Sometime around 7 p.m. central time, the Stanford women’s basketball team remembered how talented, and how deep, it is.<\/p>\n
Trailing 38-26 at halftime, Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer, a Hall of Famer and one of the steadiest, calmest coaches in college hoops, didn’t panic. Her team had played maybe its worst half of basketball of the season, shooting 10-of-36 (28%) from the field and a dismal 1-of-9 from 3. The Cardinal’s senior leader Kiana Williams, a San Antonio native who has dreamed of leading her team to the national championship in her hometown, was 1-of-11. <\/p>\n
“I didn’t recognize the people in the jerseys in the first half,” VanDerveer said. “I told them, ‘Don’t worry about winning — compete!’ I did go through some statistics that I think got people’s attention.” <\/p>\n
Then, she put in Ashten Prechtel. With freshman Cameron Brink not moving as well defensively as VanDerveer wanted, in came Prechtel. The 6-foot-5 sophomore from Colorado Springs came off the bench to score 16 points in 16 minutes Tuesday night, going 3-of-3 from deep. She missed just one shot all game, a free throw. Prechtel did not play at all the first half. <\/p>\n
But once she got in, the Cardinal got going, ripping off a 17-2 run midway through the third quarter to trail by just two going into the fourth quarter. And she hit the go-ahead 3-pointer to open the last period that gave Stanford the lead for good.<\/p>\n
“It probably looks like I should have put her in in the first half,” VanDerveer quipped. “Maybe watching the first half she understood what to do better. Obviously you can’t expect someone to go 6-for-6 every game but I liked how she rebounded, she finished inside. She looked very confident. <\/p>\n
"Our team was so excited for her. Having depth like that, where everyone is excited for the other players, is really important." <\/p>\n
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