Recap: Stanford Women’s Basketball dominates UNC Greensboro
On Monday, Stanford women’s basketball defeated UNC Greensboro at home by a final score of 87-42. Stanford freshman forward Lara Somfai led the way for the Cardinal with 15 points and eight rebounds while freshman forward Alexandra Eschmeyer had 13 points and five rebounds. Stanford freshman point guard Hailee Swain also finished in double figures with 12 points and four assists. UNC Greensboro guard Jeni Levine was the top performer for the Spartans with 18 points. Stanford improves to 1-0 on the season while UNC Greensboro falls to 0-1.
VIDEO: Stanford Women’s Basketball Postgame Press Conference-UNC Greensboro
BOX SCORE: UNC Greensboro at Stanford-Monday, November 3rd
“It was very exciting to get our season going here at home at Maples,” Stanford head coach Kate Paye said after the game. “It was really special to play UNC Greensboro, who is coached by Trina Patterson, who was an assistant here for two years in 2011-12 and 12-13. Trina is a member of our Stanford sisterhood and to have her back on campus here at home was really really special. Trina is a fantastic coach. Three-time SoCon coach of the year, took their team to the NCAA tournament last year. So they’re extremely well-coached and it was a great opportunity for us kinda, with our opener.
“So, I though they played very well, very hard, obviously. They have a new roster and I know she will get them going. But, you know, I’m very excited about what I saw tonight. You know, obviously a lot of things that we’re very pleased with, but also a lot of things that we want to work on.
“We start with our defense first, holding them to 42 points, you know, is pretty good. Number one kind of went off, so that’s something that we can study a little bit. We’re very excited. Everybody was healthy and suited up played. Everybody scored. Had some efficient numbers, both with our field goal percentages and 3-point field goal percentage, and free throw percentage.
“We’d like to take care of the ball a little bit better, but I think you know, MA kinda coming off leading us, coming off the bench, leading us in rebounding with 10 boards, that is awesome. And every efficient stat line. I think you see kind of MA just really comfortable, kind of in our system. She’s improved a lot. And you know, as a tremendous leader and a captain for our team.
“And then Hailee Swain over here, a little speedster. She’s excited. Her family is here to watch her play. She looks great in her number two uniform. She is fast and she gets to that basket. So, you know, we’re just really excited and we know we have three games in seven days, so things are gonna come quickly. So we gotta learn from this and turn around and get ready for Santa Clara.”
Stanford got off to a strong start, leading 24-12 at the end of the 1st quarter. Somfai was up to six points for the Cardinal on 3-6 shooting from the field while guard Chloe Clardy was up to five points. Stanford was shooting 11-19 from the field while Greensboro was shooting 5-16 from the field. Levine had nine of the Spartans’ points, doing her part to keep her team afloat.
In the 2nd quarter, Stanford outscored Greensboro 19-8. Somfai was up to 11 points and four rebounds for the Cardinal while Eschmeyer had nine points. Stanford was leading 43-20 at the break as they were in firm control.
“It makes me really proud of our team because I think Hailee will be the first to tell you that what our freshmen are able to do right now is because they’re getting great mentorship and leadership from our upper-class players who are really taking them under their wings,” Paye said of the strong start for the freshmen. “Like in our program, MA is Hailee’s big sister and she kind of helps her and helps her learn the playbook and kind of, I don’t know all the other stuff she helps her with, but you know, it is exciting to see our freshmen doing well, but it takes everybody and I give MA, we kind of had a function a couple weeks ago, and MA said yes, we help our freshmen a lot, but they also help us. So I think our team gets that. And that’s what makes it kinda really special here at the start of this journey.”
“It was definitely very exciting,” Swain said of playing in her first college game. “Stanford’s been my dream school for a while now and we’ve been working hard since the summer. So just finally getting to go out there and compete with all my teammates was such a great feeling…I feel like I got my confidence from just starting from a very young age and like all the work I put in, like the late nights, the early mornings, and just trusting my work ethic and keeping God first. That’s where I get all my confidence from.”
Stanford would outscore Greensboro 24-9 in the 3rd quarter to lead 67-29. Somfai continued to lead the way with 15 points and eight rebounds. Stanford was shooting 25-44 from the field while Greensboro was shooting 11-47. Eschmeyer was now up to 11 points, reaching double figures with a pair of foul shots.
“Alex is getting better and better and better,” Paye of Eschmeyer. “Like, each day. I don’t know that I’ve ever coached a player that’s as coachable as Alex. You know, she looks you right in the eye, she listens, she catches on very quickly, she never makes the same mistake twice, she applies stuff. You know, MA’s helping her a lot. You know, but Alex is, she has a back to the basket game, she got, you know, she knocked down that three-point shot, she’s rebounding, I just think she’s gonna get better and better and better. And I think her length inside just kind of gives us a whole new dimension.”
In the end, Stanford would win 87-42 as they took their foot off the gas a bit in the 4th quarter, outscoring Greensboro 20-13. Stanford finished strong from a shooting standpoint as they made seven of their final nine field goal attempts.
For Stanford, this is a strong opening win. They dominated wire to wire and never let the Spartans get into any good flow. They especially played strong defense in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, holding the Spartans to 18.8% shooting from the field in the 2nd quarter and 20.0% shooting in the 3rd quarter. That’s the kind of basketball Paye wants her team to be playing.
“Well, I think this is what we talk about,” Paye said of their defense. “This is the number one thing on our team’s list that we are looking for from our team individually and collectively. To play great aggressive defense without fouling. You know, I thought that in the latter half of the Cal State LA game last week, we kind of switched well. We do have some nice size out there that allows us to switch and I think that that could really be a strength of our team. But again, that number one sure was going off.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Santa Clara on Thursday, November 6th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
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