WOMENS BASKETBALL
Stanford 71, Washington 59
BY NATHAN CANILAO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STANFORD, Calif. - Cameron Brink had 16 points and 16 rebounds and No. 8 Stanford gave coach Tara VanDerveer her 1,200th victory, beating Washington 71-59 to run its winning streak to six.
VanDerveer is three away from breaking former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski’s overall college record.
Kiki Iriafen added 19 points and nine rebounds, and Hannah Jump had 13 points for the Cardinal (14-1, 3-0 Pac-12). Nunu Agara finished with 12 points.
“I’m really proud of our team,” VanDerveer said. “Washington has a very talented team. They’re a very well coached team. They have great shooters on their team. I think our team really stepped up defensively.”
Dalayah Daniels led Washington (11-3, 1-2) with 15 points. Ella Ladine added 12.
Stanford’s front court got into foul trouble early as Brink and Iriafen picked up their second fouls early in the first half. Brink recorded her second foul at the 1:28 mark of the first quarter and Iriafen was called for her second on a push with under six minutes left in the second quarter. Both did not return until the third quarter.
The Cardinal got a boost from freshman Nunu Agara who scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds with Brink and Iriafen on the bench.
“I like how Nunu battled in there,” VanDerveer said. “That girl is so poised and so dependable out there.”
Stanford went into halftime with a 35-30 lead.
A third-quarter flurry from Stanford shifted the momentum in favor of the Cardinal.
Scoreless in the first half, Jump had 13 points in the third quarter. A corner 3-pointer from Jump gave Stanford a 58-38 lead with under two minutes left in the third — the Cardinal’s largest lead up to that point.
“Mentally, I just told myself to keep shooting,” Jump said about what adjustments she made in the second half. “Tara came up to me at halftime and said ‘you can go 0 for 100 and I still think the next one is going to go in.’ I know I have that confidence in my coaches and teammates, and that really helps me continue to shoot and just stay positive.”
With Brink and Iriafen back on the floor, Stanford held Washington to just 35.7% shooting from the field and outscored Washington 25-14 in the third quarter.
The Huskies cut the lead to 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“Stanford’s a tremendous team,” Washington coach Tina Langley said. “They rebounded incredibly well, they executed really well and they share of the ball extremely well. And so they were who they were and that was tough for us.”
After the game, VanDerveer was given a standing ovation. Her first victory came in 1978 with Idaho against Northern Montana.
In her 44 years as a head coach, VanDerveer has won three NCAA title, made 13 Final Fours and was coach of the year five times. She surpassed former Tennessee coach Pat Summit in 2021 as the women’s career leader.
“Huge congratulations to Tara for 1,200 wins,” Langley said. “She’s three away from (Krzyzewski’s) record. She’s a tremendous coach and has a tremendous program.”
Stanford athletics press release
January 7, 2024
