After dropping a close matchup against league-leading No. 9 Arizona State and sliding to fourth in the Pac-12, No. 15 Stanford women’s basketball (20-6, 10-4 Pac-12) will hope to bounce back and find consistency against bottom-dwelling opponents Colorado (6-19, 1-13) and Utah (14-11, 6-8).
The Cardinal embark on their last road trip of the regular season this upcoming weekend as they travel to Colorado and Salt Lake City. The back-to-back road matchups will be a repeat of a doubleheader at Maples earlier this season, in which Stanford cruised to victories over both teams.
For its first matchup, Stanford looks to repeat the dominant performance that it put up against Colorado in early January. In that game, the Cardinal were able to light up the Buffs on offense, scoring 71 points with seven of nine players scoring throughout the game.
Against Utah, the Cardinal experienced the same level of success offensively, opening up the Utes’ defense on their path to another 70-point performance. In that game, junior forward Erica McCall earned a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and four players scored in double digits for the Cardinal.
Before losing to the No. 9 Sun Devils this past weekend, Stanford had been on a four-game winning streak during which the Cardinal seemed to find their consistency and were playing their best basketball of the season. Despite the loss to Arizona State, the competitive matchup contrasted with the Cardinal’s meltdown in Tempe on Jan. 4, in which the team was crushed 49-31, showing the progress and increased efficiency Stanford has gained throughout the season.
Perhaps Stanford’s biggest asset is its depth and versatility. In their recent run of form, the Cardinal have shown a gift for adaptation, as the offense has been led by multiple people on the team. In a very much plug-and-play style, head coach Tara VanDerveer has spoken often about her pride in her bench’s play and its attitude throughout each and every game.
The Cardinal will hopefully utilize their depth to attack on multiple fronts throughout the game against the Buffs, who are sporting the worst field goal percentage allowed and scoring margin in the conference. Over the course of the season, Colorado has relied on long, exhausting games from freshman guard Kennedy Leonard, who is averaging 11.3 points per game, and the Buffs’ only win in conference play required an all-out performance from Leonard.
Utah may provide a tougher puzzle for the Cardinal on defense. Despite being three spots below Stanford in the Pac-12 standings, the Utes are above Stanford in average points per game, and have lived and died by their offense the whole season. In their six conference victories, the Utes are averaging 75.3 points per game, noticeably higher than Stanford’s 65.6 in the same category.
The key to stopping Utah is not as complex, however. The production on both offense and defense has come from junior phenom Emily Potter, who is leading her team in blocks, rebounds and points per game. Last game against the Cardinal, however, Potter was held to 9 points and 9 rebounds as Stanford cruised to an easy 20-point victory.
As evidence of Potter’s huge role in Utah’s gameplan, VanDerveer commented after the previous meeting, “If she’s one-on-one, she’ll score. So basically, we were sending a double immediately when she got [the ball].”
Overall, Stanford simply needs to keep the momentum from its recent form and close the season strong. After this road trip, the Cardinal will face both Oregon schools and then will travel to Seattle for the Pac-12 Tournament. If Stanford can keep improving, the team will have a strong chance to repeat its conference championship run from last season.
Stanford takes on Colorado at 7 p.m. on Friday in Boulder, before heading to Salt Lake City to face Utah on Sunday at 1 p.m. The games will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu.