Photo courtesy Mark Nessia/Mark Nessia Photography
STANFORD, Calif. – It was a happy homecoming for Erica McCall. Stanford's senior captain tallied a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and the No. 11 Cardinal beat CSU Bakersfield 77-56 on Thursday night.
Bakersfield came out to see its favorite daughter go up against her father's Roadrunner squad and the announced attendance of 1,688 was an Icardo Center record for a women's basketball game.
McCall led a quartet of Cardinal in double figures and was joined by Karlie Samuelson's 14, Nadia Fingall's 13 and Alanna Smith's 10.
Stanford, which allowed CSUB to shoot nearly 60 percent in the first quarter, tightened the defensive screws on the Runners in the second. With the two teams tied 20-20 after one, the Cardinal outscored Bakersfield 20-6 in the next period to take a 14-point lead at the half.
Stanford limited CSUB to just 2-of-12 shooting in the second quarter and forced seven turnovers, including on six of the 'Runners' first nine possessions, while it made 6-of-11 and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the line.
The Cardinal went up 10 when Samuelson hit her only 3-pointer during an 18-4 run to open the second quarter. The senior scored seven straight for Stanford before McCall converted a layup to push the lead to 38-24 late in the frame. Samuelson has made 71 of her last 136 from behind the arc (.522).
Smith had five points and six of her career-high tying nine rebounds in the third quarter as Stanford extended its lead. CSUB cut it to 13 on a Brittany Sims layup with 3:47 on the clock, but Marta Sniezek, McCall and Brittany McPhee combined to score nine of the quarter's final 11 points to give the Cardinal a 20-point edge heading into the fourth, 65-45.
Fingall was 6-of-7 from the floor in 14 points and had five rebounds to go along with her 13 points. The freshman is shooting over 72 percent from the floor this season (24-of-33).
Stanford scored 50 points in the paint and outrebounded Bakersfield 51-22.
The Cardinal has its final game before an extended finals break on Sunday, Dec. 4 when it hosts UC Davis at 2 p.m. Stanford will wear N7-inspired turquoise uniforms against the Aggies to honor Native American Heritage Month.
