SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Hailee Swain led Stanford with 22 points and the Cardinal pulled away in the fourth quarter to pick up a road win at Santa Clara on Friday night, 66-55.
Swain’s 22 was her fourth game scoring 20+ to begin the season. She’s the first Stanford player with four straight 20-point games since Kiki Iriafen in 2023-24 and the first Cardinal guard to do it since Lili Thompson in 2015-16. In readily available records dating back to 2002-03, Swain is the first Stanford player to score at least 20 in each of the season’s first four games.
A close game for much of the first three quarters, it was tied 43-43 with 2:57 to go in the third before Stanford (3-1) finished the period on an 8-0 run. Nora Ezike hit a 3-pointer, Shay Ijiwoye hit a pull-up triple and Swain made two at the line, and the Cardinal was up 51-43 heading into the fourth.
Santa Clara’s Maia Jones made a layup to start the final frame before another 6-0 mini-spurt from Stanford – back-to-back Swain jumpers and an Alexandra Eschmeyer fastbreak layup – gave the Cardinal a 12-point lead, 57-45.
All told following that final tie at 43-43, it was a 14-2 Stanford run over 5:29 to end the third and begin the fourth quarter that sealed it. The Cardinal was 5-of-7 from the floor during the run.
Ezike had 15 points and six rebounds and tied a school record for free throw percentage, going 10-of-10 at the line. Cameron Brink was the last Cardinal to be perfect on at least 10 free throw attempts when she was 10-of-10 against Duke on November 19, 2023.
Ijiwoye contributed 11 points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists. She had five assists in each of the previous two games and is the first Stanford player with 5+ assists in three consecutive games since Talana Lepolo did it in seven straight in January 2024.
Eschmeyer had eight points and eight boards and Inés Sotelo Míguez filled up the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Her steal and putback with 1:11 to go off a Santa Clara defensive rebound in the backcourt were backbreakers for the Broncos, who had cut the deficit to eight.
Stanford had just 13 turnovers after entering the game averaging 22.3. The Cardinal also enjoyed an 18-4 edge in fastbreak points.
Stanford was up at halftime 33-31 despite a rough second quarter in which it was 3-of-16 from the floor.
The Cardinal returns home to host Gonzaga on Sunday, November 15 at 2 p.m. Kevin Danna and Mary Murphy will call that one on ACCNX.