Recap: Shorthanded #2 Stanford WBB powers past Wazzu in Pullman
On Sunday, Stanford women’s basketball defeated Washington State 82-44 in Pullman. Stanford junior guard Haley Jones led the way for the Cardinal with 24 points and 16 rebounds while freshman forward Kiki Iriafen finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds, nearly getting a double-double herself. Sophomore guard Charlisse Leger-Walker was the top performer for the Cougars finishing with 15 points and 4 rebounds while her older sister Krystal Leger-Walker finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Stanford improves to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-12 while Washington State falls to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12.
The big news coming into this game for Stanford was the absence of five players due to COVID protocols: Cameron Brink, Ashten Prechtel, Brooke Demetre, Alyssa Jerome, and Agnes Emma-Nnopu. With those five players out, Stanford was going to need others to step up and pick up the slack.
Stanford’s injury woes appeared to have an impact early on in the game as Washington State got out to a 9-5 lead with 4:57 to go in the 1st quarter. Charlisse Leger-Walker was up to 4 points for Washington State while Haley Jones was doing her part for Stanford with 4 points.
Over the next few minutes, Haley Jones would start to catch fire for Stanford, putting them up 17-15 at the end of the 1st quarter. Jones would finish the quarter with 10 points and 5 rebounds on 4-4 shooting from the field and 2-2 shooting from the foul line. Both teams were shooting 6-15 (40.0%) from the field. It was a tight game.
Stanford pounced on Washington State to start the 2nd quarter as they would lead 27-15 with 4:50 to go until halftime. Stanford was out-scoring Washington State 10-0 in the quarter while Haley Jones was up to 14 points. She was balling out.
At halftime, Stanford led 36-26. Haley Jones was up to 16 points and 11 rebounds, already having a double-double. Charlisse Leger-Walker was up to 13 points and 2 rebounds for Washington State, doing her part to keep her team in the game.
It was more of the same to start the second half as Stanford led 50-33 with 4:23 to go in the 3rd quarter. Hannah Jump was up to 10 points for the Cardinal as she was starting to heat up a bit from the perimeter. Francesca Belibi got a nice hoop plus the harm as well. All things were going Stanford’s way.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford was comfortably in front up 58-41. Haley Jones was dominating the game as she was up to 22 points and 14 rebounds. She had really picked up the slack with the five players out. Jump was the only other Stanford player in double figures with 10 points.
Stanford’s lead continued to grow as they led 70-41 with 6:10 to go. This time opening the 4th quarter on a 12-0 run. Kiki Iraifen was up to 9 points and 7 rebounds after a nice finish inside. It was a really impressive performance by the Cardinal.
In the end, Stanford walked out with an 82-44 victory. It was Stanford’s 70th consecutive victory over Washington State, a program who they have a perfect 70-0 record against. Haley Jones came up big while Kiki Iriafen and Hannah Jump did their parts to keep the offense flowing. The team collectively played great defense, so it was certainly more than a three-player effort in this one. Everyone did what they needed to do and as a result, they got the win.
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Oregon on Friday, January 7th at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
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