Recap: Stanford Women’s Basketball defeats LMU in opening round of WBIT
On Thursday, Stanford women’s basketball defeated LMU 80-76 to advance to the second round of the WBIT against Quinnipiac. Stanford forward Nunu Agara led the way for the Cardinal with 26 points and 16 rebounds, reaching the 1,000 career point milestone. Stanford wing Courtney Ogden (19 points), point guard Hailee Swain (18 points & 4 assists), and combo guard Chloe Clardy (14 points) also scored in double figures. LMU guard Ivana Krajina (21 points) was the top performer for the Lions.
VIDEO: Stanford Postgame Press Conference-WBIT: LMU
BOX SCORE: LMU at Stanford-Thursday, March 19th
“First, I’d like to congratulate and compliment LMU,” Stanford head coach Kate Paye said after the game. “They have a terrific team. I’ve known Aarika Hughes for a long time and congratulations to her on winning WCC Coach of the Year. They’ve had a fantastic season. She did a great job putting their roster together. They have some very experienced players as you could see seniors who didn’t want their season to end. They played extremely hard. They crashed the boards with abandon. You can tell how much they wanted it and I thought they played a great game and I wish them the very best.
“I’m very proud of our team. Obviously, we were disappointed with our last game and maybe the situation that we are in. But our team has worked really hard the past two weeks together to kinda get our feet underneath us and be excited for this opportunity and it felt really good. We had a lot of great performances out there.”
LMU got off to a nice start, leading 14-10 with 6:07 to go in the 1st quarter after a 3-pointer by Andjela Matic. Stanford would soon wake up to end the quarter on a 14-2 run to lead 24-16 at the end of the quarter. Chloe Clardy was leading the Cardinal with eight points while Nunu Agara and Courtney Ogden each had six points. Stanford was shooting 64.7% from the field and 50.0% from 3-point range while LMU was shooting 33.3% from the field and 22.2% from 3-point range.
Stanford led LMU 36–20 with 4:53 to go in the 2nd quarter. Clardy and Ogden were each up to 11 points for the Cardinal on a combined 9-for-11 shooting from the field. Clardy and Ogden were both in a strong offensive rhythm at that point.
Stanford led 40–30 at halftime. Ogden’s and Clardy’s 11 points still led the way, while Swain and Agara were up to eight points apiece. LMU closed the half on a 9–0 run to pull back into the game. Carly Heidger led the Lions with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and had been on fire.
Stanford held a 45–38 lead with 5:58 to go in the 3rd quarter. LMU outscored Stanford 8–5 early in the quarter and came out with good energy. Stanford needed to find a way to match it. Ogden’s 13 points led the Cardinal.
Stanford led 49–44 with 4:15 to go in the 3rd quarter. LMU outscored Stanford 14–9 in the quarter to that point. Stanford made four of its last four field goals, while LMU made four of its last five. Both teams traded baskets, and Stanford needed to get stops to expand the lead.
Stanford led 53–51 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Ogden was up to 15 points, while Agara (13 points), Clardy (12 points), and Swain (10 points) were all in double figures. The game appeared to be headed down to the wire, and the Cardinal needed to avoid letting it slip away in the 4th quarter.
Stanford led 64–57 with 3:40 remaining. Stanford needed to find a way to close the game, with Ogden (15 points) and Agara (20 points) needing to lead the way down the stretch.
“Obviously Nunu with a huge night,” Paye said. “You know, 26 points and how many rebounds? 16 rebounds and breaking the 1,000 point mark for a career. We’re very excited for Nunu and very proud of her. But Nunu will be the first to tell you, basketball is a team game and you don’t accomplish something like that without having great teammates and she has that here. And you know, Courtney has been playing so well this season, had a fantastic conference play. In my opinion, was really an All-ACC player and you know, she continued that here tonight.”
Stanford led 75–70 with 33.7 seconds to go. A couple of LMU three-pointers off Stanford turnovers kept the Lions alive.
Shay Ijiwoye came up with a steal, and Clardy converted a transition layup to give Stanford a 77–70 lead with 19.8 seconds remaining.
Stanford led 79–76 with 5.8 seconds to go. Ivana Krajina made three straight free throws for LMU after being fouled beyond the arc, nearly banking it in. Stanford had possession but struggled inbounding the ball, creating late drama. However, Stanford survived with an 80–76 win. In the end, the Cardinal did enough to still come out on top. Agara getting a key hoop plus the foul to help put the Lions away.
