After moving two spots up in national rankings, No. 13 Stanford women’s basketball (19-5, 9-3 Pac-12) will look to gain two crucial victories late in the season against the familiar foes of unranked Arizona (11-13, 2-10) and No. 9 Arizona St. (20-4, 11-1).
The Cardinal will host the Wildcats this Friday as they search for their fifth consecutive conference victory and another step towards leading the Pac-12. Stanford will look to emulate its 25 point demolishment of the Wildcats in what was debatably the Cardinal’s best defensive performance of the season. In their last game against Arizona, the Cardinal were able to hold the Wildcats to only 34 points on 20.8 percent shooting.
Against Arizona State, the Cardinal’s mindset will be extremely different. The Sun Devils are tied with Oregon State for the best Pac-12 conference record and are sporting a 20-4 overall record.
For the Cardinal, this will be an opportunity to show their progress across the season, especially on the offensive side. In their first matchup against ASU, the Cardinal had no answer for the Sun Devils’ suffocating defense and managed a measly 31 points.
After the loss, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer was critical of her team.
“We have a lot of work to do on our offense,” VanDerveer said. “We struggled knocking down shots that we’ve been making all year. Credit their defense. Arizona State played very well. They’re very aggressive, and we just were not aggressive enough.”
Now, 38 days later, this Stanford team seems to have found its stride and adjusted to the level of play that VanDerveer set early. The Cardinal are in the midst of a four-game win streak after disposing of Bay Area-rival Berkeley, and they have been playing some fundamental yet solid basketball in these games.
In this winning streak, the Cardinal have been able to hold opponents to 51.5 points per game while remaining flexible on the offense. Highlighting the team’s versatility has been junior guard Lili Thompson. While she has struggled to find her stroke in the past two games, Thompson has been able to adapt and fulfill what the Cardinal needed throughout the season.
This adaptability seems to be the key for VanDerveer’s team as the season has progressed. The Cardinal have thrived with their depth and versatility, shown through the bench’s offensive production and points per game. Seven players are averaging 5 points per game, and VanDerveer has often talked about the importance of bench production in her overall scheme.
After just being demolished in Southern California, the Wildcats will most likely look to find their stride against the Cardinal by returning to what has worked best for them on the season. In their only two conference wins, the Wildcats relied on huge performances from junior forward LaBrittney Jones, who leads the team in scoring and is second in rebounding.
This plays into the Cardinal’s frontcourt strengths. After a two-game victorious duel against Berkeley’s freshman center phenom Kristine Anigwe, the Cardinal frontcourt looks capable of succeeding against a tough frontcourt that challenges the Cardinal’s post play.
Against Arizona State, the Cardinal will have to focus on the extensive and successful team play on which the Sun Devils have thrived throughout the season. Unlike the first time these team’s saw each other this season, the Cardinal have seen Arizona State’s weaknesses exploited in its loss to co-league-leading Oregon State. In that game, the Sun Devils were defensively incapable of dealing with the Beavers’ post presence and were out-rebounded significantly on the night.
These two upcoming games will be crucial for the Cardinal in their attempt to climb up the conference ladder. Stanford has the opportunity to earn a statement win and prove that, for debatably the first time this season, it is still in the top tier of the Pac-12.
Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu.