In a long, hard-fought game Thursday night, the Stanford women’s basketball team slogged out a 72-54 victory over Arizona State.
The Cardinal (19-2, 10-0 Pac-10) couldn’t quite get on a roll over the course of the game, leaning on their “Big Three” to carry them to the always-precious road win.
Senior Jeanette Pohlen had 19 points, junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 17 points and senior Kayla Pedersen had 15 points, as the three combined for 71 percent of the Cardinal’s scoring total.
The Cardinal pushed ahead right out of the gates, jumping out to a 25-13 lead after 12 minutes thanks to nine early points from Pohlen, but the Card’s offense inexplicably stalled shortly afterward.
For the next eight minutes, Stanford didn’t make a single basket from the floor. The Sun Devils (13-7, 5-5 Pac-10) were able to chip into the lead slowly but surely, and five Cardinal free throws were all that kept Stanford in the lead.
Arizona State cut the score to 30-26 after Kimberly Brandon made a jumper with 1:14 to go in the first half, but Pohlen ripped the ball away from Markisha Patterson and went coast-to-coast for a layup just seconds later, securing a 32-27 Stanford lead at halftime.
The five-point lead at the break was the smallest halftime lead the Cardinal have had since a four-point margin over UConn on Dec. 12.
The second half saw more of the slow, disjointed play of the first half, which was beset by free throws, fouls and turnovers.
But Stanford ultimately won the back-and-forth duel, creeping out to a nine-point lead after five minutes of play and extending the lead to double-digits with 9:41 left in the game. After that, the Sun Devils never got within striking distance.
The Cardinal had a slower-than-usual shooting night from the floor, especially from behind the three-point line, where they made just one of five attempts.
However, Stanford was sustained by 25-for-33 shooting from the free-throw line. In total, the Card knocked in more free throws than they did shots from the floor, 25 to 23.
Brandon led the charge for Arizona State with 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting, but the rest of the Devils couldn’t find their stroke, going 17-for-56 from the floor and 1-for-10 from three as a team.
Despite the loss, the Sun Devils saved face after their last meeting against Stanford, where the Cardinal steamrolled to an 82-35 victory at Maples Pavilion thanks to shooting 64.8 percent shooting from the floor, its best all season.
Next up for Stanford is a trip down south to Tucson, where the Arizona Wildcats will play host on Saturday evening.
In the Wildcats’ last matchup against the Cardinal, Stanford cruised to an 87-54 victory behind a season-high 24 points from Nnemkadi Ogwumike. Arizona will try to stop the powerful Card with its own version of the “Big Three”–Davellyn Whyte, who averages 15.2 points per game, Ify Ibekwe, who adds 13.9 points and 9.8 rebounds a game, and Soana Lucet, who puts in 11.7 points per game.
The Cardinal will put its 13-game win streak on the line in Tucson on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the McKale Center.