“I feel good. Honestly, I just like to play basketball and I wanted to keep winning and keep playing,” Agara said. “In general, I love this team so much and so whatever I can do for us to just, just want to win. And yeah, that’s all I can say about it.”
“Well, it’s just, you know, it’s fourth quarter and when our team has played our best this season, we’re a fourth quarter team,” Paye said. “And I think our leaders Nunu, Courtney, Chloe, MA, just looked at each other and said we’re going to get this done. Our team was totally locked in and it was a battle out there. So, really proud of how we handled it and closed it out.”
For Stanford, this is an important win. After losing in the first round of the WBIT last year, they can officially declare this season an improvement from last year by advancing in this tournament. Agara and Ogden were both fantastic while Swain and Clardy were also playing well. All around a great team effort.
“I mean, I definitely think that my coaches and my teammates have poured a lot of confidence into me this year,” Ogden said. “Especially early on. I think I’m definitely a rhythm player and so getting me to my spots, calling plays for me has been a huge help and a huge confidence booster. And also just myself staying in the gym, making sure that I keep my own confidence and get my shots up and I feel comfortable on the court and in my teammates. I mean, they put me in good positions to score. They look for me when I’m hot and so it’s just an all-around effort.”
“You know, I thought we just got a lot of really valuable contributions,” Paye said. “Shay with some great defensive plays, Hailee helping break their press, Alex Eschmeyer’s defense in particular in the fourth quarter, five blocks was huge. You know, we got out to a big lead and you could see how much it meant to them and they really jacked up their pressure, their full court pressure was disruptive, but again, I’m really proud of our team. You know, they looked each other in the eye in the fourth quarter and just said, you know, this game is ours and they really battled right down to the end. I thought their three point shooting was excellent, obviously kept them in the game right to the very end. But again, our team is very excited and we’re looking forward to competing on Sunday.”
What made this win all the more impressive for Stanford is the fact that they were without their starting forward Lara Somfai who is away in Hungary for personal reasons. The fact that they were able to still come out on top despite her absence made this win all the more impressive.
“Well you know, we miss Lara, we love Lara,” Paye said of not having Somfai. “We know she’s really excited for our team right now. Alex has started games for us before, so it wasn’t like this is the first game that she’s started and we’ve been in situation before. We’ve been in games without Nunu. We’ve been in games, obviously we lost Talana earlier in the year and it’s just an opportunity for other people to step up.
“Again, I thought Alex was very comfortable out there. She didn’t score a ton, but you know, this is not exactly the kind of game where you can really pound the ball inside. But again, her defense was fantastic. You know, with five blocks, you know, MA came in, gave us some nice plays.
“I was really excited that Nora Ezike got some time in the first half because, you know, our team wants our season to keep going. This team genuinely loves each other, they care about each other, they’ve done the work, and in order to keep going and be successful on Sunday, we need everybody and it’s just an opportunity for other people to step up.”
As for LMU, they had an amazing season, reaching their fourth postseason tournament in program history. Their 21 wins tied the second most in program history while their 15-3 record in the WCC was their best conference record ever. They won their second conference championship in program history (2004) and truly had a season for the ages. They are hoping that this is just the beginning for them and that they can keep this train going in the coming seasons.
“I mean, an amazing season,” LMU head coach Aarika Hughes said after the game with four players at the podium with her. “I know that they’re all emotional as they should be. And I know for a team that has carried our program this year, whether playing this season or having opportunities last year, this is the core. This is the core of our group. Couldn’t be more proud of the resiliency that we showed. When you come up against a legacy school, which we know is almost like a pillar or a column here in the West Coast in Stanford and play them to a four point game where last year you couldn’t even say LMU and Stanford in the same sentence is a huge accomplishment and the legacy that these four are leaving. I couldn’t be more proud.”
“You could tell that this is a team, they were excited,” Paye said of the Lions. “You know, they were both, you know, maybe upset that they didn’t make the NCAA tournament, but excited for the opportunity to play and compete and they played like their lives depended on it. You know, zero is incredible. You know, just the way she rebounds the ball, how hard she plays. But really it was all of them and I was really happy for our team to get a taste of what that feels like when it’s tournament time.”
Looking ahead for Stanford, they’ll face Quinnipiac at home in the second round of the WBIT on Sunday at 2:00 PM PT on ESPN+. They’ll hope to get another win and keep their run for a WBIT title alive.
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