STANFORD, Calif. – All 14 players on the roster saw action and the No. 10 Cardinal beat UC San Diego in an exhibition in Maples Pavilion on Saturday night, 60-46.
Alanna Smith led the way for Stanford with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Alexa Romano started and scored 11, making three of her six attempts from behind the arc, while Brittany McPhee scored her 10 points in just 13 minutes on the floor.
"We were playing against a team that was a little smaller than us, but they were really scrappy," head coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Give credit to UC San Diego. They forced us into 10 turnovers in the first half, but we really got better in the second. For a first game, I think our team can learn a lot and we will have to play a lot better to be successful [this season]."
Stanford was up just four at the break, 21-17, but came out of the locker room on a 10-0 run to distance itself from the Tritons. DiJonai Carrington secured an offensive rebound and fed Smith for a layup to start the spurt. Carrington sank two at the line and then another offensive rebound, this time from Marta Sniezek, set up Smith for a reverse layup under the hoop. Two more Carrington free throws and yet another offensive rebound and putback from Kaylee Johnson extended the Cardinal lead to double digits, 31-17, less than three minutes into the third quarter.
"Our team just knew we had to play better and compete harder," VanDerveer said. "You can't just go through the motions, even in an exhibition. UCSD is a very good team and a very well-coached team, but we just had to play better."
The Cardinal, which shot 32.1 percent in the first half, made 45.2 percent of its attempts in the third and fourth quarters. The lead grew to as large as 23 early in the final period, but the Tritons finished on a 15-6 run over the final eight minutes to make the closing margin 14.
Sniezek started at the point and had seven assists against one turnover. Freshman Maya Dodson pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and tied Johnson for the team lead with three of Stanford's 12 blocks.
Romano scored eight of her 11 in the second half and made all but one of Stanford's 3-pointers in the game. The Cardinal went just 4-of-25 from deep.
"We're playing a lot of young people and that 'deer in the headlights look' was evident a little bit," VanDerveer said. "I think it was great for them to get experience on the court. Our returners had to lead the way and Alexa stepped up really big, but I think we're a much better 3-point shooting team than what we saw."
Stanford's opens the regular season in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, Nov. 10 for a game against No. 5 Ohio State that will be carried on the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. Two days later, Stanford will face No. 1 UConn for the first time since 2014 at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus on ESPN at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT.
