SPOKANE, Wash. — The reigning champions are back in the Final Four. No. No. 2 Texas, 59-50 on Sunday to reach its fifteenth N.C.A.A. tournament national semifinals.
Spokane Arena fans cheered on the Cardinal, who were cheered on by their court. This was thanks to Lacie and Lexie Hull, who both grew up in Spokane. Lexie Hull was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
The game was fast, intense, and physical from the tip-off. Each side blocked shots and made tough looks. Stanford was still able to score despite this being exactly the style and pace the Longhorns desired. Lexie Hull particularly seemed to feed off the crowd’s enthusiasm for her and her sister, scoring 5 points in the game’s first six minutes and finishing the first half with 12.
As well as defensive plays, free throws and tough defense were traded early in the game. At one point, Lacie Hull blocked a shot for a steal on one end, and then Texas’s Aliyah Matharu took a charge in transition on the other. After Haley Jones’s tough buzzer beater, the first quarter ended at 14-14. Texas had held Stanford scoreless for five more minutes.
The Cardinal made just 39.3 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half, but went into the locker room with a 3-point lead — in part thanks to poor free-throw shooting from the Longhorns. Stanford would make Texas pay if they lost their patience and played too aggressively.
It looked like Stanford might have found some separation early in the third, when Lauren Ebo, the Longhorns’ leading rebounder, picked up her second and third fouls in the first two minutes of the quarter, and Stanford forward Cameron Brink scored 5 straight points in that same period.
Texas continued to get stops, even though it could not convert them into point, and tied the game once more. Audrey Warren, a senior guard, made crucial 3-point shots to keep Texas within striking distance. She also played an impressive defense against Haley Jones.
Jones was able to bring Stanford’s lead back up to 5 points by the end of the third quarter, when she was fouled shooting a 3-point shot and made all her free throws. A 5-point lead is exactly what the Cardinal had brought into the fourth quarter of their first matchup against the Longhorns this season — a defeat to Texas on their home court in November for one of only three losses this season.
The push and pull continued into the fourth, but the Longhorns weren’t able to get ahead and repeat their early-season upset. Texas was within 2 points at the end of the game, but they were still plagued by missed free throws. The Longhorns made 11 of 20 free throws.
Jones finished with a double double thanks to her consistency on the line, where 10 of 11 shots were taken. Jones finished with 18 points and 12 boards and was named Spokane’s most outstanding player.
Stanford won the low-scoring match and reclaimed its loss. Texas was eliminated in round 8 for the second consecutive year.
Source: NY Times