ACC women’s basketball: No. 7 Louisville overwhelms short-handed Stanford 84-66
STANFORD – A short-handed Stanford women’s basketball team couldn’t take advantage of an opportunity to improve its NCAA Tournament resume Thursday, falling 84-66 to No. 7 Louisville at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (15-7, 4-5 ACC) committed 10 turnovers in the second quarter as the Cardinals took an 18-point halftime lead in their first-ever trip to The Farm and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
“They’re athletic and they speed you up,” Stanford coach Kate Paye said. “The analogy we use, it’s a little bit like bleeding in a shark tank. It creates kind of a frenzy, and things can snowball very quickly. And early on they got out in transition, and they’re shooting layups, and it kind of snowballs.”
Stanford was playing without junior forward Nunu Agara, the team’s leading scorer (14.5) and second-leading rebounder (8.4), and senior guard Talana Lopolo, who led the team in assists (2.7). Agara was injured in the team’s last game, a 78-71 overtime loss at Cal, while Lopolo was listed as unavailable for a second straight game.
The Cardinal offense struggled to get in sync in their absence, with 22 turnovers to six assists as Louisville (20-3, 10-0) extended its 13-game winning streak.
Sophomore guard Shau Ijiwoye posted a career-high 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting and was one of four Cardinals in double figures.
“I thought (Ijiwoye) got us going right there in the first half, showing our team what was available, which is to spread out and go to the basket and finish,” Paye said.
Stanford, currently ranked No. 36 in the NET, had appeared in 36 straight NCAA tournaments before missing out last year following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer.
With nine regular-season games remaining, all against unranked opponents, Thursday was likely its last chance to earn a marquee win. Stanford had won five of its last six games at home against AP Top 10 teams but was unable to mount a serious challenge against Louisville.
Preseason All-ACC guard Tajianna Roberts stole the ball from Hailee Swain and hit a 3-pointer on the other end to cap a 9-0 run that put Louisville up 31-17. That was part of a four-turnover span in two minutes for the Cardinals, contributing to a four-and-a-half-minute scoreless drought for Stanford.
Courtney Ogden finally put Stanford on the board with a long jumper, but Louisville stretched the lead to 19 and led 48-30 at halftime.
Stanford had won two consecutive games against AP Top 25 teams – a home victory over No. 22 Washington and an away win over No. 16 North Carolina.
Stanford tightened its defense to start the second half, holding Louisville scoreless for the first four minutes. However, the Cardinal managed only five points during that time, keeping Louisville comfortably ahead by double digits.
A layup by Shay Ijiwoye brought Stanford within 10 with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter, but Louisville closed out the period on a 7-0 run, as Reyna Scott coasted in for a layup at the buzzer.
The Cardinals led by 27 with 1:52 left before Stanford ended on an 11-2 run.
Stanford will next host Notre Dame on Sunday at 1 p.m.