Cardinal Soars Past Cougars in a Display of Precision and Teamwork
8-2 Stanford Cardinal emerged victorious over the Washington State Cougars with a final score of 74-65. The Cardinal's performance was marked by a robust defense and an efficient offense, which proved too much for the unranked Cougars.
The home team, Stanford Cardinal, showcased their dominance early on at Maples Pavilion with an impressive 18 points in the first quarter against the Cougars' 12. The second quarter saw a more competitive edge from the visitors as they racked up 23 points to Stanford's 16, but it was after halftime that the Cardinal truly took flight. A powerful third-quarter display yielded 25 points for Stanford, outpacing Washington State's effort by ten points.
Stanford's statistical superiority was evident across various facets of play. They out-rebounded their opponents with a total of 43 rebounds to Washington State's 28. This included ten offensive boards contributing to seven second-chance points for both teams. Defensively, Stanford blocked five shots while limiting themselves to just one blocked attempt.
Offensively, efficiency was key; shooting at a rate of 45 percent from the field compared to Washington State’s respectable but lower rate of 41 percent. From beyond the arc, Stanford shot at a solid rate of 37 percent while maintaining an impressive free throw percentage at nearly four-fifths successful attempts.
Key players stepped up for Stanford; their six steals were indicative of their defensive alertness and contributed to twelve points off turnovers. Moreover, they capitalized on assists nineteen times throughout the game which is higher than Washington State’s fourteen assists.
The visiting team did not go down without showing some strengths as well; they managed nine three-pointers at an impressive accuracy rate of forty-five percent and maintained discipline with only fifteen personal fouls compared to nineteen by Stanford.
As fans look forward to future matchups, attention now turns towards another conference game set against rivals – this time hosting them on home turf – as Maples Pavilion prepares itself for what promises to be another exciting encounter between two university teams steeped in history and rivalry: The upcoming game will see Stanford Cardinal face off against the Washington Huskies on January seventh at one PM Pacific Time broadcasted live on Pac-12 Network from Maples Pavilion located in beautiful California city - Palo Alto.