827) with VanDerveer at the helm.
TARA VANDERVEER II » It's historic, and it wasn't just an ordinary win for us either. It was a big game, and it was fun that 1000 wins was this game.
MCCALL SOARS TO NEW HEIGHTS » McCall's 25 points against the Beavers were a career-high. She did most of her damage in the middle of the game, scoring 19 combined points in the second and third quarters. After attempting just one 3-pointer in her first two-plus seasons on The Farm, McCall went 3-of-5 from behind the arc on Friday. Overall, she was 11-of-23 from the field.
ERICA MCCALL » I was pretty excited [to hit the first three]. I was supposed to act like I've made one before. I knew once the first one went in, I had the go-ahead to shoot the rest, and I think that kept me going for the rest of the game.
KARLIE, TOO » Known for her dead-eye, long-range shooting, Samuelson also got it done on the glass, grabbing 12 rebounds -- doubling her previous career-high. Her 13-point,-12 rebound stat line was the first double-double of her career. She led all players in offensive boards (3) and minutes played (38).
WEISNER GROUNDED » The Cardinal's defense heavily limited the usually potent Jamie Weisner, who came into Friday's game averaging 17.7 points per contest. After hitting the game's first basket, Weisner did not score again until late in the fourth, finishing with a season-low four points on 1-of-8 shooting.
TARA VANDERVEER III » [McPhee] did a great job defensively. I was really proud of her grit, how hard she played. To hold arguably the best player in the Pac-12, Jamie Weisner, to 1-for-8, it was awesome. She had a lot of help from different teammates, but Britt really stepped up for us tonight.
BRITTANY MCPHEE » Going into the game, I had watched a lot of film on [Weisner] with the coaches, so I knew what she liked to do. They told me to have a 'pit bull' mentality, and so I just zoned in, locked in.
ON FIRE FROM THE FIELD » Stanford, on the hand, recorded its best shooting game of 2015-16, making 57.7 (30-of-52) percent of its attempts against Oregon State. The Beavers came into the game leading the country in field goal percentage defense at 30.9 percent. Stanford's previous high this season was 51.7 percent against Arizona on February 12.
TARA VANDERVEER IV » We have young group, and we've been working hard. What I'm most excited about is, like yesterday at practice, after practice is over there's still nine people out there shooting. They're putting in the time, they're putting in the effort, and I think it bodes really well for this year's team and the future.
STREAK BUSTERS » The loss was the Beavers' first since January 4 against UCLA, ending their 14-game winning streak. OSU remains winless in Maples Pavilion all-time (0-29).