The No. 4 Stanford women’s basketball team had a good day duck hunting on Thursday night, polishing off Oregon, 91-56, and extending its winning streak to 11 games.
The Cardinal (17-2, 8-0 Pac-10) dominated all facets of the game, and the Ducks (12-7, 3-5) had a tremendous amount of trouble stopping the Ogwumike sisters. Freshman forward Chiney Ogwumike tied a career high with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while junior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 16 points and eight rebounds.
That said, the Ducks weren’t able to stop any of Stanford’s stars. Senior guard Jeanette Pohlen had 17 points and six assists, senior forward Kayla Pedersen added her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds, and junior forward Sarah Boothe contributed 16 more off the bench.
The Cardinal’s success was largely driven by the Ducks’ inability to make shots, as Oregon missed a whopping 57 attempts. The Cardinal, in turn, pulled down a season-high 62 rebounds.
Stanford held Oregon to 56 points (its season low) thanks to tough defense, forcing the ice-cold Ducks to take a huge number of long-distance shots. When the final stats were tallied, Oregon shot just 25 percent, including a miserable 3-for-32 from three-point range.
Guard Nia Jackson paced the Ducks with 21 points and forward Amanda Johnson had 15, but the scoring dropped off significantly after that, with only one other player scoring more than four points.
Stanford started the scoring and never trailed, rushing out to a 19-1 lead halfway through the first half, buoyed by five early points from Pohlen. Jackson then did her best to bring the Ducks back from the brink by herself, fearlessly cutting to the basket over and over again, able to finish off her dribble and add 13 points for Oregon over the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Jackson helped the Ducks fight back to just 10 down with only two minutes left in the first half, but a late layup from Pohlen helped Stanford hold onto a 41-25 lead at the break.
The Card once again had a strong start to the second half–its trademark this season–opening up with a 16-2 run in the first five minutes after the break to go up by 30 and snuff out all hope for the Ducks.
With another big win, the Cardinal is now undefeated since Dec. 22, and it has done it in convincing fashion. The average margin of victory in its 11-game win streak is 35.9 points, with the closest game being a 12-point win over UConn.
Unfortunately for Stanford, even in another big win, there were still a few things left to be desired. The Cardinal matched a season high with 18 turnovers and struggled behind the three-point line, going 6-for-23.
The team has a good chance to address those few blemishes tomorrow night, when it travels to Corvallis for a game against Oregon State. The Beavers (7-12, 0-8 Pac-10) are stuck in the basement of the Pac-10, having lost eight straight games since the conference season started.
Oregon State most recently fell to California, losing 60-47 despite outscoring the Golden Bears 31-30 in the second half. In the first frame, the Beavers shot just 18.5 percent.
In a season that the Beavers might prefer to start over, a few players are having respectable performances overall. Sage Indendi leads the OSU starters in accuracy, shooting 40 percent and scoring 10.4 points per game. Alyssa Martin leads the team in total points with 279, averaging 14.7 per contest. El Sara Greer is deadly from beyond the arc, shooting 59.5 percent at long range.
The contest in Corvallis is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night. The Cardinal heads to the desert next week to take on the Arizona schools.