The No. 15 Stanford women’s basketball team bettered its overall record to 12-4 overall (4-0 Pac-12) with two tough road wins in Washington this weekend. The Cardinal took on the University of Washington (12-3, 1-2) on Friday night in Seattle and played Washington State (10-5, 1-3) in Pullman on Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinal were able to pull out a close 60-56 win over the Huskies at the Alaska Airlines Arena. The first half was very low-scoring, with both teams playing high-pressure, aggressive defense. The Cardinal were down by two at half, with the score at 24-22. In that half, both teams shot less than 32 percent from the field.
The second half proved to be much more exciting, with both teams converting more shots and increasing their percentages to greater than 35 percent from the field. Three minutes in, the Cardinal were able to go ahead by 5 points off a jumper by senior guard Amber Orrange and a 3-pointer from senior forward Bonnie Samuelson. With 13:36 to play, the Huskies’ senior guard Jazmine Davis tied up the game off two free throws.
Washington’s sophomore guard Kelsey Plum, the nation’s second leading scorer, and redshirt freshman guard Brianna Ruiz knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to increase the Husky lead to 39-34. The Cardinal, with 3:39 left in the game, finally made a comeback, regaining the lead off a jumper by sophomore guard Lili Thompson. Stanford maintained the lead for the rest of the game and notched its first conference road victory of the season.
Thompson led the Cardinal with 15 points, including an off-the-glass 3-pointer in the last minute of the game. She also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Orrange tallied 14 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds. Freshman forward Kaylee Johnson was impactful in the post position, earning 13 rebounds.
Senior forward Bonnie Samuelson had a record-breaking game, making four 3-pointers for a total of 12 points. During the course of the game, she broke into the top-10 list for career 3-point field goals made in Stanford history. By the end of the game, Samuelson reached the 180 mark, placing her in ninth for career threes.
On Sunday afternoon, the Cardinal took on the Washington State Cougars in Pullman. The Cardinal led 14-13 eight minutes into the first half, but that was their only lead of the game until the last two minutes of regulation. By the end of the first half, the Cougars led 33-28. The Cardinal overcame their largest deficit of the season — twice going down by 11 points — once at a score of 50-39 with 14:22 to play and the next at 52-41 with 13:24 to play.
The Cardinal began to gain momentum with about five minutes left in regulation. Thompson made a layup, Johnson had a block and Bonnie Samuelson hit a 3-pointer and a free throw just before the two-minute mark to tie the game at 65. Samuelson converted her second free throw to give her squad a one-point lead. In the last 11 seconds, with the Cougars leading 69-68, Samuelson made a 3-pointer to give the Cardinal a two-point lead. But with two seconds left in regulation, Cougars junior guard Lia Galdiera made a layup to tie the game at 71-71 and ultimately send the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Cardinal took a lead and kept it for the entire five-minute period. Stanford pulled away with a jumper by Orrange and six made free throws by sophomore guard Briana Roberson. The Cardinal earned the victory by a score of 86-76.
By the end of the game, Stanford had five players in double figures. Johnson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Thompson had 13 points, 3 assists and 3 steals; she scored all of her points and nabbed all of her steals in the second half of the game. Roberson netted 10 points, with eight coming from the charity stripe. Roberson was perfect from the free-throw line, making six free throws in the final 46 seconds of the overtime period.
Senior forward Taylor Greenfield had 11 points. Orrange led the team with 19 points and also had 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal in the game. Lastly, Bonnie Samuelson hit five 3-pointers and three free throws, pouring in 18 to propel Stanford’s victory. Samuelson was sharp from beyond the arc on the road trip, making nine 3-pointers this weekend — her career total is now 185 3-point makes.
The Cardinal play again this coming Friday at 8 p.m. and will take on the University of Arizona at Maples Pavilion.
Contact Kristina Bassi at kbassi ‘at’ stanford.edu.