Led by Maya Dodson, Stanford closes out non-conference play with dominating performance over CSUN, 69-43
Stanford enters Pac-12 play 10-1 after defeating CSUN
STANFORD, Calif. –No. 6 Stanford (10-1) bull rushed the Cal State Northridge Matadors 69-43, in the Maples Pavilion “ring,” Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve come a long way since playing Gonzaga,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said referring to her team’s loss to the Zags in early December. “People have been getting more gritty. When we lost, we looked at Baylor, Tennessee, Buffalo and told ourselves, ‘We can’t be doing this. We better shape up.’”
The Cardinal came out of the gate dominating the contest against CSUN (6-8), with a 19-4 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play, forcing the Matadors to shoot a paltry eight percent from the field.
By the midway point of the game, Stanford increased their lead by a whopping 29 points (41-12), led by sophomore forward, Maya Dodson, with 10 of her game and career high 16 points after 20 minutes of game action.
“She’s playing with a lot of confidence,” VanDerveer said about Dodson. “She wants to be a great player and she worked hard during the offseason. She’s going up against some big players and making good moves.”
The onslaught against the CSUN got even worse, as Stanford led by as much as 39 points in the third quarter, and held on to a 26-point advantage at the final horn, 69-43.
The Cardinal never trailed, and the two teams were tied at zero for only 57 seconds after tipoff.
Despite the convincing loss to a top ten Pac-12 team, the opposing coach had nothing but praise for the Bay Area program.
“Stanford has been the flag bearer on the West Coast for the past 20-25 years and they’re still one of the measuring sticks,” CSUN coach Jason Flowers said. “When you play good teams, your margin of error gets even smaller. We can talk about a reality check.”
Dodson’s unprecedented evening didn’t stop her from being unsatisfied and seeking improvement by herself and teammates.
“There’s always something we can work on,” Dodson said. “We have been focused on rebounding and DiJonai [Carrington] showed that today.”
Cardinal senior forward, Alanna Smith, pitched in 14 points and five rebounds while freshman forward, Lacie Hull dropped in 10 points. Junior guard, Carrington, snatched a game high 12 rebounds.
CSUN sophomore guard, Meghann Henderson, led the team with seven points and four assists, while sophomore forward, Juliana Louis, gathered 10 rebounds.
The Matadors will next be in action January 5, 2019, as they host UC Santa Barbara. The Cardinal will remain at Maples, starting Pac-12 play against the conference’s Southern California duo: USC, January 4, 2019, and UCLA, January 6.
Stats – Team Comparison
