March 22 Stanford Sends South Dakota State Packing

For a #12 seed playing an #4 seed, this was not a slam dunk. First of all, even though the #4 seed Stanford Women’s Basketball Team was playing on their home court, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits brought the loudest people in All the Dakotas. SDSU beat #5 seed Miami two days prior, feeding off of their crowd’s energy, and they nearly knocked off Stanford, too, with that same energy.
Stanford enjoyed a slight lead at the half, 33-27 yet their offense stalled when Erica McCall went to the bench with three fouls in the third. SDSU rode their standing, cheering crowd to a lead mid-way thought the third quarter. It also didn’t help that Stanford was 10-22 from the free throw line. Then, Stanford fans, who tend to be quiet observers instead of rabid cheerers, came to life, with about four minutes left. Stanford fed off that energy, stealing and flying bodies and all, and went on a 12-3 run in the final minutes.

(apologies, embed code for videos not working, please follow the links)
Then, with the clock running down, and Stanford needing a score….wait, why listen to us prattle on when you can see for yourself. Lili with the lay up and one with 8 seconds left! Nothing but net!

The Jackrabbits, who were well coached, advanced the ball to half court and dribbled to the key where they met…wait, just looky here: Yes, Erica McCall and looks like Kailee Johnson blocked that ball and all of SDSU’s hopes and dreams.

Stanford survives 66-65!  Sweet Sixteen Bound!

Hear the Tara VanDerveer interview, and what Lili Thompson: had to say about the close game:

C and R will float on this game until March 25th, when Stanford meets #1 seed Notre Dame.

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