In a highly anticipated early season trip to Storrs, Conn., to play the defending champion Connecticut Huskies (2-0), the No. 3 Stanford women’s basketball team (1-1) took a tough loss Monday night. With a 76-57 win over the Cardinal, No. 1 Connecticut showed why it is the early favorite to repeat as champion.
However, the Huskies’ victory came with a real scare as their All-American junior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis went down with an arm injury early in the second half.
Though both teams began the game in an early scoring drought, the Huskies’ pressure defense caused Stanford to commit 16 turnovers, which led to easy transition baskets for Connecticut. Senior point guard Bria Hartley led Connecticut’s charge with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“I think that this game can be a real positive for our team,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “Positive from successes that people had and [it can] get their attention. This is what the best team plays like. We need to really understand it and internalize it and come out and work on it.”
The Cardinal was led by junior guard Amber Orrange who scored a career-high 22 points. With 12 of those points coming in the first half, Orrange provided the initial spark for Stanford as she beat her defenders off the dribble multiple times and got into the lane seemingly at will.
All-American senior Chiney Ogwumike quietly notched her 60th career double-double as she finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Cardinal. Orrange and Ogwumike combined for 22 of Stanford’s 26 points in the first half. But after their two leading scorers, Stanford had little other offense.
Connecticut displayed great depth as their bench outscored Stanford’s 27-12. Connecticut’s backup center Kiah Stokes played well, adding 10 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Meanwhile, Stanford’s young bench couldn’t keep up, with nearly as many personal fouls (10) as points (12).
However, the most notable action of the night was Connecticut’s star sharpshooter Mosqueda-Lewis going down at the beginning of the second half. The Connecticut crowd of nearly 10,000 went silent as she rolled and screamed in pain.
But instead of being slowed down, the Huskies played more inspired basketball after their star was hurt. Following the injury in the early second half, Connecticut pulled away with a 20-point lead that it maintained for most of the rest of the game.
“We play Connecticut with no illusions. This is a tough place to play and a tough team,” VanDerveer said. “We got better and better as the game went on and a game like this right now is helpful for us.”
Seemingly searching for the right offensive combination to spark her squad, VanDerveer played all 13 of her available players Monday night. However, nothing was working. If the Cardinal wants to live up to its lofty preseason predictions, the team must find offensive production from sources other than Orrange and Ogwumike, who scored 38 of Stanford’s 57 points.
Though not much was at stake Monday night, the Cardinal and Huskies have a history of big games, including Connecticut’s win last season that ended Stanford’s streak of 82 consecutive home-court victories.
Despite the loss, VanDerveer remains only five wins away from becoming the fifth women’s basketball coach in history to win 900 games. Stanford’s all-time record against the Huskies fell to 9-6, with the Cardinal losing nine of the last 12 matchups.
The Cardinal has the rest of the week to regroup before hosting Cal Poly for its home opener this Friday, Nov. 15.
Contact Lauren Christine Lockett at llockett ‘at’ stanford.edu.