SAN FRANCISCO – A holiday break couldn’t come at a better time for the Stanford women’s basketball team.
In the Cardinal’s last game of 2024, No. 11 Ohio State routed Stanford 84-59 in the Bay Area Women’s Classic at Chase Center on Friday night.
With legendary coach Tara VanDerveer in attendance – now as a fan – her Cardinal had 19 turnovers and were totally outmatched by its Big 10 opponent.
“They jumped on us from the very beginning, and I think their press rattled us early on and kind of shook u and our confidence,” Stanford coach Kate Paye said. “We were total no-shows in the first half.”
Nunu Agara led Stanford with 17 points, and Tess Heal had 10. Meanwhile, Cotie McMahon paced Ohio State with 16 points as all five Buckeyes starters scored in double-figures.
Stanford, in its first season under coach Paye, came into the game without much momentum. The Cardinal had lost at No. 5 LSU 94-88 in overtime, and followed that up with a stunning 83-63 defeat at rival Cal.
The Cardinal then beat UTSA 62-57 to remain 8-0 at home in Maples Pavilion. Of course, that meant Stanford was 0-3 on the road, and even though Chase Center was just a 40-minute drive up 101, the Cardinal still struggled away from home.
Stanford’s offense, which ran through forwards Agara, Brooke Demetre and Elena Bosgana in the high post, created open looks. But the Cardinal could only make 2-11 shots against the visiting Buckeyes in the first quarter, trailing 16-6 after 10 minutes.
“We don’t plan on flushing it (away),” Paye said. “We have to learn from it, and work to improve, and I have total confidence that our team will do that.”
After taking three minutes to score to start the first quarter, the Cardinal went on another long drought to begin the second period as Ohio State went ahead 20-6 until Chloe Clardy knifed into the lane for a layup.
That got the offense going for the Cardinal, because a minute later, Jzaniya Harriel got the Stanford contingent something to really cheer about when she hit a highly-difficult shot from just inside the arc as the shot clock expired.
Those good vibes didn’t last long as Oregon transfer Chance Gray hit back-to-back jumpers to put Ohio State up 28-12, which eventually turned into a 33-19 halftime deficit as Stanford struggled to adjust to the Buckeyes fullcourt trap.
“I think that we were just kind of shell shocked about their press,” Agara, a sophomore, said.
The 2-16 mark from 3-point distance was eye-catching but not totally unsurprising for the Cardinal. Though Stanford entered second in the country with a 42% accuracy rate from 3-point land, that figure was buoyed by incredible shooting during the Cardinal’s first three games.
In the past eight games, Stanford shot a solid but much lower 34.5% on on 21 attempts per night. That’s a number the Cardinal would’ve happily settled for on Friday night.
“Teams are going to try to take away our three, because who wouldn’t,” Paye said. “They’re going to force us to spread out, put the ball on the floor and attack the basket and make layups. And you know, Ohio State is extremely athletic.”
Stanford started the second half with three straight layups, eschewing the long ball and getting positive results. But Ohio State kept its composure, expanding the lead 51-31 midway through the third on the strength of a 14-4 run keyed by up-tempo play and swarming defense.
Stanford (8-4) will play its next game at SMU on Jan. 2.
